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Connecting via Social Media

June 7, 2010 in Social Media, Technology with 2 Comments

iPhone Social Media

Photo Credit: mcritz

Sometimes it’s nice just to throw a quick post or two out on some other social media sites to get a conversation going.  If we haven’t connected yet on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, please click on one of the icons in the upper right to make a connection.

I like to use the three sites for somewhat different purposes:

Facebook – To me, this is more for social connections, family, friends and Church members.  While I do have some business contacts on there, I primarily use it to keep updated on people that I know.

Twitter – I tend to read Twitter more than I post to it.  It is actually an excellent way to keep up on news and events, as well as to get updates on acquaintances.  The tweets that I post are either brief updates, or most likely a link to an article that I found interesting.  Twitter automatically feeds my tweets to Facebook.  If I think that the tweet may be of interest to my business network, I’ll add the #in hash tag so that it gets picked up by my LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn – This is primarily used for business contacts.  Most are people that I’ve come to know over the years, and it mostly a online business contact list for me.  I try to post some interesting articles from time to time, but use it mostly to keep up to date with business associates.  I try to keep the communications on here strictly business, although I do have some non-business related contacts on LinkedIn.

Is “Joining the Conversation” Overused?

March 25, 2010 in Social Media with 2 Comments

In my first post, I said that one of the primary reasons on why I wanted to blog was that it was “An opportunity to engage in the conversation.”  While I was sincere in that reason, it didn’t occur to me until today that I was venturing into a cliche.  Amber Naslund posted a article today called “9 Social Media Topics that Need to Die“.  Number 4 hit a little close to home:

4. Joining the Conversation

This was probably a great phrase at the emergence of all of this, but it’s become so diluted that it means little anymore. Join which conversation? For what purpose? With whom? And what then? Let’s start talking about the INTENT behind the conversation in the first place, and the underlying value of being present and engaged with the right people who give a rip what you have to say, not just anyone with a frontal lobe and an internet connection.

She makes a good point in saying that the term has become diluted to the point of almost being meaningless.  It’s not like there is one giant conversation going on when you just kind of slip into the stream.  If you don’t have a specific audiance that you are trying to reach, be it personal or professional, then you’re like someone standing out in the middle of a field talking to themselves.  You may be having a conversation, but no one is there to listen.  Surely we all have a group in mind of who we are trying to reach and engage.  Once we know who that group is, then we better have a something to say that is on target, else we’re just making noise.

Michael Hyatt posted a Social Media Framework that talked about having Homebases, Embassies and Outposts.  The Homebase is your online presence that you directly control:

A Homebase. This is a digital property you own and control. It is where your loyal fans gather. It can be as simple as a blog or as complex as a self-hosted community. Regardless, it is where you direct all internet traffic. Why? Because this is the place where you can best sell your ideas or products. You control the borders and determine who has access.

Notice that he says that your homebase is the “place where you can best sell your ideas or products”.  We’re all selling something, even if we are not charging for it.  It could be ourselves, advice, ideas or beliefs.  Selling something requires you to be specific and to have a target audiance, because not everyone is going to be interested in what you are selling.  That’s requires focused conversation, not just joining the conversation.

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