Social Media Platforms Are What YOU Make Of Them
What Does It Mean When People Say: “Twitter Is Whatever You Want It To Be”?
One of the really fascinating things about social media is that people who use it (let’s say Twitter), have quite different experiences depending on:
- how they use it
- what they use it for
- who they follow
- how often the use it
For example, if you follow people who have an interest in, and focus almost exclusively on one topic (e.g. customer service, politics, etc), and that you share that interest, you may perceive that Twitter is an excellent platform for interaction and discussion, particularly if you are active in contributing.
If you follow people who post life’s trivialities, and you tend to post about what you had for dinner, odds are, that’s what you see most often, and will tune your perceptions accordingly.
The main reason people disagree about the value of platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is that they are actually viewing different “parts” of the elephant, based on their own actions and choices.
Not A Fan Of Social Media?
If your experience with a particular social media platform is not to your taste, you have the option of not participating, and for many people that can be the best option.
Before you move on, though, keep in mind that it may be possible to “mold your own experience”, and alter what you see, and the value you receive.
Think of it like a cocktail party. You can go, sit in a corner, and wonder why everyone is ignoring you, or jump into a whole bunch of trivial conversations, OR, spend most of your time having in depth conversations with a few interesting people.
In a sense, that is the beauty of social media platforms, but it’s also a curse, since what you get out of it WILL be defined by what you put into it, regardless of whether you acknowledge that reality or not.
