UnSocialMedia Me?
Is it just me or is it impossible to keep up with all this Social Media?
Let’s do a quick social media platform check; there’s Goodreads, Xanga, LinkedIn, Facebook, Buzznet, CouchSurfing, CafeMom, BlackPlanet, Friendster, delicious, Epernicus, Flickr, weRead, LiveJournal, 
MyLife, Ning, Open Diary, Fotki, Fotolog, Foursquare, Google+, Identi.ca, LAGbook, MySpace, Orkut, Pinterest, Twitter. And that list isn’t even a third of what’s out there. Wikipedia’s got a list that will exhaust you!
In late June, I attended an Edelman sponsored, invitation-only summit entitled “When All Media is Social.” Sitting in forum after forum of engaging insights from representatives the likes of Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook, I thought wow, this is overwhelming, how does one keep up with it all?
Under the influence of my students calling me lame for not having a personal Facebook page, I finally opened one a few months ago. “I can do this!,” I said to myself. I used a great picture of my dogs as my profile picture, noted all my sports likes (Manchester United topped the list) and then I couldn’t be bothered with the rest. As I read one friend after another note their shock at seeing me on Facebook, I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be able to keep this up. In the few months that I had my personal Facebook page, I logged on to it twice, so about two weeks ago, I shut it down.
For the record, I think social media is useful and can be helpful and especially beneficial for business entities. But pray tell how do we know when it’s really working to your benefit, which one to really use and how many to keep up with, and finally isn’t the whole social media field just over crowded?
image: Social Media logos as featured on Smart Recruiters.
It’s you.
LOL! – Perhaps you’re right; however you’ve got to admit that it’s a bit overwhelming to keep up with right? You know, if you have a full time job and actually have a social life that doesn’t have you sipping a glass of wine on the other side of a Google+ group as opposed to a warm setting with live hugs, great laughs and a kiss on the cheek.
It’s insane when I think about how these sites often have enough members on them to rival or top the size of small or even larger countries.
But it is interesting to think about how a site like Facebook has become so huge amidst all of these others.
A great point! – it is for that specific reason that I think Social Media is actually an indispensable business tool. However to think that it is in fact inclined to socially connect us all in a real way? – I’m struggling with that.
True. I have actually discovered that my friends I am closest to are the ones that I talk to the least on Facebook.
So I do also have trouble believing that social media is useful for making and keeping meaningful connections.
Many moons ago, I fell victim to having a bunch of social media sites, then I found myself spreading thin. I had to sit back and rethink my ‘social’ approach. I’ve deactivated a few, and signed up some more- lol. But for the most part, I believe the ones I am active in, suit me. I have a personal and business page on facebook, both of which actually served me well. I have a pinterest page. And I now have at WordPress page, because I enjoy writing. And I do have a couple of graphic design association pages. However, I can’t see myself only socializing on a computer, I have to get out and physically meet folks.
So of course I laughed at the “deactivated a few, and signed up some more…” yes, laugh out loud! I just don’t think I see myself doing more than my WordPress (for the same reason as you), my nonprofit Facebook page, Pinterest and LinkedIn. See the greater challenge here is that many of these platforms now have duplicated services. For example, for a while there I was interested in Tumblr, but when Pinterest came out I found that it served me better, for what I would have used a Tumblr page for. I know my Social Media mavens will decry any of it being too much, but then I also find it annoying having dinner with them because they cannot seem to get off their phones – perhaps that’s when they are updating all their Social Media sites!!!
You mentioned your graphic design association pages – mind sharing the links so that we can all visit and see your talents?
Of course, I googled Tumblr. I had no clue what type of site it was. After a few clicks, I began to wrestle with myself to sign up. To register, or not to register, that was the question. The answer was, “Sonny, you are pulling 18 credits, a full time gig, your small business, a hopeful internship and a possibly a new job – you don’t have time for another site.”
You may have to add me to the guilty dinner Uploaders. But I am getting better. <—HAH! Well, no, I lied; my phone is acting up and I get easily frustrated when it begins to act out like a child. I am quick to turn it off now. Hopefully, by time my new phone comes, I would be able to subject my smartphone craziness to only when necessary – and I am bored.
No, I do not mind. The majority of my talents are displayed on my business Facebook page; http://www.facebook.com/massdesigns. Some are on my personal facebook page. I am a member of the Baltimore Chapter of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), I do have a profile page, but no images.
Cool, I’ll be checking these out!