10 things that I learnt aboutsocial media in the last

100 days…

A journey into self-discovery on social media..

www.profmanishparihar.blogspot.com

3rd January 2012

Disclaimer:

• these are already established facts about social media and i do not claim to have learnt them on my own#. My mentors and other sources on the net have enabled me to 'discover' these truths..The sources have been acknowledged by URLs where ever possible..

• AND, of course my observations are subject to change..

# (this means you cannot dislike them on FB… – just kidding)

1. We should refrain from having multiple profiles / identities on social media.

• This is because our mind will be constantly engaged in thinking what we would like to present ourselves at which social networking profile.

• Ultimately, social media is just another kind of 'public space' as per Danah Boyd - social media researcher at Microsoft; hence, we just cannot be 'two' different persons on it. As we cannot be two different people in the real world.

2. Its not the numbers, its the quality of friends that we have on social media.

• Some people feel that it is their birth-right to be connected to every human being even to join social media marketing.. but that actually builds up the numbers... This results in a lot of 'noise' but this is at a big cost of 'quality of conversation'. The former is useless and the latter is priceless.

• As Seth Godin says in his latest book, 'Tribes', even if you have only 1000 amazing friends on FB, you can cause a revolution in the area which you are most passionate about.

3. If we are not serious, then we should be sincere

• (as per Chetan Bhagat) and be earnest (as per Randy Pausch) on social media. People do not see whether how many jokes or research papers you have put on your profiles. They see how 'REAL' you are on those profiles and they can easily indentify a 'poser'.

• A good example is the website of one of the social media enthusiasts (trainer, consultant and my friend) Prateek Shah.

4. Consistency is the key to build long term brand equity on social media.

• Even if that brand equity is yours.. i.e. personal branding. Hence, we should not pose ourselves as a hot-bod-gym-trainer-know-it-all and then on some other profile, show that we are a complete 'foodie' and just eat whatever comes your way. We should be consistent in projecting our real selves to the world.

5. It is not about how many

different social media platforms

that you are present on.

• It's about the quality of conversation that you are having on multiple platforms and the focus of the conversations. It is about "convergence" of various platforms so that the online brand persona across different websites is "seamlessly integrated".

• This magical word of convergence can help the outside world to have a clear picture of 'who you are as a person' and this just goes a long long way to build credibility and respect for your online personal brand.

6. Try to think beyond Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

• I know it is very difficult and we just can live without these three platforms... but try to explore some amazing other social media platforms in addition to these.

• For example, Quora is a wonderful platforms where there is no avenue for entertainment. It is just a question-and-answer portals where you will meet amazing professionals (experts of their fields) and you can use this platforms to actually do research in your area of interest..

• Many more good platforms are also present. For a detailed list, i would recommend you visit the site E-Gurukul which is run by a very passionate social media expert Mr. Yogesh M.A.

7. Don't be scared of social media

• and don't be afraid to join new social media portals. Ultimately, when the mobile phones came, many of use skeptics said that we will never have a mobile phone. But look around now, we just cant live without them. The same holds true with social media.

• Every company, every person, every community, every NGO, every Government is either present or will be present on some or the other form of social media in the years to come. So, shed your fears and join a social network ! Its fun, especially when you know how to use it to your benefit.

8. Don't over-hype and over-do social media.

• It is just like you are playing 14 hours of video games and then complain of neck pain and head-aches. Too much social media will make you off-balance in the real world and your attention span will suffer. It will also create a wrong perception among the online community that you are a job-less social media freak and your credibility might suffer a beating.

9. Don't under-utlilize social media.

• Do not be a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of social media person who goes underground and then surfaces after six months and posts on FB wall "Hey, today i came back out of my social media hibernation". Ultimately, you have to keep on the conversations, just like in real life.

10. Social media is just an extension of our real social world.

Source: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=real+world+vs.+social+media&um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=629&tbm=isch&tbnid=Najn1qHcnobsJM:&imgrefurl=http://www.joshspeters.com/book-review-and-giveaway-the-real-truth-about-social-media&docid=XnJ-LdLPHJXvBM&imgurl=http://www.joshspeters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/RealTruthSocialMedia.jpg&w=500&h=500&ei=n7MCT8_-I8OGrAe1vdn0DA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=434&vpy=277&dur=3130&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=135&ty=93&sig=110208143357955753224&page=1&tbnh=137&tbnw=140&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

• It is just the way we live in the world - physically. The extension of our true selves, only in a new medium. That medium is just another public space or domain. This new public space demands that we be a part of it just as we are a part of our society…

• Being real, conversing regularly, not bluffing our way into other people's lives, respecting ours and their privacy, not using this media as an emotional gutter (to drain out all our negativity into other peoples lives) and not meddling too much into other people's affairs....

• basically, just minding our own business and MOST importantly, helping other people in need of timely information or knowledge. Because there is a golden rule of social media "Sharing is caring". But there is a caveat: Do not share everything and anything on social media. "Sharing only that which is useful and timely" is the real caring.

So go on, be social and have fun !!

manish parihar3rd Jan 2012

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