Damn holidays. Forcing us to slow down, take stock, and really look at our lives. No wonder this is a hard time of the year for many.
I personally struggle with being so far away from so many of the folks I love. My close friends are in Anchorage, Wyoming, Colorado. My sister is in the MidWest, my parents are in Florida.
I can go on and on about how grateful I am for my friends and family - and I am - but I'm also grateful for the Internet and social media. Without this one-two punch of communications power, I'd surely lose it. So here is my heartfelt thanks to my social media friends and the tools that help me connect with them and that keep me connected from the hinterlands of Alaska.
The Networks
I'm a little embarrassed to say that I really only use the big social networks most regularly. I'm still thinking about Sprouter and want it to be useful to me but haven't used it regularly. I just joined Gameful which seems curious and whimsical and right up the alley of my new venture Mediaegg. I do use Plancast and live vicariously through the plans posted by others. But when it comes to daily or near-daily use and value, I turn to the Big 3:
Twitter - Bar none, Twitter has reconnected me with the world and with the folks in my industry. I've been grateful for the ability to rebuild my profile from practically scratch after multi-year hiatus. But more than anything, I am grateful beyond measure for the people who are at the other end of the Twitterstream and who take a moment out of their busy lives to respond when I tweet. I've made some true friends from mere tweets. Never underestimate the power of Twitter.
Facebook - My love/hate relationship with Twitter still rages on, but in these cold, dark, winter days, I am grateful for the speedy connectedness it provides. Yes, Facebook gives me countless headaches from their constant changes and lack of strategy for their business pages (I think they figure they're providing value for nothing so don't really care what happens with them). I'm still trying to figure out Facebook Groups and am participating in a few that are bearing fruit. But I can't complain about the pervasiveness of it because suddenly I'm able to connect with others with an ease that Twitter doesn't provide.
LinkedIn - I still believe that LinkedIn is only as good as the effort you put into it, and with just a little focused effort, it becomes a brilliant networking platform. While I still don't engage much in LinkedIn groups (who has time?), I do find the connection features useful for professional exchanges. I've even found LinkedIn Answers to be useful and expedient. I'm grateful for the ability to connect with old colleagues and new for business support and ventures.
What social media tools are you grateful for?
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