You want in don’t you? To know the secrets of social media and how to use them to your advantage. If only someone would share the secret handshake to that awesome tree-house where all the cool kids hang out. To unlock the secrets and use them for your business – how could you do that and how can you get them into your marketing department. Right?
Well, obviously there isn’t any. However, I do want to share a few secrets with you, so sharpen those pencils and grab a notepad.. here we go.
There are no social media experts
Social media is a metaphor
There is no actual definition of social media
There that’s a good start.
Experts of What?
No matter what you hear from people, there are no experts in social media. There are people who understand what’s going on and can help advise tools & techniques to use. The techniques of social media are not secret and not hidden away.
A Metaphor
Social media is a metaphor in that it’s a catch-all paradigm shift in the way we create, share, interact and communicate. Clay Shirky has a great post and video that talks about the impact to the cognitive surplus in society that is driven by social media. While his numbers and math may be suspect, the concept he talks about are as true as they are obvious. The truth is that social media is a marker in the evolution of social interaction of our society, but is made up of totally ad-hoc tools and techniques. Usually to facilitate creation and distribution of media by different digital, non-traditional communications channels.
No Definition
Well… there isn’t, even though it seems like I tried to write one in the paragraph above. Social media is about tools, technologies, ideas, resources, and above all – people.
Reality
Of course the reality of social media is the ability for anyone to create and share content with anyone, anywhere. It crosses the boundaries of print, video, and audio. It brings the publishing and broadcasting tools of various establishments to anyone with an inexpensive computer and a decent Internet connection. It gives you a voice in the world, a platform to use it on, and the access to resources to back you up.
This past Saturday (May 10th) I had a chance to facilitate an unconference session with Peter Fleck (@pfhyper on Twitter) at MinneBar on the University of Minnesota campus. While Peter and I hadn’t planned it out long in advance, and we had technical difficulties at the beginning, namely to overhead equipment, it went pretty well.
The part I really enjoyed was the interaction. Peter and I both wanted to start a group discussion, and that’s exactly what happened. There were a lot of great questions from both experienced and new Twitter users, and many people shared their perspectives and ideas on using Twitter. It reinforced the idea that Twitter is just at it’s earliest stages of uptake.
What I really want to do from Saturday is to thank everyone that stopped by and joined the conversation. It was great to meet so many people here in the Minneapolis Web2 scene, and I look forward to talking more with you on Twitter and elsewhere. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have questions or ideas to talk about – you can find me on Twitter as @RickMahn.
Also, since I didn’t grab the names off the board in the room, I’d like to invite anyone who was there to share their Twitter name. Just leave them in the comments and others from the session can find them and connect with you. Any other questions or interest in social web tools that you’d be interested in talking about? It might be worth putting something together if enough people are interested.
We live in age when anything is possible, at the touch of a button, or simply for the asking. The modern world is filled with tools and technologies that allow us to do amazing things. From communicating around the world in the blink of an eye, to reporting breaking news by the average person, to creating the perfect latte at home, our world makes things so easy.
It’s Easy
So if things are so easy, why are people not taking advantage of the tools and techniques available for networking themselves and building a better brand? Is the concept of reaching out to connect with like-minded or similarly skilled people that foreign to the average worker? Or is it the tools? Granted social networking and personal branding are not needed by everyone. Some people will, of course, simply shun the idea of publishing anything about themselves on the Internet, and they are welcome to that opinion.
However, if you’re at the foot of that corporate ladder looking up and wondering if it’s even worth it, you need to be thinking of how to position yourself properly. There are dozens if not hundreds of books on the topic that you can buy and use to build your brand. There is also a genuinely easy way to get started building the brand that is you. Be smart.
Beware the slip-up
With all the ways to interact and share your life online, sometimes it’s too easy to slip up. Whether you like using the pre-packaged social networks or you’re more of a DIY person and build your own. You need to make sure you are thinking about what people outside your social circle will see when they view your online presence. You’ve heard the stories of college beer parties being posted, or inside jokes traded with online buddies. These are some of the things that can be found months or years later.
So don’t let your reputation, your brand, be so easily tarnished by easy mistakes. Also, think about the tools you use to network. We are lucky to have so many tools at hand to build that brand and network. Choose the one(s) that best match your goals, message and style. Whatever you do, don’t hesitate to get started. Perversely, that is usually the most difficult step in the process.
Life is the great adventure. At times it can also be a bit perplexing, like how do you know when you’ve turned a corner in your career? Especially in these interesting times when social media is attracting so much attention, but has so little meaning in the “real world”.
Exploration of blogging and connecting people is a lot of hard, but rewarding work. It can sometimes be challenging to keep up with both the real work and the need to connect with people and learn new things as a human being. Where is the reward for all this work?
That’s where I’m at right now. I’m a technology geek that’s really good at big-picture problem solving – been doing that for 20 years. However, I’ve spent the last two or three years learning that I like interacting with people and seeing them connect with peers to accomplish new things. I have no pretensions that I’m critical to any of this, only that I enjoy it.
So what’s the next step? I blogged about that awhile ago, and am becoming more convinced that, for me, a move towards blog consulting and working with corporate blogging efforts is needed. It’s one direction that I’ve been exploring and I see many possibilities of such a shift. Especially as new discussions of blogging and it’s value have again started turning up in the blogosphere and the MSM again. Of course it’s what we’ve always known about new media, it’s just people taking another look at a disrupting technology rather than dismissing it.
Most bloggers start blogging for many reasons, I happened to start because I needed an outlet. (Blogging friend Steven Hodson has a great related post titled What do I owe my readers? that I recommend reading as well.) I also started a couple other blogs because I thought (like many) that it was an easier way to make a living. I’ve since figured it out that it’s really very hard work that requires a substantial time investment. However instead of the monetary payoff I thought I’d find, it turned into something that I’m passionate about.
After a few years of blogging and trying to find my path, I realized that I’d been following it fairly well but hesitant to commit to exploring it. I’ve been holding back from what lies over the edge. It’s something I now need to explore vigorously.
The biggest thing I’ve discovered that brings me to the crossroad I mention is that I like to teach, to share. I really enjoy communicating technology and concepts to people to help solve a problem or grow their opportunities. It’s an incredible feeling to see the connection made, a concept take root and someone realizes something they didn’t the moment before.
It reminds me of a moment in art class back in 9th grade. There was another student who was having problems getting the perspective “just right” on a drawing of his family’s farmstead that he was working on. He said that it just didn’t “feel right” in his drawing and thought that the silo would look better on the other side of the drive leading up to the barn. So our art teacher looked up from the picture at him and said “so…, move it”. I saw it in my classmate’s face, he got it. He suddenly looked around the room and proclaimed (loudly I may add) “I CAN MOVE BUILDINGS!”
I’m sure you’ve seen something similar, but it’s that moment of realization that is what I want more people to experience with technology. To understand what I’ve known for years. To see the usefulness of the technology, and not for the technology itself, but because it actually solves a need or problem. That is one of the things I want to do.
The work I’ve don to date has been fulfilling and rewarding. It’s taught me many things outside the scope of technology. It’s pushed me in all the typical, usual business-oriented things that any cube-dwelling, corporate ladder climbing individual might need. It did not, however, bring the warmth and excitement to my heart of seeing just one person “get it”.
That is what I believe I need to do – help people have those moments, help them connect with peers to make that happen, and be there as a resource along the way.
Hey everyone, we finally have concrete news on the next Twin Cities Social Media Breakfast. SMB-TC3 will be held at Concordia University in St. Paul on May 16th.
After the fantastic turnout & and small space of the last event, we’ve been looking for a better space for the next one. It seems like there aren’t a lot of places that had what we seem to need for our event. Namely, larger space for 20 or more people, WiFi, centrally located, access to public transportation, and food/coffee.
All the spaces that did have enough space were actual conference facilities that start costing real money. Since this is a free event, we have no good way of paying of a larger space.
So, luckily, a number of people offered to check with the places they work at and we suddenly had a few options. The one that worked out first was at Concordia. Jason DeBoer-Moran works in the IT department at Concordia and was able to arrange a true, full-featured conference room for us to use. It meets all the needs of the group, save the one thing that makes for a good breakfast… food.
So, we’ll be bringing in food ourselves. Anyone who would like to donate a box of bagels, doughnuts, coffee, or fruit tray is welcome to bring it with you, or contact me to coordinate making that happen. Simply direct-message me via Twitter, email me (rickmahn at gmail.com), or message me via the MSBMSP Ning site if you want to “donate-a-doughnut”.
Agenda
So what’s going on at this event? Quite a bit for sure! Since there is open WiFi, space, projection equipment, and (did I mention) space we can do quite a bit.
We’ll be in the Library Technology Center Room 215 for the event. Here’s the location information:
The Concordia University Library Technology Center is located on the north side of the campus, near Concordia Avenue and directly east of the Pearson Theater. The Library Technology Center’s physical address is 1282 Concordia Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55104 Campus map:
I look forward to seeing everyone there! Our Social Media Breakfast Network at http://smbmsp.ning.com now has 50 members and I’d love to see as many people make it in person or via video as possible.
UPDATE: Fixed the date above, the real date is May 16th. Sorry for any confusion!
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