A little while back, I sent out a request via Twitter asking if anyone would be interested in being interviewed for a discussion on social media. With the medium meaning so many different things to so many people, as well as how it can be used, I was interested to hear the views of the people I connect with.
My original plan was to run a “round table” style of blog post – raise the questions and then have a mix of views as the responses. However, the answers I received back were all excellent, and showed why social media is the mix of interesting people and views that it is. So, I decided individual posts would be far more effective in an on-going series of interviews.
Sharing her views today is Tara Joyce, founder of Elastic Mind Content Solutions, offering small businesses help with building and improving their websites. My sincere thanks to Tara for taking the time to reply and share her views. To connect with Tara, or find out more about her, please visit her blog Rise of the Innerpreneur.
If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?
Using the web to share and gain knowledge.
What is your reason for using social media?
A desire to communicate with a group of people I could not as easily connect with using traditional media.
Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?
No, not yet. But give it time. The idea is still in its infancy, in both it’s acceptance and use globally and in its evolution as a communication platform. This is only the beginning. But a big criticism I have in its efficiency today is that it is too disjointed. Too many different applications.
What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?
To be honest, I’ve signed up for more than I know. But the ones where I see value are: weblog (wordpress), microblog (twitter), social networks (biznik – prefered, linkedin – obligatory, micromagnate, Behance), Wikis (wikipedia, greenwiki), social bookmarking (delicious, stumbleupon), Music sharing (Last.fm). I belong to Reddit and Digg too but I still haven’t found value.
Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?
More mass collaboration for the betterment of the environment and society. A further funneling and aggregating of the too-many-to-count and easy-to-forget applications that currently exist and are floundering. A new social trend replacing the old social trend called ‘FaceBook’…
Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?
Depends on the business. Some don’t even know what it is or simply dismiss it. Others are more adaptive and have embraced it. My advice for a business in regards to thriving in social media is ‘be helpful’ and ‘be authentic’.
What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?
Best – the ability to quickly and easily connect with like-minded people. Worst – the fact that you have to join and use an application before you can determine that it has no value; couple this with the fact that there are far too many applications and not all are created equal.
- You can find more “Discussing Social Media with…” interviews here.
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