Social Media: Are We Being Social?

February 5, 2009 - 8 Responses

When trying to fit the 12 (with the space) character word “social media” into a tweet I paused mid-word and thought, “are we social?”

Social media, social bookmarking, social networking and all of those other socials makes “social” the catchphrase of the moment. Here we are, bragging about how hyper-social we are, but I ask, are we even social?

When my friend Mark Hawker asked his Twitter followers to define Web 2.0 in five words, I responded, ” Web 2.0: social connectivity and responsibilty online.” There again is that catch phrase: social. But what is “social”?  And is social media, in the way we use it, social?

Social is:

marked or characterized by mutual intercourse, friendliness, or geniality; enjoyed, taken, spent, etc., in company with others, esp. with those of a similar class or kindred interests.

Social media creates niches and offers the opportunity for discussions. So why would I even wonder if social media is social?  If it’s not the medium, then it must be the users. Are social media users not being social?

I often am surprised at some social media users. His timeline is full of retweets or her Facebook is filled with apps and endless bar pictures. Where are people truly communicating? You know, sharing and exchanging ideas?

I find that with some users it’s all terribly one way. It’s shouting from a soap box, “Hello! I have pictures of my cat! I am no longer in a relationship! RT: Breaking News!”

At first the person draws an audience, but after a while we walk away disinterested.

You don’t want to take a breath and discuss how cute your cat is.  You don’t have time to keep me updated on the breaking news.  You just don’t care who knows when you’re in or out of a relationship.

That’s not an exchange of ideas; that is you yelling at me.

A part of being social is taking the time to listen.

Social is you saying, “I read this, what do you think?”  and you waiting to hear a response.

It’s an exchange of ideas. It’s inviting someone to be in a discussion with you.

Are you being social?

What do you think? Leave me a comment  – I’m listening.

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A Few Good Rants

August 30, 2009 - One Response

Social Media and Narcissism.

  • Some people are narcissists.
  • Social media is not an evil that creates narcissism.
  • There are social people.

Over the past few months,  research after research has interpreted social media as a flourishing oasis for narcissists. People guffaw at apparent simpletons who regurgitate mundane information into the social online realm –  a favorite, boisterous joke being made about updating people on the contents of the day’s meals.

Social Media is blamed for it’s evil narcissism via marketing. “Just tons of businesses trying to advertise for free – there aren’t any valuable conversations out there,”  I imagine someone in a lab coat proudly announcing to the press.

There are social businesses. There are social individuals. You can promote and be social – and not narcissistic.

There are people who are social on social networking sites.  If not, how do we have tweetups,  plan events on Facebook,  interact with bands on Myspace and make new business connections on LinkedIn?

We’re not all narcissists, nor does the use of social media turn us into narcissists.

Social Media and the Need for Community

  • We’ve redrawn our neighborhood lines to no longer be geographical, but digital.

I often think about the past, when neighborhoods weren’t urban planning  and drawn lines, but communities.

Neighbors would get together and talk about the weather, how work was,  the latest science fair their daughter won and their nephew’s favorite superhero costume.

We lost that community.

And then regained it – online.

A good example of online community was GeoCities - users created digital neighborhoods based on interests. And Twitter – surprisingly successful – fills some of the need of “everyday” communication.  We’re talking to a community about our day,  about our daughter’s science fair,  about the boring class lecture and just how much it cost us to fix that car.

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The Public Era

December 13, 2009 - 4 Responses

We live in an era where your business checks your Facebook page, your date searches for you on Google and your aunt wants to be friends with you on Farmville.  In this time of social networking -  and superfluous information -  it would seem that anything you say immediately reaches the whole world. Or at least the world you interact with.

And it does.  But will that have people clamoring for privacy?  For some, yes.  For others, not.  It seems society has a laissez-faire approach to privacy on social networks.  I’ve heard stories of persons losing their job, or a job opportunity because of  Facebook indiscretions.  Politicians and celebrities have faced criticisms because of a Facebook or Twitter status.  Even the latest “Facebook scandal” – it now has your status updates indexed by Google – doesn’t have people leaving that social network.

So if you Googled me,  what would you find?  Too much, I’m sure.  But what is privacy to this social networking world?  How can we set privacy settings without people being offended? It seems our thirst for instant knowledge has begun to be a ravenous consumption of personal information.   If you don’t tweet enough, “it’s just not worth it”.  Whether it is tweeting about the weather or reading about the latest economic movements,  we consume it as supplementary information.

But then, how does one in this Public Era keep things private? It is the popular thing to tell the world all your thoughts.  What does it mean if you keep some of those thoughts to yourself?

How do you live a private life while fully participating in this Public Era? Or do you set a proactive standard of privacy and understand you’re not “all in” when it comes to social network immersion?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Categorized in Internet and Social Media
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Recipe for a blogpost.

March 4, 2010 - Leave a Response

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 of the computer screen just for the writing
  • 1 pair of headphones
  • 1-3 favorite songs (Can be substituted for favorite playlist or radio station)
  • 29 + operational keys on a keyboard (A-z, shift, period and enter are the minimum) *
  • 1 Place to submit blog post online

*If this is a video or audio post,  less keys are acceptable.

Directions:

Preheat brain anywhere from 1 day to 5 minutes before writing the post.   Mix headphones, computer screen and favorite songs in a mixing container.  After these ingredients have been mixed, add keys as appropriate to create the post.

Let mixture sit for 2 minutes.

In a separate container prepare to submit the blog post online.

Go back to mixture.  End result should be a clear and concise post about your chosen topic.  If the mix is not clear,  remove and add keys as necessary.  Add the mix to the blog post.

Publish the mix  and serve fresh.

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Audio: Thoughts on body image.

March 4, 2010 - Leave a Response

I recorded this as soon as I realized what amazing thing had happened.

Listen.

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