I love people and I appreciate technology. But I have battled a really stinky attitude towards all things related to social media for many years.
I am not a luddite or anti-technology person.
I would not call myself an early adopter but I am usually with the group that is coming along directly behind the first adopters.
Desktop computers in the early 80’s, a cellular bag phone and pager in the late 80’s, internet and email in the early 90’s, Palm Pilot PDA in the mid 90’s, iPods in the early 2000’s and a smart phone in 2008. (I really dated myself with some of those stone age references…)
As a Georgia Tech Engineer I have always had the philosophy that if technology can improve my world and provide convenience while helping me be more productive, then I will let the first adopters work out the kinks and then I am jumping on the bandwagon.
Social media has always been in a different category for me. While technology has allowed the social models like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc... to grow and expand at accelerated rates, the issues with privacy and shared information created a barrier for me. I taught and coached investors and business owners about asset protection, privacy and guarding what you own. Telling the world what I had for lunch did NOT fit into that privacy strategy.
I reluctantly “joined” Facebook in 2008. My first posts were weak attempts to promote and market my coaching and consulting business. I go back and read them now and I can tell I was hoping that my name wasn’t really attached to the post. I think I had white space for my picture for a few years. It is embarrassing to admit now, but I would joke with my children that I was not going to join Facebook unless I could get payments for having Facebook Friends. I guess Mark Zuckerburg has been able to make that model work so maybe I was not being as cute as I thought I was at the time.
My attitude began to change over the last year. The fact that I am sharing this in a blog post should make that point very obvious!
I realized that we were not talking about a passing fad or technology that would be replaced. Social Media is here to stay. It may look different over time as the models evolve, but any organization with almost 1 billion members is not going away any time soon.
Of course, we still need to be cautious and protect our information and assets as much as we can and attempt not to waste hours and hours watching cat videos. But when I realized that I needed to look at the potential value of reaching large numbers of people for ministry or business promotions, I could not ignore the benefits. Plus, it has become apparent that privacy no longer exists so we should just go ahead and Post, Share & Tweet.
For the last 2 months I have been more active on Facebook (and added multiple business pages), Twitter (just joined), LinkedIn (finally completed my profile and joined groups), Google+ (completed my profile and added a business page) and About.me (joined). I have an Instagram account but that is in place just to see the cool pictures that our children post.
I definitely would not consider myself a power user, but I have been consistently active. And now that I have punted my poor attitude, I have found at least 7 reasons to love Social Media:
1. The World Is One Click/Post/Tweet Away - The cliche that the world is shrinking is very apparent when you become active in the social media universe. My wife and I have been in a constant state of travel for almost 2 years but recently I have been able to interact with contacts both new and old from every corner of the planet.
2. New Connections - It is very natural for people to get comfortable with their chosen set of friends or business group and never venture out to meet others. Most social media channels encourage and almost force you to meet and connect with new people. That growth fuels the engagement that causes growth in the industry. I think it is a positive thing for people to meet and make new contacts.
3. Reconnect With Old Friends & Business Associates - As we grow older, it is easy to get busy with work and raising a family which means you can lose touch with friends and business associates that are most likely doing the same. A quick search and an invitation can connect you with people from your past.
4. Stay Connected - Pre-internet networkers and social butterflies could be diligent and stay in close contact with many people, but face to face meetings, phone calls and snail mail did constrain the number of people that a person could reach. Today you can stay in contact with 100's and 1000's and more using the tools of social media.
5. Gather Information - There is no shortage of places to go to get news and updates and data. I could argue that we have too many avenues for information. But it is nice to be able to follow very specific people and organizations to learn what they are sharing. WARNING: This has also been one of my biggest challenges with information that is shared. I have noticed that I can waste time & energy with political commentary (total waste of time), sports (hate to say it, but another waste to time) and non-news news (celebrities, gossip, prognosticators and opinionators).
6. Share Information - I have always enjoyed coaching, consulting, training and teaching. Social Media is a great way to share valuable articles and information that has impacted you in a positive way and may have that same impact on others. Plus, everyone should have a desire to inspire, mentor and encourage those people that may be forging a path behind and around them.
7. Expand Your Mind & Business - I love big thinkers. I consider myself a big thinker but I can definitely be inspired and stretched by the world's biggest thinkers. Connecting and learning from these people has become as easy as Click or Follow in today's social society. Plus, as a business owner you can use the same philosophy to assist others and expand and grow.
I know that I may be missing some benefits. And I could have listed issues and challenges with this social technology movement, but I intentionally wanted to "keep it positive."
Now I must post this article so that I can check Facebook to see how many "Likes" I have since last time I checked. Just joking.
Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences and comments below.
I am not a luddite or anti-technology person.
I would not call myself an early adopter but I am usually with the group that is coming along directly behind the first adopters.
Desktop computers in the early 80’s, a cellular bag phone and pager in the late 80’s, internet and email in the early 90’s, Palm Pilot PDA in the mid 90’s, iPods in the early 2000’s and a smart phone in 2008. (I really dated myself with some of those stone age references…)
As a Georgia Tech Engineer I have always had the philosophy that if technology can improve my world and provide convenience while helping me be more productive, then I will let the first adopters work out the kinks and then I am jumping on the bandwagon.
Social media has always been in a different category for me. While technology has allowed the social models like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc... to grow and expand at accelerated rates, the issues with privacy and shared information created a barrier for me. I taught and coached investors and business owners about asset protection, privacy and guarding what you own. Telling the world what I had for lunch did NOT fit into that privacy strategy.
I reluctantly “joined” Facebook in 2008. My first posts were weak attempts to promote and market my coaching and consulting business. I go back and read them now and I can tell I was hoping that my name wasn’t really attached to the post. I think I had white space for my picture for a few years. It is embarrassing to admit now, but I would joke with my children that I was not going to join Facebook unless I could get payments for having Facebook Friends. I guess Mark Zuckerburg has been able to make that model work so maybe I was not being as cute as I thought I was at the time.
My attitude began to change over the last year. The fact that I am sharing this in a blog post should make that point very obvious!
I realized that we were not talking about a passing fad or technology that would be replaced. Social Media is here to stay. It may look different over time as the models evolve, but any organization with almost 1 billion members is not going away any time soon.
Of course, we still need to be cautious and protect our information and assets as much as we can and attempt not to waste hours and hours watching cat videos. But when I realized that I needed to look at the potential value of reaching large numbers of people for ministry or business promotions, I could not ignore the benefits. Plus, it has become apparent that privacy no longer exists so we should just go ahead and Post, Share & Tweet.
For the last 2 months I have been more active on Facebook (and added multiple business pages), Twitter (just joined), LinkedIn (finally completed my profile and joined groups), Google+ (completed my profile and added a business page) and About.me (joined). I have an Instagram account but that is in place just to see the cool pictures that our children post.
I definitely would not consider myself a power user, but I have been consistently active. And now that I have punted my poor attitude, I have found at least 7 reasons to love Social Media:
1. The World Is One Click/Post/Tweet Away - The cliche that the world is shrinking is very apparent when you become active in the social media universe. My wife and I have been in a constant state of travel for almost 2 years but recently I have been able to interact with contacts both new and old from every corner of the planet.
2. New Connections - It is very natural for people to get comfortable with their chosen set of friends or business group and never venture out to meet others. Most social media channels encourage and almost force you to meet and connect with new people. That growth fuels the engagement that causes growth in the industry. I think it is a positive thing for people to meet and make new contacts.
3. Reconnect With Old Friends & Business Associates - As we grow older, it is easy to get busy with work and raising a family which means you can lose touch with friends and business associates that are most likely doing the same. A quick search and an invitation can connect you with people from your past.
4. Stay Connected - Pre-internet networkers and social butterflies could be diligent and stay in close contact with many people, but face to face meetings, phone calls and snail mail did constrain the number of people that a person could reach. Today you can stay in contact with 100's and 1000's and more using the tools of social media.
5. Gather Information - There is no shortage of places to go to get news and updates and data. I could argue that we have too many avenues for information. But it is nice to be able to follow very specific people and organizations to learn what they are sharing. WARNING: This has also been one of my biggest challenges with information that is shared. I have noticed that I can waste time & energy with political commentary (total waste of time), sports (hate to say it, but another waste to time) and non-news news (celebrities, gossip, prognosticators and opinionators).
6. Share Information - I have always enjoyed coaching, consulting, training and teaching. Social Media is a great way to share valuable articles and information that has impacted you in a positive way and may have that same impact on others. Plus, everyone should have a desire to inspire, mentor and encourage those people that may be forging a path behind and around them.
7. Expand Your Mind & Business - I love big thinkers. I consider myself a big thinker but I can definitely be inspired and stretched by the world's biggest thinkers. Connecting and learning from these people has become as easy as Click or Follow in today's social society. Plus, as a business owner you can use the same philosophy to assist others and expand and grow.
I know that I may be missing some benefits. And I could have listed issues and challenges with this social technology movement, but I intentionally wanted to "keep it positive."
Now I must post this article so that I can check Facebook to see how many "Likes" I have since last time I checked. Just joking.
Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences and comments below.
Tim Winders has over 25 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, coach and consultant. He founded Accelerate Growth NOW to provide business owners with the training, coaching and resources to double, triple and 10X their business. To learn more and to claim your FREE business growth resources, visit AccelerateGrowthNOW.com.
