How do you use Social Media?

Posted: 2013-08-12 12:00 Permanent Link

As a technology support professional, I try to understand how/why people do the things they do in order to better assist them with getting the most out of the technology usage.

Here are some questions that I ask people when helping them with their usage of Social Media applications:

What Social Media do you use? Why/Why not?
What do you get from it?
What would you like to see it do better?
What are your pain points with using it?
What platforms do you use it on?
Where do you use it?
Do you have personal and professional accounts? Why/Why not?

This leads to some amazing discussions about people’s current technology usage. As there are constantly new social media type applications coming out. All of them hoping to be the next Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever may be the next craze.

I usually create a login to every one of the new applications so that when help is needed I already know what to do to assist. However, it is getting increasingly difficult to keep up as more and more of these applications show up.

Here are my answers to the questions and please feel free to comment on the blog with your answers as well:

Facebook

Facebook, it is the most common application of its kind and thus requires that I understand it well. Most of our staff and most of my friends, associates and family use it.

Facebook has evolved to be very much a communication tool as much as a social networking tool. For example, I have experienced wedding showers organized on it. People chat on Facebook instead of Messenger these days. I regularly keep up with happenings with my Facebook friends by the notices from Facebook.
While I do not post a lot on FB, I do share some things and that is probably a reflection of my own personal style.
I certainly am glad to see the posts that I do see on FB and I easily control to make sure that I am not inundated with FB posts that I do not want to see.
I occasionally use FB on computers, but more often on Smart Phones or Tablets. Sometimes I view FB pictures on my 60” HT TV. I even have FB pictures as my Roku’s screensaver.
I never use my FB login as authentication for other website applications, as this can result in FB posts for whatever I am doing in the other applications and I want to control when/how I make a FB post and not leave this to an automated application.
I never put anything on FB that I would be worried about if it was printed and put on the company Bulletin Board. As a result, I only need one FB account.

LinkedIn, this application is often described as totally different things depending upon who you talk to about it. Some people think of it is a job hunting tool, others think it is a business marketing tool, still others use it to network with other business professionals

Everybody at my work has a LinkedIn profile as do most people I know in the business world.
I use LinkedIn to maintain the Networking Group Halton IT Pros. We communicate using LinkedIn. We announce meeting using LinkedIn. We help each other using LinkedIn. Basically LinkedIn links in our networking group.
I would love it if LinkedIn made uploading files to their website a real thing
My biggest pain with LinkedIn is meeting invitations to my various groups and keeping track of responses. It seems like most people cannot or do not deal with LinkedIn meeting invitations very well.

Twitter

Twitter, now this is an interesting application that is seeing far different use that most other application in this discussion. Twitter was initially described as blogging in 128 characters, now there is so much more to it that it is hard to describe all of the uses. With Twitter, I am:

Mainly a consumer, rather than a contributor.
Follow many and varied other Twitter users.
Have installed and use TweetDeck for both computer and SmartPhone Twitter usage.
Love the OPP traffic Twitter feed.
Like most of the professional twitters feeds that I follow.
Ignore most of the non-professional feeds that I have followed.

Windows Live / Outlook.com

Windows Live / Outlook.com, has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Microsoft is trying very hard to make your live.com authentication be the one stop for everything Microsoft. It can access your Microsoft based Instant Messaging, Blogging, Windows 8, TechNet subscription, MS online store and MS applications purchased directly from Microsoft. But is MS Live a social media? I think not, but it allows considerable access to social media.

FourSquare

FourSquare, is a social media application that uses your Smart Phone’s GPS capabilities to acquire your current location and allows you to see (and thus check into) things in the area. When you “check in” on FourSquare, you can publish these check ins on foursquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.. When checking into locations you are encouraged to to take pictures on your Smart phone and upload them as well as to offer tips about the location. I find the tips very informative and some businesses even offer discounts for checking into them on Foursquare. Foursquare offers recognition for using them in the form of Badges for accomplishments. While they are amusing when I see that I have been awarded a badge, it is not something I care about one way or another.

Google+

Google+, Google automatically offered me this one and kept prodding me until I said okay. Furthermore, Google continues to suggest people I can collaborate with and I have okay a few times. However, there has not been anything compelling enough for me to put in the effort for yet another Social Media application

Pinterest, is an application that while I subscribed and checked out, I have never really gotten into it. I guess it is because I am a pretty ugly guy and as a result I am kind of camera shy. I do not know, maybe one day I will take this one more seriously

Yelp

Yelp, Restaurant reviews. Enough said?

MySpace

MySpace, I used to have a MySpace login, but forgot about it a long time ago.

Instagram

Instagram, I never bothered with this one.

Tumblr

Tumblr, while I am curious, I do not have the time for this one either.

As it must be apparent to everyone who has read this far, there are more Social Media applications then there are hours in a day available to deal with them. In order to get what you originally wanted from Social Media you have to pick the applications you like to use and just simply be aware of the others in case they become something of significance to you in the future.

Please offer your comments about your social media usage now.