It’s no secret that I love social media! It’s a way of connecting with people I know personally, professionally or virtually. In a matter of seconds I can connect with anyone using Facebook, Twitter, or Skype etc. Whether I’m on my desktop, laptop, or smart phone I’m connected! I get every email, Facebook message, or tweet at the very moment it is sent, and I like the convenience of it. I am definitely a person who engages heavily in social media and I think that building relationships is key to any business or relationship period. While I don’t solicit my services through any of my social media outlets The fact that I offer services is present and I get lots of business off of referrals and people paying attention to my tweets if I happen to be working on something and tweet out what I am doing. That just means “People Are Paying Attention” to what I have to say.
Being a person that engages in social media personalized my brand and business. My Twitter friends and acquaintances know there is a live person behind the tweets that will answer questions, joke around and show support. I will admit I get sucked into the abyss of Facebook and Twitter! I’m really trying to get organized and give my self time slots to engage instead of engaging CONSTANTLY! I wish I was exaggerating but… I’m NOT! It does have a tendency to dominate me and I just keep tweeting. I’ve dubbed myself the “Social Media Butterfly” because it does fit my personality. Let my mom tell it, and I’m doing what I was born to do. She must have seen something early on in my childhood. *snickers*
While I know it takes time to build trust in all relationships especially virtual ones until you can meet the person in real life and continue to build, it’s definitely a work in progress. I hear it time and time again, It’s NOT the numbers it’s the relationships. So I don’t get caught up in how many people follow me on any social media platform. I’m NOT in a popularity contest! I’m just Facebook Addicted and a Twitterholic to the extent that my teenage daughter tells me the other day that she was approached by her drama teacher to audition for a part in an upcoming play. The part is for a girl who is so addicted to social media that she is with her friend who is riding a bike and happens to get struck by a car, and instead of calling the cops or ambulance immediately she begins to text, tweet and Facebook the incident! So, my daughter turns to her drama teacher and says… “So you just want me to act like my mom!” *OUCH, Low Blow! I think…* (I don’t know if I should laugh or cry)
For the record I am guilty of Tweeting out accidents when I’m sitting in traffic and NOT directly involved with the incident. So, with all that being said and my daughters perverted view of me, I’m at a crossroads! Do IÂ scale back on social media a bit and try to schedule times that I engage online? What are your thoughts and how would you feel or react if you were in the same scenario? If I scale back it’s going to be tough. I may go through withdrawal!*pray for me*
* The image in this post was sourced from CreativeCommons on Flickr.com