Social Media sites are all the rage. Iām on a few, are you?
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Transcript
This is Leo Notenboom for askleo.net.
Social media sites are a big thing right now, so much so that there are so many itās hard to even know where to begin.
What do I mean by social media? Well, unless youāve been disconnected from the internet for the past three years you should at
least recognize sites like MySpace, but there are literally hundreds of others including things like LinkedIn, FaceBook, Flicker,
Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, LiveJournal and on and on and on.
What these sites all share is that they each have a community of users and a way for the members of that community to invite others,
link with others and communicate. Typically that means that after you link up by becoming someoneās friend, or following them, or
connecting to them, youāre then able to see what theyāre up to, what theyāve posted or voted on or done recently, youāre able to
communicate with them in some way.
I know that for many people sites like MySpace, LiveJournal and FaceBook have almost replaced email as a primary means of
communicating within their social circle.
Thatās pretty significant.
So, where do I hang out?
Well, to be honest, I sometimes feel like Iām still a 20th century luddite (if there is such a thing) as email is still my
preferred medium, but Iām on a few of the services:
-
Twitter is a lot like text messaging a bunch of your friends all at once. It doesnāt require a phone (though
it can in fact be done via SMS). Itās fascinating and very informal and even fun. -
LinkedIn has an almost professional feel to it ā meaning that itās where a lot of business folks seem to be
connecting. Iāve reconnected with a lot of former colleagues here. -
FaceBook feels much more informal and social ā not terribly surprising since it started as student-only
service. I donāt spend a lot of time here, but I do check it out occasionally. -
Now I had a MySpace account that I canceled some time ago due to all the noise and the fact that I never
generally used it. Given its incredible popularity, I just
recreated one so that I can test a few things out there if I need to.
Even though it feels like the glory days of MySpace may be over, more focussed and niche social media sites
are growing and thriving. People are constantly looking for ways to connect, share interests and even solve problems. Having
a large circle of like minded friends and connections is one way to make that possible.
So how do you use social media? Which ones do you use and why? What opportunities do you see?
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Till next time, Iām Leo Notenboom, for askleo.net.
Find me on:
- Twitter (anyone can follow me)
- LinkedIn (please donāt be insulted, but I accept
connections only from people I know) - FaceBook (please donāt be insulted, but I accept
friend requests only from people I know) - MySpace (friend me if you like, and Iāll accept when I can ā Iām
just not sure why you would)
Iām with you on the email Leo. Iām an academic and that is just the way we get things done these days. Less formally, I use Facebook to keep up with college friends. Itās a great way to touch base and see what people are up to without having to spend hours tracking them down. Itās a great cure for āI wonder whatever happened toā¦.?ā queries.
Another Luddite, I primarily use email as well. For me itās more about the amount of time spent on line socializing as opposed to actually getting things done ā email is fast and easy and almost everyone I ever knew that I would still want to be in touch with has email addresses (my highschool was online long before Facebook etc. so I pretty much know whatever happened to so and so).
And my āactiveā social group (those in my own community) I see on a regular basis and have email for those short easy bits of communication. What ever happened to face-to-face conversations or even the telephone? We still use those methods a lot here out in the booniesā¦
I just find it a bit weird that electronic communications have almost superceded face-to-face (or even voice) connections even when people live practically next door.
I think perhaps email and other forms of electronic communication feel āsaferā in some way, and I am guilty of same in certain situations. My kid is currently using email to reconcile with her father (who lives less than a mile away) ā and I donāt know if thatās a good thing or not.
Thanks for a thought-provoking piece, even if it wasnāt intended to provoke the thoughts I hadā¦
Hi Leo,
You may be an IT genius, but the world of online life seems to have passed you by a little.
I use MySpace, http://www.myspace.com/airborne_cowboy, not because it is a good site (in fact, featurewise it sucks) but because of the variety of people on there.
Now when you write āfriend me if you like, and Iāll accept when I can ā Iām just not sure why you wouldā, you donāt understand the way it works (at least amongst us youngsters). We make āfriendsā with all the bands/people who we like/admire, then others who visit your profile because they think IT is cool, see me as a friend/ or as a commenter and then might notice me, and start talking to me.
There are a few more tricks e.g. put on a photo of a famous person, tag it, all their āfriendsā notice your profile.
I have only been on for a couple of months, and already made a few real friends.
I prefer the term āhigh tech ludditeāā¦ high tech when it makes sense, but not as an ends in and of itself.