Forum

Today, IDG posted a great article with helpful tools on social media. I'm pretty new to all this – just really started using Twitter in Jan. Have been on Facebook for some time personally, but not professionally. Then there are sites like LinkedIn, which I'm on, but barely look at; GenealogyWise, again barely use, and others. What are your favs? What are the best resources? What are the best uses of limited time in our lives? How do you keep from getting sucked in and just doing it all day long? I have to close the site to be able to concentrate on other items sometimes… it can be addictive and therefore incredibly time consuming. And did I mention Pinterest?

I love social media; I think I would be a very lonely person without it. However, I've been online for 13 years like a lot of people have and I think that you can spread yourself to thin. I know there are people that say you need to be here, here & here. But how good are those avenues if you don't have the time to cultivate them or interact with the people on those sites? I don't like to follow people who just want you to RT their stuff but they don't talk to anyone. FB is OK, but something about it. I just never really felt at home there. I do facebook for the family. I don't open that to the public because I have 4 country boy brothers and you just never know when a picture of a dead gator, hog, or deer may appear on my page. I know this could offend some people, but I am not about to apologies to anyone for our life style.

I do have google+, I thought it might be nice to use that just for genealogy now I only seem to use it for the hangout. I am a avid fan of twitter. I love the real time interaction you have there. Then there is email and lets not forget our blogs. So where do you start first? How much time do you spend on each one? Is one more important than the other? Do I post everything on all of them, or do I need to divide them up? So here is a question. What about the people from each of those places? What about the people that followed you, because they like you, and your work? How long do those friendships or connections last if you’re not there to help them grow? Quality is just as important in social media as it is in real life. I think it is very rude when I see someone ask a question on a blog and it goes unanswered. Yet they have time to keep adding to their blog. If you have time for that then you have time to respond to the people that not only took the time to read your blog but tried to participate on it. If I see that happening a couple of times. I will not only stop reading that blog, I won’t want to follow them anywhere. And I don’t know how many times I seen people complaining on twitter that so & so doesn’t say thank you anymore for the RT’s. People think that is very rude. I think people find it so offensive because the other person is starting to take the “personal” out of their interaction with their followers. What I found works best for me is finding a couple places that I love and then sing it to the choir! I work on creating both friendships and relationships with others that I can network with in the future.

Jen this is your social media, do what you are comfortable with. I just met you and I think you are just adorable, sweet & very smart. I don’t think you will have a hard time growing your brand. Remember, the trees that grow strong and old are the ones with deepest roots.

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