Yes, Hank Ketcham was thinking of me!
There are many columns about Netiquette as it’s been termed by some – or proper etiquette on Social Media. I have my own thinking and thoughts on this that I’d like to share. It’s less only etiquette than ways to make things easier for all and, in some cases, just thoughts on how to make things better for all.
Instagram is one of those new platforms that have been an instant success. Like most new things, I tend to wait and get aboard only when I have to – I’m forced to – or really, when I finally get over my anxiety about learning it. Now, I love using it and I share really important things via the photos I take with my phone. Things such as what I’m eating for breakfast, hundreds of photos of Simon (my dog), and my feet, when I’m napping.
I used to comment on various blogs ALL the time. It was an indispensible part of growing my Social Media presence. For a variety of reasons, my commenting has slowed down to a trickle. I still advocate the value of commenting in tweets, on #blogchat (where I’m a regular participant), my own #DadChat, and in columns and even when I speak at conferences. So, why have I slowed down so significantly?
I am writing this on the morning after the Boston bombings, so much will be uncovered in the days between this writing and publication. But, this column is not about the who and why of the Boston bombings. It’s about the role Social Media plays in our lives today and how empathy and grief come to bear during these events. It’s also about why we must teach our children well to care about others and reach out in tough times to those in need.
Note: Please listen to or download our special radio show, The Boston Bombings and Our Kids, in which Dr. Weberman offers excellent tips for parents about how to handle such an issue with our kids, and we hear from Pastor Drew Sams with a spiritual viewpoint, and Cheryly LeBon giving a political perspective.
I’ve been a comment evangelist for a long time. I believe it is one of the best tools to advance your “influence” and presence online. Its rewards are many and it’s one of the easiest things to do. In my early days writing and blogging and learning Social Media, I developed a strategy of commenting that I believe served me well. Social Media is to a large degree – as I’ve chosen the name for this blog series – about Social Good, at least as I choose to view and use it. Commenting will help you achieve results in doing good, doing well, and doing better.
I remember an article on tech from a decade ago that was titled, “Why Can’t it Work Like a Refrigerator,” or something to that effect. The gist of the column was how difficult getting a new computer up and running was…a PC in that case. The writer wished he could simply plug it in, like his refrigerator, and have it work. With Social Media today and all the new technology, this problem has only gotten worse. Add little-to-no decent Customer Service to the mix and we’re living a sort of tech-hell.
Call me an old fart…but just call me back! Yipes, what has happened to doing business today? Are these so-called “Best Practices” really best at all? I thought it was flaky back in my showbiz days – before email, texts, smart-phones, computers, and all the tech that is supposed to “connect” us. Yes, email began during my tenure in “the biz” but cell-phones were basic and real phone calls were the bread and butter of doing business. Our Best Practices were called courtesy and hard work!
There’s no doubt that there will be more and more columns, magazine covers, and television coverage of the affects of technology on our lives. Our kids have grown up in a smart-phone tech world and know nothing other than that reality. We all now have what I call virtual friends, those “friends” that we actually consider friends but that we’ve actually never met or even spoken with. When I was kid that was the stuff of science fiction. So, it was inevitable that some of us would get addicted to our tech, to Social Media, and the devices we seem to cherish.
