Social Media: What’s In It For Me?

At BlissDom, there was a lot of talk about the current trend of social media. To be honest, the whole things still overwhelms me a bit, but I can see its value now much more than I could before.

There are a lot of popular social media tools out there; Twitter, Facebook, LinkDin, YouTube and StumbleUpon to name a few. With one simple Google search on “social media”, you could probably come up with more information on the subject than you could read in your lifetime. Rather than highlight the features of each of these, I want to give you some basic ideas on how the use of social media can benefit you. You’d be surprised at all the different ways they can. At least I was.

1. Reconnect – Over the last few weeks, I reconnected with two friends I went to kindergarten and grade school with. Kin-der-garten. Do you realize that was 30ish years ago for me? Because of this, Facebook is one of my favorite pastimes addictions tools. I was leery at first because I thought it was mainly for cool college kids. But quickly realized its the MySpace for 30-somethings.

If you’re into keeping up with your high school and college friends and acquaintances, join Facebook. You’ll be shocked at who you’ll find and how fun it is. Don’t worry…its safe and as private as you want it to be and very well designed.

2. Build community – I think one of the hardest things about being a stay at home mom is the feeling of isolation that can creep in. You’re surrounded by little people all day, doing a thankless (though extremely important) job and don’t always get to have the freedom to spend time connecting with other moms in the same boat. That’s why I love blogging and now, Twitter. There’s a sense of community built when you can pop on and ask a question, tell a funny thing that happened to you, or give your antidote for the day…all in 140 characters or less.

To be honest, I didn’t “get it” for about 6 months. I created an account, tried it, and stopped. But a few months ago, I gave it another shot, but this time I used an application called TweetDeck. And now, I’m hooked.

I’d highly recommend an application like TweetDeck if you’re interested in twittering. It gives you up to date views on your friends and you can create groups for people you follow. So, you could have “mommies” in one group, “family” in another and “people I’m stalking” in yet another (totally kidding).

3. Stay in Touch – When we went to our college reunion last year, I uncovered yet another layer of Facebook. You see, I had been following a bunch of college friends and several of them where at this reunion. It was so great to walk up to them and not have to say, “Where do you live, what do you do, how many kids do you have…” because I already knew! We could skip the small talkie stuff and remember the good ol’ times. Social media is like a Christmas letter all year long.

4. Promote - If you have a blog or website that you want to get noticed, Twitter and Facebook are an ideal space for doing just that. Personally, I don’t quite know the perfectly balance between hiding bashfully in the corner and being completely obnoxious, but I know its there somewhere. Some people feel that sort of thing is a little tacky, while other people love it. There really is no prescription or rules for using social media. Use common sense, be courteous of others, and you’ll be peachy.

5. Opportunities – One thing I learned at Blissdom was that a lot of people find job opportunities on Twitter. They scour the updates looking for marking and networking opportunities that constantly come up. Its like Craigslist meets IM. You can search for terms people are using to find a new opportunity to make a business connection. Certainly traditional communication and media aren’t going anywhere, but social media is definitely something that will only grow in the future.

If you’re like me and feel like you’re on the tail end of the generation that “gets” social media, don’t be afraid to try it. You may just find you love it.