David Murray’s call for help and a father and son conversation has really got me thinking.
Social Media exponent Shel Holtz’s response to Murray’s plea is certainly helpful in clarifying the issues of time management in communication. Interesting stuff and good that David has also taken time to respond in kind – that’s the conversation that Shel is talking about. But it also made me think about my own contributions.
The reality is that you can’t be all things to all people and you can’t be pleasing all of the people all of the time. We all have businesses to run and whilst content is an important part of Net.Mentor’s, it’s not just social media. As with all communication, I think we have to understand that any channel, whether Twitter, Facebook or (whisper it) the printed word, is just that…a channel. We don’t read everything all at once and, even if you’re female or a journalist, we are only really capable of processing two or possibly three channels at one time.
It has to be about balance – and succumbing to the pressure of “I have to be out there” is going to kill us in the end. My 86 year-old father has just given me GBH of the ear’ole for not sitting and spending time just talking with him. “I’m too busy” is the reply. “But I don’t understand what you do:I can’t see it, I can’t touch it, it’s all so…..intangible”. Maybe, just maybe, social media is “anti-social” media. Rather than spending telling the rest of the world, shouldn’t we just appreciate the moment of being at home with a glass of wine and talking to our friends or family while will have the chance. Our true friends are the ones around us, our virtual friends are the ones creating their lives vicariously.
