What is this?

Over the past few years social media has exploded. I'm not sure if exploded is even the word for it. I have a social media map and it has over 100 different sites. It's really amazing with what's going on in social media. The one problem I see with social media is some people have no idea what it is when they sign up. The biggest questions I hear is what is this, why am I on here, and how do I work this?

Trey Schaefer and I went bass fishing after a long week last Saturday. We talked about this subject as we drove down the road. The main thing is, for different businesses there are different uses for these sites. On Twitter we use it to make new contacts, and also develop new ideas. We use Facebook to stay connected with old friends, mostly. Jason Hill with Provenance Digital, described how a stock broker could use Twitter to mass communicate where his/her clients when there was market news. This could create a large volume of calls instantaneous. Now, he also did point out that would be some educating on how to use the service.

That's where I'm getting to, education. If you sign up for any of these many services, but never educate yourself, you are doing yourself and your business no good. I admit, when I first got on Twitter two months ago, I had no clue what it was nor what it did. I was updating just like Facebook, ie. "Patrick is going to get some ice cream." After educating myself and talk with Trey, we figured it out and got connected with great people.

The best thing you can do to find out more about all these services is read articles, ask people that have a understanding, and most importantly, get involved once you sign up. Just because someone tells you to get on a site does not mean you have to. First, consider the source. Second, ask them why you should get on this site. If they can not tell you why, then they don't know either. Education is the key.