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 his views today is Adam Gainer, a Public Relations intern at Subudhi Consulting Group, a boutique PR agency in Richmond, VA. My sincere thanks to Adam for taking the time to reply and share his views. To connect with Adam, or find out more about him, please visit his blog Trying to Keep Up With an Ever-Changing World.
If someone was to ask you for your definition of social media, what would it be?
A mix of online tools for people of like interests to share information and collaborate on ideas.
What is your reason for using social media?
I use social media to share things I find interesting with my friends. It also helps me as I try and keep abreast of items and ideas in my field and try to keep ahead of the herd.
Do you feel that social media is being used to its maximum effect?
I feel that a lot of people are using it for its maximum effect to branch out to people they might have never met.
What social media tools or applications do you use? Why these ones in particular?
I use Twitter to find out what people in my field are doing, as well as let people know when I update my blog and what I’m working on or when I need ideas. I use Facebook to keep up and share things with friends, professors and colleagues. I use AIM to keep in contact with friends and family. Digg and delicious to find new interesting articles. I run a blog to try and help people looking to intern in my field see what they have ahead of them.
Where do you see the future of social media, both in general and for you?
I see social media being used for marketing as well as public relations to read direct niche markets with people who share common interests. Today is just becoming more and more media saturated and a lot of people are hungry for information. It will also be used by companies for them to be able to collaborate on projects from afar. For me I hope to use it to try and promote myself and help the right job find me.
Are businesses effectively using social media? If not, what can they do to improve?
I do believe that some businesses are. A lot are starting to get into twitter and blogging which is good because it helps them to communicate on a more personal level and get feedback from their customer base. The ones that do not are really missing out on an opportunity to find out what their customers and audiences think of them – this leaves them unable to influence perceptions.
What do you feel are the best and worst features/uses of social media?
I love how it’s instantaneous feedback and response. There is a lot of personality and interaction in different communities. The only drawback is that it’s 24/7 and you can’t always be monitoring it or you will drive yourself insane. Another aspect is while you can share a lot of information about yourself there is the constant fear of someone posting something you don’t like about you and it damaging your reputation.
- You can find more ?Discussing Social Media with?? interviews here.
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