Happiness CLVIII
Finding inspiration for the successes of the future in the failures of the past.
Social Media: Where Do We Go From Here?
So you’ve got your blog. You’re on Twitter. Accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Xing, Plaxo and countless others are kept up to date and keep you networked with your peers. The question keeps coming back… what’s next? What does all this time interacting and connecting with people accomplish?
After all the hours involved in networking and connecting with people you start to wonder what the payoff will be. Twitter seems like a time sink, Facebook is flat-out a bad college prank, and blogging is more demanding that you thought it would be. Is the payback just a little link love, or a couple hundred Twitter followers? Maybe it’s feeling good about answering a couple dozen questions on LinkedIn Answers. It still hasn’t changed you yet has it?
Are you sure?
If you’ve stuck with it for awhile I bet you’ve found it easier to connect and reach out with people at work. Maybe writing project plans or documentation is a bit better than it was before. How about a few technical skills – if you’ve done any customizations on your blog I know you’ve been working on HTML at the very least.
Ok, these are just a few small things that you may or may not have noticed along the way. What’s the bigger payoff? I dunno – but it’s that unknown something that’s attracted you into the mix. There is potential on multiple fronts, from connecting with people, learning about things, growing as a person, even simply having a hobby. Social media doesn’t mean any one thing, and doesn’t have to be business related.
Since there is no one definition of social media to any one group or person, it never stops growing; morphing into something new with every additional person and service. Heck “social media” is not even a good name for it, it really just kind of stuck because we use new “social” tools that use different types of “media”.
It’s an exciting ride. One I encourage you to explore, even if you think it’s a bunch of hooey. There are many smart people out there that would love to share ideas with anyone who would listen. And that is what it really comes down to. Social media is people and ideas, the tools are incidental and change with the whimsy of the crowd.
Where are you going from here? What’s your next move?
Photo credit: *davierae*
Happiness CLVII
Waves. Have you made any lately?
Bringing it home: Social Networking on the Local Level
Are missing what’s right in your backyard? Many “social media” types (explorers I like to call them) are connected with peers across the country and around the world. That’s great! Connecting with people from different places, with different views is great way to learn new things and discover new possibilities.
What about the people in your city or neighborhood? The people in the lane next to you commuting to and from work, in the grocery store, at the ball game – these people are part of your local economy and community. You know, the one that affects your daily habits and your local career opportunities.
Are you connecting with this group? How many fellow Twitter users are there that you could be sharing info with? What common values and ideals could you leverage with them to do something bigger, something better? Have you looked for these folks, met with them, had coffee with them?
Now’s your chance to change that. Who says you aren’t the one to get the ball rolling? Search Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and the like for your local area and start making some local contacts. Seek your neighbors out, and find what interests them. Is there business opportunities, or civic needs, or groups aligned with your faith? Get out there and connect with these folks.
Even if you’re in a more rural area, getting to know fellow “social media explorers” in the area can allow you to plan. Going from a small town to a big-city meetup may be daunting alone, but if you’ve got a local group to share the experience with, it can become more fun.
Some of the things you can try for very little time and money invested is a Twitter meetup, or a Social Media Breakfast, or simply let people know where to meet for coffee. So get out there and network on the local level, there is bound to be social media people in your area thinking about the same thing.
If you have organized, or are thinking of getting the ball rolling, what ideas have you come up with? What have you tried that works or doesn’t work? Let’s share our ideas and experiences with others to make future networking better!
Photo credit: Kecko
Happiness CLVI
Finding inspiration in the thoughts of tomorrow.
There’s NO valid argument against the SAVE America Act.
My bill would make it easy to vote.
And hard to cheat.
As soon as DHS is fully funded (as it should be within 48 hours), the Senate should resume consideration of it—and stay on the bill until it passes.
Pass it on.
How are Democrats cheating in L.A.?
Let me show you…
There are 26 registered voters at this toilet in Los Angeles.
I’m not kidding. I have the voter records. See for yourself. The only thing here is a stinky port-a john inside an empty parking lot.
No homes. No mailboxes.
As governor, the State Capitol will stand for unity and common sense.
In addition to the POW/MIA flag that has long flown over the State Capitol, we will fly two flags when I am governor: the Wisconsin state flag and the American flag.
That’s it. No politics.
