“Getting” Social Media: A Daily Prompt Reponse

Do you feel like you “get” social media, or do you just use it because that’s where all your friends and family are?

It is interesting that this is today’s Daily Prompt post as I have just spent the last two weeks narrowing down my social and electronic portals.

I left Facebook two years ago after being on it for nearly four years. I returned to FB  a year ago because I missed the connection with my extended family.

I just left Twitter this past weekend after being on it for a little over four years. Not sure if I will ever go back. Looking back I feel like I never “got” Twitter and it has changed so much since I logged in in December 2008. It seems to be more marketing driven and I found 140 characters to be too limiting at times.

Since returning to Facebook, my network is a third the size it was before. I have also noticed that there is less text and dialogue and more pictures that are communicated. And I seem to hit the ‘like’ button more than I used to do.

I was on these networks for the reasons asked in the prompt – because it was the new and cool thing to do and because family and friends were on it although I was on these networks quite a bit earlier than my family and friends.

I think that social media has matured and if a recent Facebook post by a high school classmate is any indication, then perhaps people will start leaving social media in droves and return to phone, email, and face to face gatherings as the preferred method of communication.

Any my WordPress blogs? I am merging my two WP blogs back into the original one, this one, because I feel at home here!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/daily-prompt-social/

Daily Prompt: A Word Image Exercise – Follow

Today’s edition of the daily prompt, which I am finding very interesting and unique required of us to do an image word search of a random word and then write about the eleventh image that is shown on the Google image search for that word.

My random word was ‘follow’ even though I have been processing this word and its implications all year as part of my spiritual journey.

Well I followed the directions and guess what popped up in seven of the first eleven images?

Yup! Twitter!

Oh my goodness… I laughed to myself about this one.

I first discovered Twitter, I believe,  in late 2008 via an issue of Wired magazine. I thought that it looked interesting and so I signed up.

Since then I have had, quite frankly, a love-hate relationship with Twitter. Now I have made some meaningful connections and found information that I have used which I probably would have not found anywhere else. And I appreciate this social media platform in many ways.

But what I have wrestled with Twitter has been a focused use for it.  Up until recently I had two Twitter accounts. One was a 2G version of my original account and the other one, which this post will send a feed to, is  focused on book reviews and this blog. I dropped the original account because I came to the belief that this blog (and the associated Twitter account) has given me more focus.

What I am now paying attention to with Twitter is how it has changed and matured over the past almost four years. It has become, I think, an indispensable tool for looking at the world and two cases in point support this claim- The Arab Spring of 2011 and the current weather issues in the northeastern US. In both cases, personal along with basic information about what was occurring gave me, and many others I believe, an different and quicker perspective on these events.

 

 

Thursday Thoughts: Communication and Connection in Today’s World

I have been told by at least one person that I am an early adapter when it has come to Social Media. (Hence my begging to get an invite to Google Plus! which I got from someone I did not know and whom I thanked for doing so!)

I joined Facebook 4 years ago and then dropped it earlier this year because it had become so overwhelming to me. I am now back on Facebook with a page only and am comfortable with that.

Twitter I learned of by way of an article in Wired and thought, “Hum, this is different!” And proceeded to enter the Twitter stream. I hit the reset button in the spring  because it was overwhelming as well and started a new account that has proved much more manageable.

Then, this past Friday, I attended a seminar on Social Media Ministry led by Doug Pagitt, an Minneapolis pastor and social media consultant, and it was one of those ‘ah ha!’ moments for me.

In his opening presentation he spoke of having a social media philosophy and shared some categories that really helped me starting thinking through my social media use.  The categories that helped me  begin to clarify were questions about the why of social media: Is for information, sharing, inspiration, or learning? For me, it is all of those and I needed to clarify which platform was being used for which purpose.

He also spoke of personal, professional, and institutional usage and again some clarity came to my thinking about which of my networks are given to which of these areas. Again it is all of those and I needed to clarify how I was going to use each of them.

Then I read this week a wonderful post by Meredith Gould about one social media ladder over at 
http://churchsocmed.blogspot.com/
 or #chsocm entitled  Social Technographics:Where Are You on the Forrester Ladder?  (http://churchsocmed.blogspot.com/2011/09/social-technographics-climbing.html )

Here is a graphic she used in her post:

 

I am in the upper rungs of this ladder and in the comments made by Josh Bernoff  here  
http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html
  and am aware of the need for multiple engagements on different SM platforms in much greater way today.

Sooo,

I am grateful to Doug and Meredith for their very helpful presentations and I am finding (finally) some peace about my social media usage these days.

These are my Thursday Thoughts!

Related Articles: Social Media, We’re Doing It Wrong 
http://faithc21.blogspot.com/2011/08/social-media-were-doing-it-wrong.html

 

 

 

Review of Tami Heim and Toni Birdsong’s @StickyJesus

“More people will log on to blogs, Facebook, and Twitter this Sunday than will go to church. More people will meet the person they are going to marry online than will likely meet at the church barbecue, And more people will share their joys, heartbreak, and revelations via status updates than will seek the help of a counselor or a pastor this year.”

The land of “shiny things” – electronic smart phones and tablets (like the iPad I am using right now) are here to stay. It is the online world of Twitter, Facebook, Google, and blogging. And people of all ages and backgrounds are flocking to it.

And Tami Heim and Toni Birdsong offer us a wonderful faith-based guide to help us navigate and serve the Lord in their book @Sticky Jesus: how to live out your faith online.

Published by Digital Scribe Press, @Sticky Jesus offers both veterans and novices of the online world a very valuable resource to help them as they navigate the online world. There are three wonderful chapters on the basic of Facebook, Twitter, and blogging that will help newcomers navigate their entry into the world of “social media.”

What I found valuable in this book was the reminder of how one’s character is both expressed in and shaped by the online world. The chapters dealing with humility, the danger zones, and the work of the Holy Spirit in one’s online presence.

Having taken a significant Twitter break the past three weeks, @Sticky Jesus has provided me with gut check about my own online presence.

Tami and Toni has done us a wonderful favor in writing this book. I believe that it should be considered as a textbook for college communication classes as it deals with not just content but ethical issues.

I will definitely be recommending this book to friends and my congregation. Thanks Tami and Toni!

(Note: I was graciously given a copy of this book by the authors and was not required to write a positive review.)

Twitter, Round 2

A few weeks ago, I decided to end my personal Twitter account and focus on my Facebook network while still tweeting for a local community program that I am involved with.

After 8 days, I came back to Twitter because it had become a source of information for me (and, with some of my “tweeps,” a source of relationships).

I changed my Twitter “handle” to more accurately describe my frame of reference as a small town pastor and book lover.

I stopped trying to follow so many people (I was up over 200) and focused on some key areas that interested me – leadership, books, some humor and inspiration, as well as general Christian spirituality and life.

It has been a good transition back and I am enjoying it.

But this afternoon I tweeted, “is thinking/asking, “Do I have a responsibility 2 my followers beyond offering a brand/product? If so, what? If not, ???”

I am not sure if I will get any response but one of the things that I think I have solved is the marketing/branding issue. I am not on Twitter to market anything or myself in any way. (I recognize and respect the value of this however.)

I am on Twitter to listen and learn from others who believe as I do and who don’t believe as I do. I am here to connect with a small part of the human race around the world.

But, if I am not marketing anything, (other than links to this blog via twitterfeed with my sermons and book reviews) don’t I STILL have some kind of responsibility to those who follow me?

For one, I think I have a responsibility to be me and share, appropriately, my thoughts and, yes, my faith in a respectful way.

This probably means that I will not have large amounts of followers (and that is okay) nor will I follow large amounts of people. But it means that I place in “Twitterspace” to be a kind and care voice… and person.

What do you think? If you are on Twitter, do you have a responsibility to your followers apart from some product or brand?

Re-“twhinking” Twitter

After reading an article about Twitter in a 2008 issue of Wired magazine, I decided to try it. So I signed up on, I believe, December 5, 2008.

It has been an interesting and amazing experience.

But I will admit to having a love-hate attitude toward it after a period of time…

Love: I have made some good connections with several people that have become important to me personally and professionally. Several are now in my Facebook network.

Hate: I got up to following around 250 persons/groups at one point. But after a while, the persons that I truly enjoyed following, I lost track of in the ‘tweet streamosphere’ So, I did a radical paring of those that I followed down to under 100. It was hard to do because there were many that had good things to say. But I had to regain control of my Twitter stream.

Love: I have had several good conversations via tweeting and have followed some of them up with an e-mail for further discussion.

Hate: 140 characters is too short for a meaningful conversation of any substance.

Love: Twitter has helped me to express myself in short bursts of concentrated thought.

Hate: The well gets dry and has been for few weeks. (I’ll chalk it up to the holiday schedules and my headcold!) So when I have nothing to say, it bothers me.

Love: I have gained new ideas and insights into a variety of fields – especially social media and marketing – simply by being on Twitter and listening.

Hate: I am not a social media and marketing person. But I enjoy learning from others and listening as well to what is going on in this big ‘ol world.

So, I am now evaluating my Twitter usage. I have used the phrase “learn, listen, and link” this year as my guide for tweeting but is this still working.

If you are on Twitter, have you re-evaluated your tweeting philosophy and, if so, what has been your evaluation metrics?

A Final Reflection on my Social Media Sabbatical

This past Saturday, I returned to the world of social media after a 30-day eSabbatical (as my friend and fellow blogger Joan Ball called it), when I ‘tweeted’ a greeting from Knoxville, Tennessee that was the final night stopover of a week vacation to Orlando and Universal Studio. It had been about 32 days since I posted a personal ‘tweet’ on Twitter.

The following day, Sunday, I logged on to Facebook and was faced with nearly 50 invites to events and groups along with 7 or so friend requests. (I approved the friend requests, but I did not approve the invites as I have decided that I cannot take the time to join all of these various causes and games.) It had been about the same amount of time since I was on Facebook.

I had mixed feelings about the return to social media because after nearly 5 weeks of being away from it, I began to feel the overwhelming demands of it again. However, I was glad to do some catching up with friends, discovered some great things to process, and learn, as well.

Yet the sabbatical, which I shall take again in either December or January, was worth it for two reasons: 1. I got in touch with God again in some deeper and better ways. 2. I reconnected with my wife and kids.

Regarding the deepening re-connection with God I did the following:

I developed the following “Daily Prayer Habit” that came out of my reading of Gary Thomas’ Spiritual Pathways:

Daily Prayer Habit

Invocation

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(Short time of silence)

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. (3 times)

Prayer of Adoration/Thanksgiving

You are holy, Lord, the Only God.

And your deeds are wonderful.

You are strong.

You are great.

You are the Most High,

You are almighty.

You, holy Father, are

King of heaven and earth.

You are Three in One,

Lord God, all good.

You are Good, all Good, supreme Good,

Lord God, living and true.

You are love,

You are wisdom.

You are humility,

You are endurance.

You are rest,

You are peace.

You are joy and gladness.

You are justice and moderation.

You are all our riches,

And you suffice for us.

You are beauty.

You are gentleness.

You are our protector,

You are our guardian and defender.

You are our courage.

You are our haven and hope.

You are our faith,

Our great consolation.

You are our eternal life,

Great and wonderful Lord,

God almighty,

Merciful savior.                  (St Francis of Assisi)

Prayer of Confession

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. (3 times)

(Short time of silence)

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant. Psalm 119:176 (ESV)

Almighty God, Spirit of purity and grace, in asking thy forgiveness I cannot claim a right to be forgiven but only cast myself upon thine unbounded love.

I can plead no merit or desert:

I can plead no extenuating circumstances:

I cannot plead the frailty of my nature:

I cannot plead the force of the temptations I encounter:

I cannot plead the persuasions of others who led me astray:

I can only say, for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son, my Lord. Amen. (John Baillie)

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. (3 times)

(Short time of silence)

Prayers for Divine Help

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Grant me hope and patience with the things that take time, grace and mercy toward the struggles of others that may be different from my own, appreciation for all I have and the willingness to get up and try again, one day at a time. Your will, not my will, be done. Amen. (based on Reinhold Niebuhr)

O Holy Spirit of God, visit now this soul of mine, and tarry within it until eventide. Inspire all my thoughts. Pervade all my imaginations. Suggest all my decisions. Lodge in my will’s inward citadel and order all my doings. Be with me in my silence and in my speech, in my haste and in my leisure, in company and in solitude, in the freshness of the morning and in the weariness of the evening; and give me grace at all times humbly to rejoice in Thy mysterious companionships. Amen. (John Baillie)

Show us, good Lord,

The peace we should seek,

The peace we must give,

The peace we can keep,

The peace we must forgo,

And the peace you have given in Jesus our Lord.

Contemporary Prayers for Public Worship, Micklem, ed.

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointments as material for patience:

Let me use success as material for thankfulness:

Let me use suspense as material for perseverance:

Let me use danger as material for courage:

Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering:

Let me use praise as material for humility:

Let me use pleasure as material for temperance:

Let me use pains as material for endurance. Amen

(John Baillie)

Reading of the Psalm for today

Reading of the Scripture for today

Singing of a Hymn

Intercession

Family first

Then others as led by the Spirit

A Moment of Worship

Come, let us worship and bow down before God our King.

Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ, our King and our God.

Come, let us worship and bow down before Christ Himself, our King and our God. Amen

(from Gary Thomas’s Sacred Pathways)

Final Prayers

God, I believe that you are the power greater than ourselves to restore us to complete sanity and, as a result, I again this day surrender my life and my will to Your care praying only for the knowledge of Your will for me and the power to carry that out. Relieve me of the bondage of myself that I may better do Your will.

(Based on the 12 Steps of AA)

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. (Three times)

O Lord, thank you for hearing my prayers. Give me the strength to serve You this day. Have mercy on me and save me, for You are good and love humankind. Amen.

(from Gary Thomas’ Sacred Pathway)

Sources:

Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways; The Oxford Book of Prayer George Appleton, ed.; A Guide to Prayer, The Upper Room.

It has been very helpful to me and when I have not done it first thing, I notice it later in the day. Thomas’ book also helped me to finally accept what a traditional person I truly am when it comes to my “sacred pathway.” I am still processing what that means.

In my reading of Jonathan Hill’s book, The History of Christian Thought, (still not done) I became aware again and in new ways of the heritage and history of my faith. (And wondered why we are still here after all of the oppression of one another through the centuries! God’s grace for sure!)

John Ortberg’s book If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat!, was a shot of spiritual adrenaline and really challenged me to get out of the boat, like Peter and move forward in faith. I am still pondering some of my notes that I took away from that book

Then I began reading Susan Jacoby’s work, The Age of American Unreason, and while I do not see eye-to-eye with her on theological issues, her chapter “The Culture of Distraction,” reminded me of the second point of my sabbatical: reconnecting with my family.

In that chapter, that to me is a priceless piece of good writing, I was reminded of the value of two things important to human relationships: listening and conversation. And I was not doing either one very well with my family.

I sensed and heard, my wife’s growing frustration and resentment, with my electronic conversations. My two boys, glued to the computer and TV screens, along with me, filled our house with electronic noise and not human conversation that would finally come in hotel pools, queue lines, and the car as well as on walks through the neighborhood.

Something needed to change…

About mid-June someone I follow on Twitter said something about a Twitter sabbatical. I thought, “I’ll do one in July.” And I did.

My joy of reading has come back to me. (Jacoby laments the lack of reading for pleasure in our society.) I am again engaged in listening and conversation (again something Jacoby believes we lack in our society) to and with both family and my congregation.

So as a result, I feel more human and alive than I have for a while. And I intend to keep it that way.

I also had fun…

As I rode roller coasters and got soaking wet in the high humidity 90’s of central Florida. (I really recommend a ride on Universal’s “Hulk” coaster)…

As I drove through the Smoky mountains of east central Tennessee, my mother’s birthplace and home until high school graduation during World War 2…

As I engaged a couple from England about ‘Holiday’ in the hotel swimming pool in Orlando and listened to Brazilian Portuguese, Argentinean Spanish, German, French, and various UK dialects all around me while there…

Eating a true ‘Dagwood’ sandwich and riding a Dr Seuss ride…

St Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:12, “You may say, “I am allowed to do anything.” But I reply, “Not everything is good for you.” And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.” (NLT)

I cannot let social media control me. I must control it.

I recommend a social media sabbatical… it is good for your soul and your relationships.

A Halfway Reflection on my Social Media Sabbatical

Today, I am halfway through my “social media sabbatical” that I began at the end of June. This sabbatical consists of not tweeting on Twitter; or posting or responding to messages on Facebook. (I admit to logging on to Facebook for a couple of e-mail address cross checks.)

It has not been as hard as I thought it would be.

I got the idea from another ‘tweep’ and given the state of my soul and schedule four weeks ago, I though that it would be a good idea. It has been.

What have I done on my sabbatical? Well I have had some fun. For example, I went to Kings’ Island Amusement park outside of Cincinnati and had a blast. I rode the new coaster, Diamondback, 4 times! It had a great deal of airtime, especially on the top of the hills.

The Beast seemed slower for some reason this year. Well, it’s only 65 MPH compared to the Diamonback’s 82 MPH. Then there is The Racer; still a classic to ride and enjoy. I think that I had 13 or so circuits under my belt of about 4 or 5 coasters this year. I cannot wait until Cedar Point!  (And there still is Kingda Ka out in New Jersey! My oldest and I are trying to figure out how to get out there!)

I helped wash my mother’s mobile home. I say ‘helped,’ because my wife did most of the scrubbing! I also reconnected with some cousins that I have not seen in several years.

As noted in a previous post, Picking Green Beans and Counting People, (http://jimkane.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/picking-beans-and-counting-people/) I have done some important community service that has taught me a great deal.

I have also read:

The late A.W.Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God. A 6-decade-old classic that still has much to teach us about the true pursuit of God.

I re-read Keith Miller’s book The Secret Life of the Soul that again reminded me programs and slogans cannot help us do the deep soul work that only a willingness to surrender to God and allow our wall of denial to break down can do.

Julia Duin’s book Quitting Church has also given me much to think about as well. (See my review elsewhere on this blog.)

John Ortberg’s If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat, spoke to me on many levels about faith and fear and becoming fearless for the Lord once again. Then Gary Thomas’ Spiritual Pathways, a great book about how we best experience God, was a cool drink of water for me. As I read it, I was again reminded that I am a traditionalist when it comes to one of my sacred paths and that I thrive on liturgy. (Hum, I wonder what the implications are for future ministry?) I have started to utilize his included example for a “habit” of prayer.

But what has been most important has been the experience of being renewed in my soul and drawing closer to God. I was losing my ‘hearing’ with all the ‘tweeting’ and ‘friending.’ My wife noticed this and I needed to address this. I have also reconnected with my wife through evening walks and time on the patio talking about many different things that we have needed to talk about.

I am not sure that I am going to continue to personally tweet when August 1^st arrives. I am seeing Twitter more and more as a PR and marketing tool (and that is okay) but how can one have a meaningful conversation in 140 characters or less? I think in complete sentences and paragraphs. But I have valued several ‘tweeps’ who have become friends beyond 140 characters and shared some good things with me.

Facebook will stay with me. I am reconnecting with family and some high school friends as well as childhood friends and that is important to me.

But, this sabbatical has been much more beneficial that I imagined. And my e-mail box is more manageable as well.

One blog, same writer: Twitter, what to do what to do; Speaking of Social Media and Communication

One blog, same writer…

I decided that I could not keep up with two blogs so I have merged my other blog about rural community into this one since it is the context of my current life and work.

Twitter, what to do, what to do…

It was mid-December that I joined Twitter the micro-blogging site in which you have 140 characters (not words but characters) in which to answer the question, ‘What are you doing?’

Since that time, I have had over 100 persons and organizations from around the world ‘follow’ me. I am honored to have them follow. Some have become friends that I communicate with about matters of faith and life in other ways. Others are ‘persons (‘sources’ is an inappropriate term here) of information’ regarding ministry, rural life, etc. that I find helpful to me. I hope that I am contributing to their quality of life as well.

Yet I find myself wrestling with Twitter on the basis of my time and those deep seated needs that we all have for connection and community. Is Twitter what I need to have in my communication/community tool box or not?

Can I really express myself in 140 characters? Should I?

I am amused at the various tools Twitter users have at their disposals. There are those that give you a ‘cloud’ of your tweets. A ‘cloud’ is a word picture that includes words of various sizes that make up the theme of your tweets. The more that theme is used the bigger the cloud. I must admit, that when I used that tool and saw my cloud, it gave me pause for reflection.

Another measures your influence as a ‘twitterer’ on a scale of 1 to 100. I am at a 93 right now. Not bad, I suppose. But given my addiction to academic perfection (Hi! I’m Jim and I am a recovering perfectionist), I want a 100! Yet is that the goal of communication? To be a Power Twitterer?

Why have I started to use Twitter? To stoke my ego? To share my faith? To connect with other people and learn from them? My honest answer to all three questions is, “Yes!”

All of this has been brewing in me for a while (and I did follow Starbucks on twitter for a while) and it jelled in the question, ‘Do I have a Twitter voice?’ If so, what is it?

My initial thought is that my Twitter voice is to be guided by my values of faith, family, and service. I am not in it for marketing something though I think that it is a great business tool and I would use it as such.

I am on Twitter to care and to share… but only until tomorrow night… starting midnight Palm Sunday, I won’t be tweeting until Easter Sunday afternoon. The only Tweet I might, might do is to let you know that my Palm Sunday message is posted. Otherwise, no tweets for a week.

I would simply refer you to David Pogue’s great article in the February 11, 2009 New York Times article, ‘Twitter is What You Make It!’ for his fine take. And also, his TED appearance, was very humorous and well done. Go to TED.com or if you have an iPod, the iPod store and download the podcast version.

Speaking of social media and communication…

From my friend @ramblindan on Twitter had a link to a post this morning from foxbusiness.com regarding the current state of communications with the ‘digital generation.’ I was pleased (and a bit surprised to be honest) about the findings.

According to the opening paragraph of the article, “It [the study] concludes that the offline world is still the primary influencer and driver of young people in how they conduct their lives, including interactions with friends, family, entertainment media, communication technologies, advertising and brands.

I also noted with interest the finding that “young people demonstrate a surprisingly narrow repertoire of favourite “old media” channels, with an average of just five favourite TV channels.” Let’s see, for me it is, Fox News, HLN, CNBC, Discovery, Speed Channel, History, and that about covers it.

You can find the study here:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/keeping-real-offline-communications-key-connecting-digital-generation/

Finally, I have heard that NBC is coming to Kendallville next Thursday and doing a story about the lunch backpack program at the elementary school my boys have attended and my wife works at. So be looking for it.

A Considered Social Media Strategy: Social Media in the Rural Community

I remember way, way back in 1995 standing in front of computer screen with a bunch of people and watching America Online load. Then in 1997, I found out a company named Juno was starting a free e-mail service and I got my first e-mail address.

In 2001, I started searching the Internet for sermon ideas and illustrations and discovered sermoncentral.com to which I have added my sermons for use by fellow pastors and, when requested, sent my PowerPoint slides to them literally from Ireland to India and points in between.

A few years later, I tried to start blogging but nothing good came of it. Then in the summer of 2007, I was invited to join a Facebook group through some work I was doing for the Case Foundation out of Washington, D.C. Then, just last year, I joined MySpace because I was in some wedding pics posted by the couple I had married and then earlier this year I joined LinkedIn.

I also decided last spring to start blogging my sermons and after fits and starts came on line with my sermon blog in December 2008. This blog came on line in the fall of 2008.

Then there is Twitter. I first read of Twitter last year in an issue of Wired magazine and thought I would give it a try. I joined just last month and the rest is history. (Hi, I’m Jim and I am a Twitteraholic!)

I share this brief history with you because I believe that in considering a social media strategy a look back at your personal history with the Internet, which has made social media possible, is a necessary ingredient in considering your social media strategy forward from this point in your life. But, another reason is the issue and need of balance in your life.

This week I posted a note about Social Media and one’s sanity and I did so with the thought of doing a follow up piece about one person’s media strategy and thoughts. This comes as a response to some ‘tweets’ I received linking to some posts and e-books about social media strategies. I am grateful to two fellow ‘Twitterers’ (‘Twiteri?’), Amber Naslund over at altitudebranding.com and Jason Falls at socialmediaexplorer.com, for their posts about making sense of Social Media. Jason posted some comments from David Finch called “The Social Media Trap: What’s the Next Big Thing?” and it got me to thinking about how much social media I use and how much is too much.

I like what he said after ticking off all of the current social media trends and sights, ‘The challenge is how can I maximize not what’s coming, but how can I maximize what I already have.’

He then goes on to offer his ‘7 Ways to Avoid the Social Media Trap’

1. Engage in conversations within the communities you are currently a part of.

2. Revisit social networks that you already have a profile in and see if the community has evolved or grown since you last visited.

3. Don’t run after the “next thing.” If it’s big you’ll find out about it, believe me.

4. Think execution before activation.

5. Simplify and go back to the basics of social media: people first, tools second.

6. See if you can unplug and connect with others face-to-face.

7. Add to your social media toolbox not what everyone has, but only what you will use.

As I read these things, I made a determination to:

1. Get off MySpace since I am not doing anything with it and most of the people I was linked to are now on Facebook.

2. Use Facebook as my primary social media to maintain contact with family, classmates, and friends.

3. Use LinkedIn to improve my professional networking.

4. Use Twitter as an active reflection tool with others in a focused way.

5. Remember that face to face is still very important

6. Limit my time on these things to take care of my primary relationships – family most notably.

7. “Get a life,” as my wife often says, and not be on-line as much as I used to be.

Thanks David and Jason!

Now, as for Amber’s article ‘The Social Media Starter Kit,’ her thoughts are helping me focus on what kinds of tools are out there and what are good for starters. She mentioned two that I use – Tweet Deck for Twitter and wordpress.com that is the host of this blog. I have found both to be very good and easy tools to use.

She also has a couple of e-books available at her site that I have download but not yet read. I plan to review them and share my thoughts at a later date.

These tools and my journey have allowed me to be connected globally in ways that I never imagined. But the challenges and even the ethics, of using these tools are on-going issues as we continue to expand the electronic frontier.

I believe the appropriate and proper use of them can benefit those living in rural and small town settings by allowing one to be connected in some meaningful ways. But have a plan and use your social media is some focused ways so that you are not overwhelmed by it all… and don’t forget to stay connected face to face with significant others in your life!

(For a really interesting take on Twitter go to David Pogue’s article of 9 February in the New York Times, ‘Twitter Is What You Make It.’)