Posts Tagged ‘linkedin’

In January, I talked about creating a social media strategy that works for me – how often I do certain things and the schedule I try to keep. It covered a lot of the details, but there were some gaps. I didn’t talk about all the sites that I used or what they meant for my strategy. So in May, I covered how I use social media successfully and filled in the blanks. But there are still blanks – not in the idea of my strategy but my execution.

In the May post, I explained that I use:

But today, I realize that what I said and what I do is actually very different.

Reality is, I struggle with social networks.

I do use twitter, facebook and linkedin fairly consistently. Twitter is easy to manage, tweetdeck is always in one the background , I can jump in for a bit, participate and jump out. Facebook is just so connected – there is so much to do and see and read, that I can get sucked in there pretty quick. LinkedIn is important, so I make sure to make time for it, the business atmosphere is something few sites have and I want to capitalize on it. I do tend to have days that I focus on them more, and some days that I forget they even exist. But I do try to stay on top of these 3.

For the last 3, I can’t remember the last time I checked them (stumbleupon, technorati and friendfeed). I think the biggest reason is the connection – I don’t feel as connected to people on those 3, so I don’t use them as much. Stumbleupon and Technorati are very individual – yes you can connect with people, but I use them more for finding interesting articles and blogs. Which I need to start doing again, since those are great for blog fodder when I am having a tough writing day. As for friendfeed, this one I am thinking about dropping. Not removing myself from, but giving myself permission not to use it as anything other than an aggregate for all my tweets and blog posts. I prefer twitter and feel like it is too much the same to do both (although, I would love to hear some arguments for friendfeed…got one?).

But, whether I use the network often or not, the main struggle with social media I have is the lack of completion. There is no final tweet, stumble, wall post or thought. They are continually growing, changing and adding content. While this isn’t a bad thing, I find it to be the most difficult part for me. I love the feeling of completing something. Typing the final word, coding the last line or adding the last color. I especially love the feeling of turning the finished product over to the client and hearing their reaction. Reveling in a job well done.

You can’t do that with social networks. Technically, you can be happy about a tweet that gets retweeted a ton, or a link that gets stumbled like crazy. But, someone else is always going to top it. Even “social celebs” get their content topped. There can always be another tweet added to your thoughts, and the river continues to flow. When it is your own project, that you give to a client, no one is competing to top it. If it is your best work, then you can feel accomplished. Not with social networks – you just participate, you don’t complete them.

Let’s talk…. What struggles do you face with social media?