Get Me off of Facebook
What is it with everyone slamming social media these days? I was driving from a customer meeting to our warehouse Friday and decided to check in on my parents. A bad habit I have, checking in with them while driving. But, I am stealing a moment of quiet where interruptions are less possible via blue tooth. Some of you know my Dad is battling cancer. He is surviving it and doing well though treatments will continue indefinitely. I check in often. He answers the phone. “Lyn, how do I get off of Facebook? I swear I did not sign up for an account. But, I keep getting email when people post on my wall or whatever it is. “ He goes on and on about how he will look at pictures but, he has no interest in being on Facebook because he does not want his identity stolen.
Huh?
There is no convincing my Dad. Facebook is bad. He wants me to come over this weekend and take him off. I’m so tired of the fear mongering about social media. Fear is based in uneducated, uninformed knowledge. To quote Geek Dad and Wired Magazine about fear in social media: “What information, on a personal level, are you required to share? That’s actually a very simple answer, one that seems to elude many. None. You are required to share nothing. “
I spoke at the Southern States Communication Association this week about social media and was shocked at the real lack of interest. This surprised me since the majority of the members are mass comm. professionals and educators. Have we forgotten how to study and embrace the new and innovative? Where is the innovation people? I will say in defense of my panel and smattering of attendees, the roundtable was full of engaging discussion with people who were passionate or who wanted to understand SM, specifically twitter.
I Just Don’t Communicate That Way.
There will be some people who will never adopt social media. It is not a choice based on fear. It is personality based. My husband chooses not to do social media. He says, “I just don’t communicate that way.” I get that and respect it. He respects my need to create. And part of creating for me is creating content. There will be content creators and content absorbers. Not everyone is wired to put information out there. Not everyone is into sharing business or personal details. I thrive on the collaborative nature of social media. It is a good fit for me as a marketer, promoter and active learner. But, for some it will never be a part of what they do. So be sure to create content they want to absorb.
We’ll Get There Someday
These days I compare the slow adoption of social media in business to a similar pattern in the adoption of ecommerce. In 2000 I was part of the dot.com crash. Laid off after riding high on stock options and the Internet gold rush, I saw the visionaries of online shopping sites miss calculated the fact that there we just not enough people shopping online to support their big ideas. And egos were convinced if they built it people would come. It just did not work that way. 10 years later we are now seeing the fruit in online shopping and success can be had with sound strategy. But, it is not quick.
So we move slowly with the masses. We advocate, educate and set the example for how social media can be used personally and professionally. It is not a fad. Apps can be a fad. Social Spaces can be a fad. Being social as a human behavior is here to stay and by jumping in to understand the applications online now you will be more prepared for how we will be collaborating tomorrow. Join a social media site today and experiment, innovate and educate. Some people call it cutting edge. Others call it research. I call it necessary to stay ahead.
Read More Wired Magazine Article
Southern States Communication Association
4 Responses
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Lynette M. Long Says:
To be fair, speech communication professionals are engaged in research in many different areas that are important to their particular responsibilities as educators. It’s a diverse field and part of the problem is the way panels are scheduled – with so many great ones in the same time slots – folks simply can’t do it all.
What WAS exciting was the level of participation and enthusiasm from those who did choose to engage the social media panels. It was affirming and enlightening … and what I learned from those discussions was truly valuable to our mission of promoting new media education for the next generation of communication professionals.
I think it is useful and important to have professionals “in the real world” participating in these panels and discussions because it is difficult to ignore or rationalize away the experiential credibility you bring to the table. One of the best ideas I heard at the conference for promoting new media education was @barbaranixon’s suggestion that departments create professional advisory boards to help them plan and revise curriculum.
I think I knew that intuitively when I planned our panels and invited you to participate, but after this weekend I am more convinced than ever that this needs to happen in and for our programs. So, while your dad may indeed have little use for social media in his life, I don’t think educators have that opt-out luxury anymore.
I appreciate so much that you took a day out of your busy schedule to join us, and I hope your enthusiasm will inspire more professionals to respond to the invitations of academics to help us meet these daunting but critically important educational goals.
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lynhoytbacon Says:
Thanks for those nice comments Lynette. And thank you again for inviting me. You spark my enthusiasm. And I appreciate your multi-disciplinary point of view. Keep up the social media advocacy. We need more of your colleagues to value what social media brings to higher ed as well as business.
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Barry Diamond Says:
I was at the HRevolution and picked one of your coasters.
Here is a blog link I wanted to share with you sbout Bacon,Social Media and Recruitment Process Outsourcing:
http://www.pinstripetalent.com/RPOlosophy/2009/07/06/my-father-in-law-is-in-the-bacon-business/
Thanks!
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lynhoytbacon Says:
Thanks for the share Barry. Hate I had to miss HRevolution 10. Hope we will meet one day.
