Do You Hate Social Media?

I don’t particularly hate social media, but I definitely see people using it as a crutch to Getting Things Done.

I like to try something new, but in order for me to continue doing it, it has to fulfill a need by serving a significant purpose.

I like using Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. However, I don’t like to use Digg, MySpace, Reddit, etc.

Of course, personal preference plays a key role in choosing to utilize social media or not to. Some people like to keep their focus centralized and others are fine with spreading their attention.

I’m a social media wannabe.

I still don’t know what “poke” means on Facebook. I also don’t know exactly what “nudge” means on Twitter, though I can guess.

Anyway, I’m neither a social media lover nor hater, because I have different opinions about the different aspects of social media. My opinion of Twitter has gone way up in the last few months, but I don’t really care for taking a vampire quiz on Facebook.

Love social media… especially the links to great info/sites like your site. Twitter and Facebook are faves; no more MySpace, and I don’t do plants and junk on Facebook.

When I evacuated because of Hurricane Gustav, Twitter was handy for keeping abreast of conditions back home. Local bloggers regularly tweeted news about my area.

Facebook and MySpace have not only allowed me to meet folks, but I’ve re-connected with some schoolmates I haven’t seen since ’75, ’78 and ’82. The sites make interaction with them much easier.

I’m intrigued by all revolutionary changes taking place, but I do feel a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Mo

I’m definitely a social media lover.

Although it can be hard to figure out how to get the most out of it for your business.

I can understand why people hate it – there really are a lot of people online nowadays using social media badly and spamming or writing content only used for keywords and not user experience.

Even with all the tutorials etc out there on how to use social media properly there will always be people out there just keen to make a buck and not really caring about “best practises”. It’s the same with many industries, not only online marketing.

It’s a pity. Then again when do you find the gemstones they seem more worthwhile

I think it’s the term “social media” that bugs me, and I really don’t know why. I love Facebook, but not from a business standpoint – I like keeping up with friends. I don’t care for Twitter, mostly because most of the people who follow me don’t have a clue who I am and don’t care. I know that because I don’t solicit followers, I don’t have a Twitter link on my blog, and when I do go try to clean out my followers every so often, I get lots of messages about suspended accounts. Even the ones that aren’t suspended seem, for the most part (not talking all, I swear!!) to be just about wanting to pitch something to me, not at all interested in anything I might be doing.

And while I do have a couple of favorite “blogs about blogs” sites (this being one of them), I have to wonder how so many people can possibly profess to be able to tell me how to make my fortune blogging, SEOing, Twittering, etc. I’d like to see some tax returns, know what I mean?

Anyway … it’s not the social media in and of itself that I dislike, it’s the social media-ers who use it as a bludgeon.

I’m neither. I’m trying to figure out how to best use Twitter and the like. I know once I crack the nut, I’ll be good at it. I always have so much writing on my plate, I feel like I’m not getting it done when I involve myself with social media. However, I can acknowledge that if I involve myself in the right way, I may have less writing on my plate in the future. So goes life.

I’m neither a social media lover nor hater. At this point, a more accurate characterization would be social media observer and student.

Initially, I was resistant to diving into social media for three reasons:

1. Time (amount that would be required & being able to manage it effectively)
2. Unsure of the “cost/benefit” ratio of my time investment
3. Uncertain about how to best contribute & provide value

To test the waters, I’ve started blogging and participate almost daily on Twitter. I’ve also set up accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, along with a few other social networking sites.

The most rewarding, enjoyable and potentially profitable connections I’ve made have been on Twitter, probably because that’s where I’ve invested most of my social networking time.

In terms of bottom line results, the jury’s still out. But I’ve only been participating for a couple of months.

Social media is a technoligical byproduct of a human desire to connect with others globally… both for personal and commercial reasons. Because it’s in its infancy, the “face” of social media and its various tools are constantly morphing and will continue to do so in the weeks, months and years ahead.

But like it or not, social media is here to stay.

As an online business owner, it just doesn’t make sense to take the ostrich approach and pretend it doesn’t exist, or hope that if I ignore it long enough, it’ll go away.

And as is the case with everything in business and life, social media will “be” for me, and others who participate, whatever we decide to make of it.

I am literally a student of social media. I use Twitter, blog, am trying to learn Facebook and LinkedIn, and I am pursuing a doctoral degree in an online setting. In my professional life, I help build and maintain our company intranet and we are looking into the idea of using social media internally. It’s quite an adventure!

I can see where social media “haters” can see it as a waste of time, but they used to say the same thing about email and Internet access at work. All tools will develop their usefullness and find their place in the work place or become discarded. Everything evolves…

Michael,

The parts I hate are the insincere parts – when someone I just started following on Twitter DM’s me on how to make a million dollars online, or when people write posts for SEO reasons only and not for their readers (you have to do both).

What I love is the friendships I’ve created – and the business I’ve won. In short, I love the people, but not the pretense.

John

Hi Michael,

I’m neither. I’ve tried the social media thing but it absorbs too much time. I am a member of Stumbleupon, BlogCatalog and Blogged.com (for my other blog) but I don’t spend much time on any of them.

However, I closely observed and marvelled at how the Obama Campaign used social media and it was a thing of beauty. Eventually I’ll take the time to better understand and use it. I believe when used properly, it has value.

I have referred to myself as a social media groupie. I have no desire to be the “lead singer”, I’m perfectly content just hanging around backstage and watching in awe.

I think some social media platforms, particularly Twitter, can be very powerful. I first heard about Twitter as part of a story about a young American student who had been jailed in Egypt or somewhere because he was protesting. He used his phone to tweet it and his loved ones back in the US were able to get him out.

Look at how Twitter played into the election this year. Look at the Motrin Moms. Love it or hate it, its hard to deny that Twitter has power. The problem is that (here comes my inner geek) “with great power comes great responsibility” and there’s a lot of irresponsible use of Twitter, like the spam, the people who are only there to sell something, etc.

I don’t use Digg and I rarely use Stumble Upon. I think those are bordering on spam because its not about quality anymore, its about getting traffic. I use Delicious for one thing only – its where I save recipes as recommended by SimpleMom.net.

When I first got into all of this stuff, I signed up for as many social media sites as I could – Twitter, Friendfeed, Utterli, Plurk, identi.ca, you name it. But its just too much. I think it gets to a point where people can become so obsessed with promoting something that it takes away from whatever it is that they’re promoting.

Sometimes I worry that I’m missing out on some great opportunity if I go a day or even an hour with checking in on Twitter so I have to remind myself that the reason I haven’t been on there all day is because I am devoting my time and energy to the opportunity I already have in front of me.

Michael,

No way, I’m definitely not a hater. I’m a “wish I could-er.” I may not see a lot of $-ROI in Twitter, but I like fun, and not everything has to have an ROI.

The problem is, I have two buckets to pull time out of, work and family/life. And I won’t pull more out of family/life. So that leaves work, and I can’t make that make sense, so I sigh on the sidelines. If I ever win the time-lottery and get an extra hour or two added to my day, I’m there.

Hehe. No, the truth is if I won the time lottery I’d put more into my family bucket, and maybe just a little into sleep! But I’d be more tempted…

Regards,

Kelly

I have been using Social Media for the last 3 month and i have made so many friend there, not just submitting my article that i found over the net. So yes i’m Social Media Lover

I’m a recent convert to a lover of social media because of the networking/traffic aspects.
If you aren’t using these types of media
you are going to fall way behind.
You can get addicted to chatting around everywhere and it will do you no good at all then.
Bobby
http://www.bbobbywinchell.com/blog

I have a love hate relationship with social media. I hate that people say that they can drive thousands of hits from it to their websites and I can’t. I love that I can keep up with friends though.