Friendship, A Part Of Our Lives

Friendship is a part of life that is special. We all need people to go through life with to share those once and a lifetime experiences. Caring about people is part of our humanity.

A fellow blogger and I were having a Twitter conversation about friendship the other day and it seems that the concept is very fluid. Friendship groups seem to change a lot these days. It is rare to keep a long-term friendship group. We are more mobile and our friends change from time to time.

Social media has helped us maintain friendships and that can be a blessing and a curse. In my case a group of people I went to church with when we lived in Murfreesboro, TN stay in touch thanks to Facebook. High school friendships have been renewed because of social networking. 

Unfortunately friendships these days seem to have a shelf life and people come into your life for a season. Its something I have had to learn kind of the hard way. Some relationships end because of ego, self-centeredness and other factors. Drama seems to fracture friendships easily these days. People don’t want to be taken advantage of either in their connections with others. 

For many people they go through life without meaningful friendships because of one reason or another. Those people need people too. I think our self esteem can be a huge factor in how we perceive ourselves and what we think about other people. I like what Jim Morrison says “A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.”

Elbert Hubbard once said “A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same.” Time and love are the important building blocks of friendship and you have to make yourself available to be a friend. Sometimes that means years and decades while other times it means days and months. 

Cherish your friendships. In some ways they become a part of your family or they become a substitute for family. 

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Weird Stuff on Facebook

I found this ad on Facebook. Who would want a destroyed Starship Enterprise. 

Even for cheap, its a bad buy. Who thinks of these ads?

Time To Go To Work As A Social Media Manager

So, being a social media manager involves knowing what is involved with being in the business. It also means gaining the knowledge base and preparing yourself to do the work you want to do.

Once you have the skills needed then is when you apply your knowledge and go out to get a job in the business. That is when you need to do the work in pursue that position you have worked had for and have dreamed about.

To get a job in the trade you have to launch a campaign to get you hired. Create a Facebook and Twitter account that showcases your skills. Use these accounts for job search only. 

Once you have done the above then you can start sharing your expertise and knowledge of the subject matter you have been accumulating over a period of months and years. Write original posts and link articles from others that will communicate to a perspective employer you understand what is going on. Linked-In is a great resource to help you to connect with potential employers and those who can link you to folks doing some hiring. 

Your online image can impact your search. Managing your previous activity online is a must. Do a Google search on your prior web activity in order to see what you have done and clean it up. It’s not possible to clean everything up but you can take care of the primary accounts you have and anything else you have access to. Scrub anything that could stand in the way of you being hired. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs are all social media and they could impact your search.

Realize you are human and you will make mistakes. Offer explanation if you are questioned. 

Do the work of being a social manager for you as you share with those you connect with that you would be a great one. 

The following is a summary from a book called Starting Your Career as a Soclal Media Manager by Mark Story.

Preparing To Be A Social Media Manager

To be good at anything requires preparation and practice. Being a social media manager is no exception. You have to put in a lot of work and understand what is required of you. Preparing yourself in the classroom, in understanding the tools available, mastering communications fundamentals are all ways of laying the groundwork for managing the message of your client. Knowing how all this works together can help you do the work of getting a message out to the masses.

One thing in the book that struck me is writing is important. At times I rush through to get a blog post up so my grammar is not where it needs to be. Perhaps slowing down, thinking about what I am writing and being careful will help me be a better writer. As a blogger I love to compose original material and a large part of it is writing. I am fond of expressing myself through words. I wish there were more original writers here who used graphics in a way to back up their story. 

It looks like I have much work to do in this. Teaching myself will be fun and cheaper than a formal training situation. 

Thanks to Mark Story for his book “Starting your career as a social media manager” for helping me know what to do. 

Chattanooga Social Media Club Meeting

Today’s meeting talked about how to use the camera on your smart phone as well as manage your photos. Its important to remember composition and taking your time to get the best shot. Managing your photo collection is important so you have easy access to your photos. Backing up your pictures is important and there are several options available.

Special thanks to The Camp House for their hospitality.

Choosing A Career In Social Media

I love to blog…really making contact with people is a great thing to do. You are building relationships, sharing ideas and having fun along the way. When choosing to do it professionally then you have to know that your hobby has become your livelihood.

You have to keep up with emerging technologies, tools and websites to get your message out. There are changing platforms such as tablets and smartphones that present a whole new set of challenges. Other people can get in the mix such as agencies and clients both external and internal. When doing social media you have to work with people who are graphic designers, writers, web developers and other techie sorts.

You have to keep up with all of those things and changes in the message you are charged with spreading. All of those things seem to be daunting but they can also be rewarding. You have to utilize as many available tools to spread the message too.

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, PInterest and email, yep email are the best ways to say what you want people to hear. The decision making process on if you should work in social media needs to be one where you get advice and determine can whether or not its good for you to pursue a career in that business. 

September 11, 2001 – A Social Media Perspective

I have been watching MSNBC this morning as they replayed the NBC coverage of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. One thing that struck me is that this event was covered well before social media/networking was developed.

MySpace which was the first social media platform of note didn’t start until 2003. Blogging was around but hadn’t reached critical mass at the time. News outlets had websites that were hit heavily by users wanting to get as much information as possible.

The most bandwidth people could get was about 3mb on a cable modem like I had at the time. Some businesses would have a T-1 line if they had to provide Internet access to many users like the newspaper I worked for in 2001. The World Wide Web was tested that day. 

Some news websites had to alter their functionality to give more information on the chaos of the day. Style gave way to basic function with fewer images and more text to give more users access to vital info. Press services such as the AP and Reuters fed information to media outlets so they could relay information to their viewers, listeners and readers. Network and 24 hour news outlets led the way in bringing pictures and sound into the homes of people around the country and the world.

Landlines and cell phones at the time were the primary communication tools for people across the country including  New York and Washington, DC during the events of that day. Texting was in its infancy, however people used pagers to connect with business and personal contacts. In the areas hit phone lines were jammed with people wanting to connect with others. 

Technology has improved, the web has come along to give us Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and other sites. Text messages are sent in the billions daily. Twenty-four hour news has integrated social media into how they transmit and receive the news. Citizen journalism is a everyday part of our lives. 

I Have A Blog and I Am NOT Afraid To Use It

Well if anyone is on Tumblr, Blogger or WordPress you have a blog. We shouldn’t be afraid to use them to be creative. Blogging is a great tool everyone can use to help change the world. You, the blogger, have great power and greater responsibility to share good things that can impact people. Be bold and Keep On Blogging!

Facebook users may be better connected —€” but at what cost?

A University of Michigan study finds college students who frequently use Facebook feel more isolated and less satisfied.

Facebook users may be better connected —€” but at what cost?

Blogging Friends

I have been blogging for years now on different platforms. There have been a couple of sites that provided a great social component that allowed me to meet some great people. Some have come, some have gone but those who remain I consider to be great friends of mine. Eventhough I have only met a couple of them the rest I haven’t met personally I consider friends. We have things in common and we have our differences but I am glad to build on the good stuff we mutually enjoy. I thank everyone who I have met through blogging and social media for helping me expand my horizons and to understand them and the world in a different way. You have my love and appreciation.