Social Media Monster

Social Media Monster? You know one. They’re also ninjas, experts, and whores.

I’m a private person. So much in fact at my wedding I nearly put a disclaimer on the invite asking guests not to post photos of my wedding on their social accounts. Yikes, right? I fought it tooth and nail for some time until our photographer nailed it shut and convinced me otherwise. Everyone just kept telling me that I can’t control it, it will happen, and it doesn’t matter. Ugh, can you imagine if my wedding photos would come up in a Google search?


Since then, I am nearly a changed woman and it all started with Twitter. I had this idea (eureka!) about humanizing my brand for career development. If LinkedIn was the first step to career advancement, then how do I personify my 1D LinkedIn profile? Voila, Twitter. I started tweeting and I tweeted like my Future Self, I tweeted as if I had the job I was striving for, I tweeted articles, ideas, and perspectives. Poof: My job found me.

Joining ImageX Media I learned quickly that when it comes to social media, I was no ninja quite yet. In fact, I hadn’t even scratched the surface. But what was the big question for me? Why is my Facebook locked down like Fort Knox. 

When I was first asked for my Facebook profile from my manager I nearly fainted. No, not really, a bit dramatic. But I was surprised. Maybe even shocked. Sure, he has 20,000 followers on Twitter and like a bajillion Facebook friends – but why would I want that? And then, again, I lost the social media argument. Two things hit home: public posting & the possibility that I might be the suspicious one.

And so it began. It started with becoming real on Twitter, not just my LinkedIn version of myself. Me. Saturday morning waffles.Cat lying at my feet. Me. And then I unhinged the barred gates of my Facebook profile and I made it public – gasp! “Oh lord, what will happen now?”, my inner self screamed as she ran for safety.

So there I was, wild west, lasso throwing, social media hugging super star! Twitter, check! Facebook, check! LinkedIn, well, duh now what? Blog! Pintrest! Flickr! Flavors me! — A Digital Me.

The idea of a Digital Me is a curious idea. I can be anyone I want to be, digitally. I can have many friends, from a far reach, digitally. I can show only my good side, digitally. But what worth is it? What worth are my 67 Twitter followers, what worth is my blog? Does checking my Twitter every half hour really give me anything I didn’t have before? How do we create substance and value out of something so intangible?

Someone, a very dear friend, once told me that “The love we take is equal to the love we make” and so I believe we can apply this to Social Media. If we apply purpose to the messages we send and receive socially, then maybe, just maybe, it matters.

A new friend told me something. He said that what we put on Twitter,or any other SM platform, should follow these #rules: Entertain. Engage. Educate. I don’t know about you, but I love it.

“Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.”