Social Media Resistance is Futile

I wouldn't need to work for a living if I had a penny for every eyeroll I get when I mention Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. To some, these social media platforms are scary, the antithesis of privacy, even. To others, it seems silly that people update their status/tweetdecks about their personal business (like my friend Eric - who apparently made the world's best grilled cheese sandwich in the history of mankind last night).

Out of curiousity, I have looked at social media with an objective eye since day one. It finally got the best of me and so I started out slow. When I was 19, I started my personal Facebook page. When I was 21 I started a Myspace Profile. But this year I crossed the great divide between personal and business - and set up Creative Civilization's Group and Fan Pages on Facebook, our Twitter account @CreativeCiv and our agency blog.

I'm not saying you should stop readin my blog right now (no, please keep reading) to set up personal accounts on each site I mentioned and start Tweeting your daily business (what you ate, where you're going for happy hour, etc.) but I do think you need to at least know how to navigate the sites. For those who want to understand social media but don't want to Tweet about your personal biz, you should think about at least starting these things up for your company and brand.

In the same way that individuals are using social media to build communities and distribute information - companies and brands are using these sites to interact with their client, customers, etc. For a lot of PR professionals like myself - social media is simply a distribution point - just another extension of traditional public relations.

The fact is, social media is genius because there is a lot of control involved. Control over what you post, who you're talking to, who you network with, who you respond to and how you respond to others.

To those of you who pooh-pooh social media, I say to you: social media resistance is futile. Go ahead - fight it. Get that out of your system.

The truth is: This is the future, baby. And guess what? The risk isn't in trying (trial and error is the best way to learn btw), the risk is in NOT trying it out when your competitors are outperforming you in this arena.

Stay tuned for more on social media skills. It should be part of your resume/portfolio as a professional. Employers are looking for it, clients are asking for it. Get smart.