I started this blog on Oct. 9, 2007 as a place to write about social networking tools. I wrote that eNetworking 101 would "focus on what the tools are, how people are using them, their benefits and their shortcomings." On Jan. 15, 2010, I wrote the first in a series called Being Social, which is what social media helps us do. I wanted Being Social to be a newsletter about social media. Eventually, I dropped what was a newsletter-ish format. While I initially wanted Being Social to be published twice monthly, the frequency changed as I was pulled professionally in different directions. I even turned to producing podcasts as a way (I hoped) to produce content more quickly. Over the last few months, I've realized that I am no longer able to continue writing for this blog and so this will be the last post.
What are my final words of wisdom?
What are my final words of wisdom?
- For most professionals, using social media is not an option. It is how we communicate and it is how we do business.
- U can haz mistakes. Many social tools allow us to communicate in real time on our mobile devices. In that environment, typographical and grammatical errors will occur and that's okay. What matters is the message.
- Writing well is still important. When you are blogging, creating web page content, developing a wiki, etc., it is still important to write well. It is also very important to be able to write for that specific medium. Writing web page content is not the same as writing a newspaper article or an academic paper.
- You are your Twitter name. Now at conferences, it is not the business card that people want, but your Twitter name. We might follow someone on Twitter during a conversation as a way of starting what we hope will be a long-term connection.
- How you conduct yourself online matters more that ever. People are making decisions about who to connect with based on what those people are saying online. Being authentic matters, but you also need to understand how your words and online actions will be interpreted. Keep in mind that whatever you say online will never go away. Never.
- Yes, you need to manage your online reputation.
- We're all placing bets on what tools will exist next year as well as what will be "hot". No one's crystal ball is perfect and the future may be fuzzier than we think. The only view that is clear is the one in our rear view mirror.
