No, this isn’t about that movie. I’ve had several discussions about social media, & for the most part I’m on the losing side. Granted, most of these conversations are with people who don’t really understand what social media is really about. To them, Facebook is for building farms & Twitter is for sharing what you bought at the store.
Last week I attended Tech Fest, a free conference for tech nerds, which I unabashedly admit to being. I was twittering with Ashton before it was cool, was on xanga and MySpace before anyone knew I had a place, & was linkedin to no one for a long time, mainly because everyone else I knew was normal & had no idea what any of this was. (truth be told, some of them still don’t understand it.) Anyway, back to the conference. I wound up attending mostly sessions on social media marketing, because even though I was an early adopter, I still didn’t “get” what it was all about & am now coming to the understanding that its not just useful, but also beneficial. I personally don’t understand why people are so paranoid and tries to avoid social media. To me, its just like the days of party lines, when some were leery of the idea of a telephone in their house. Social networks are here to stay, & its just a matter of finding the right balance for you, & understanding the shortcomings while embracing the real benefits to be found in this sort of community. Yes, I agree with the idea of keeping your privacy, but as the digital world grows, the concept of privacy changes. We’re going to have to accept that, and learn how to use it to our benefit.
I’m part of several online forums. When I have a tech question, I turn to a group of people who know more than I do and are able to assist. When I’m looking for inspiration for my class, a group of fellow children’s ministers can be counted on for ideas. And then there’s my “family”–a group of virtual strangers that have shared births, baptisms, marriages, divorces, death, and all the other roller coaster events that make up life. The only thing, I’ve never met any of them face to face. Yet in some ways I feel closer to them than many people I know in the physical realm. I don’t use “real life” or “real world”, because to me this group of individuals are real. Just because I’ve never been to their home or met for lunch, doesn’t make them any less real.
Another argument I’ve heard is that social networks are making people more disconnected. I disagree. From the online forums I’ve connected to thousands of people i would have never met with traditional networks. Moreover, I wouldn’t be as connected to friends & family without email, Twitter, Facebook, photo sharing & text messages. A friend of mine has a new baby grandson that they’re able to watch grow up halfway around the world. I’m in almost daily contact with my college girlfriends, without online media I would have lost touch years ago. My circle of friends would be much smaller without these so-called “imaginary friends”.
Bottom line, social media is what you make of it, and its in your best interest to understand it at the least. For its only in understanding that you’ll be able to both utilize it fully, and protect yourself from the negative consequences that come with this new world of online networks.
