Social Media

Myths debunked by Jessica Lee

myth #1: it's only for extroverts. i'd argue it's a mix of extroverts and introverts both engaging in social media and i might argue there are more introverts. me? i'm an introvert - but i tweet, and use Facebook, and blog. i like producing and consuming content both - but what makes social media work for me is that i can converse and be "out there" without having to really put myself out there. you can hide behind your laptop safely but still  be part of a community - because we all want to belong, don't we?

myth #2: it's for play and all personal. initially, why people jump into social media is usually for personal reasons... perhaps. but more and more people are finding the value of establishing their brand online - and they're putting themselves out there to be found for professional reasons. enough said.

myth #3: you need to be tech savvy. you need to like technology, and be willing to play with it. but you don't need to understand how it works. on the back end, i don't get any of it. people talk about API's and i have no clue what it means. i'm too lazy to even look it up on wikipedia. and i don't care that much... you have to be curious, and when you get "advanced," you do need to know how different social media tools might interact with each other. that's it. trust me. i'm so clueless when it comes to technology that when my wifi signal is down, i plug in my cord-thingie... and at one point in time, i sat around plugged in to access the web for two months. you don't need to know how it works.

myth #4: it's all young people who use social media. can i just give you anecdotal proof? most all of my friends are on Facebook - but almost none are on Twitter or blog. most of my social media friends? older. (relatively speaking.) 30+. for those who want more proof, a BIGresearch study found that the average blogger is actually 37.6 years old. this Techcrunch piece breaks down the rising average age of Facebook users. 

myth #5: you need a lot of free, extra time. you have to be committed to being online and to using social media. true, it's still a bit unclear how much time you have to spend to really see results or to have someone manage social media for your organization or for your recruiting efforts. know this though - people who love technology like for it to be streamlined, and easy. if there's a quicker easier way to do things or use technology, someone is figuring it out. take Twitter or Facebook for example - you can update and maintain both while on the go with your mobile device.

myth #6. it's not measurable. social media can be measured - you just need to know what tools to use. here's a post at Fistful of Talent that outlines a metrics as a starting point for measuring the efficacy of social media, particularly for recruiting. but there are parallels for many industries, or for yourself it's just that you have to understand social media is about conversations and community so there's a slight mind shift that has to be made when you consider measuring it - it's not all quantitative, a lot of it is qualitative.

Pew Internet is a great place to get good data on social networking and media. Such as:
"As of December 2008, 11% of online American adults said they used a service like Twitter or another service that allowed them to share updates about themselves or to see the updates of others."
OR
"The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% at the end of 2008."