Rounding a Social Media Curve
- March 3, 2009 - by Mike Toner, in communication, conversation, goals, listen, local band, messages, method, social media, web 2.0, with no comments -
Social Media is about engagement, right?
Yes, but maybe you started off with social media the way I did; quietly listening while learning the ropes, lurking and not really being social at all!
In fact, my first tweet was on October, 26th 2007. Great, except- I sent 15 tweets in the first month and not one was an @ message! I wasn’t talking to anyone… I wasn’t there yet.
Today, I am somewhere between participation and relationship building with regards to social media. I’ve made the mind shift from 1-way to 2-way, although I sometimes find myself reverting back to my old 1-way ways.
My ultimate goal is to, “Share more value with the blogosphere than [I] you take from the blogosphere”- mixmedia
This almost implies tuning out a little, doesn’t it?
In order to concentrate on providing value, I may need to block out some of the noise. Perhaps stepping out of the echo chamber will allow me to focus on the task at hand. A Tim Ferriss’esque idea -no doubt.
During my own adoption of social media, I focused heavily on reading and listening, so much so- that this has become a comfort zone for me to run back to. Recently, I have stopped reading my google reader everyday. Instead, I am going to do some thinking of my own and stop relying on old meme’s to create new content.
I hope that by eliminating distractions I will be able to provide quality information and value to my network.
Where are you on the social media curve?
-MikeToner
www.MikeToner.com
Mike Toner is a freelance web designer from Arlington, Virginia. During the day he works as a Web Content Manager for CSC. By evening, he’s a husband, dog owner and runner. Toner writes about Social Media, SEO and overall online visibility as well as digital marketing trends.
