So how do you start engaging in Social Media? I had to find out quickly as I had committed to delivering an introductory workshop on Twitter in little over 6 weeks.
The first challenge was to understand what Social Media is, how it works, how one participates, what are the components and what if any are the benefits, risks and exposures for those engaged.
The best definition of Social Media that I have found so far comes from Gartner, who describe Social Media as "an on-line mass collaboration environment". There are certainly many other definitions and views but this seems to encapsulate the key attributes. It's internet based and in the present, millions participate and it works best when there are meaningful dialogues and shares.
How it works is simple. Users create artifacts that they share on web pages or through web based Social Media tools. The environment is unstructured and largely unconfined, and anybody can contribute pretty much any idea, belief, observation or digital item.
Then there are the tools, and there are so very many of them, some known and many that are unfamiliar. There are tools to share messages, blogs, walls, photos, videos, music, shopping experience, meeting groups - they are legion. It was obvious that careful selection would be required, and before a tool could be selected it was important to determine what my objective (or my target workshop members' objectives) would be. This reflected an often repeated mantra on Social Media involvement "Purpose, Purpose, Purpose". In other words don't do anything unless you know what you are trying to achieve.
I am currently a job seeker and the target group for my workshops contains other job seekers. The principle purpose for anyone in such a position is to market one's skills and experience as actively and professionally as possible. Attracting the attention and consideration of potential employers, recruiters or even those who may know of job opportunities is critical to gaining that first interview and returning to the work force. Social Media is a natural and accommodating environment for doing just that. However it is also an environment that disdains too much self promotion while demanding to insights into the non-professional aspect of one's character.
One other demand is made by Social Media - participants must share. At first sight this may sound counterproductive to those seeking employment, (for example sharing knowledge dilutes one's uniqueness and helps one's competitors). But it is in fact the opposite, sharing allows you to provide better examples of your knowledge, skills and passion than can be expected from any resume, no matter how well it is written. In addition when you share and others share back you learn more, especially about current topics, themes and challenges.
It should be mentioned that all members of the job seeker networking group that will attend my workshop will have or are in the process of completing marketing plans that identify their uniqueness and most importantly their brand. And it is that brand that will be marketed in Social Media.
After much deliberation the proposed objectives for myself and my workshop group are:
- Use Social Media Tools to establish a presence and promote one's brand
- Determine 2-3* areas of expertise to
- promote professional knowledge
- grow network of professional contacts
- share and expand knowledge
- Identify 2-3 areas of interest to
- promote my non-professional passion and interest
- grow network of interesting contacts
- have fun and feed one's curiosity
- Analyze and Identify Appropriate Social Media Tools to achieve the above.
* Starting out with more than 2 areas of expertise is difficult, as it takes time to develop an awareness of the subtopics, participants, activity schedule and the value of their contributions.
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