Social Media, what is it good for?
It would be interesting to know how many readers of Blogs such as this are old enough to remember Edwin Starr singing War in 1970. Those who are, will remember the chorus – War, what is it good for! Absolutely nothin! (Please forgive the American idiom).
But the question remains, for professionals working in the UK today – Social Media, what is it good for?
Now I’m not an expert on Social Media, IT or the internet but I use all of them every day. Not just every working day! I have a laptop, an iPad, an iPhone and a Kindle!
I have just shy of 5,000 connections on LinkedIn, I have 390 followers on Twitter and numerous friends on Facebook.
But I was challenged last week to justify the time and attention I give to these new forms of communication. Am I an enthusiast or an addict?
The truth must lie somewhere in between. I do most strongly believe that you either use the Social Media or you do not. You can’t keep dipping your toe in and out. Without missing opportunities and information which may never be repeated. This is instant access and as ephemeral as the spoken word.
I’m not a natural marketer or networker and it took me many years to come to grips with public speaking, even to the smallest audiences, but what I have learnt is simple to communicate.
If someone needs your skills, they think first of the need and secondly of the provider.
In my world it goes like this: I’ve got a tax problem, who should I ask for advice?
The object of all marketing, networking and regular contact is to try to ensure that when someone within my sphere of contacts thinks, I’ve got a tax problem; the answer to the second part of the question is me!
In this context, my question to my fellow children of the 20th Century is not Social Media, what is it good for? But, Social Media, how do you continue to survive without it?
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