I’m Becoming More Social

I dislike FaceBook

Being someone who works in online marketing and whose job is to stay on top of internet trends, you’d think that I would love social media and all that it has to offer. In reality, I have less of an interest in using it than the average person my age (I am the ripe old age of 26). Now that I think of it, it isn’t all social media that I snicker at, it is social networking sites. FaceBook is my prime enemy.

I love some social media

I see the value in writing a blog (both for your own personal development and that of your business), using eBay to purchase items on the cheap, storing your bookmarks on Delicious and uploading your pictures to Flickr (though I don’t have an account). My issue is socializing for socializing’s sake. Even in high school, when you are at your greatest capabilities for idle chatter, I shied away from it. Granted, I am now realizing that I am a bit of an anomaly. I am much less social, in the traditional sense, than most people. I am a classic introvert. I’d rather be in my head or speaking with one other person than participate in anything group related.

The Big Plung

But with the creation of Elastic Mind and this blog, I am wondering if there is value in me becoming more social. It isn’t my natural inclination by any means but it could be good for business. For once, I’m not going to do what I want, I’m going to do what is expected. I’ve signed myself up for Digg, StumbleUpon and updated my LinkedIn profile. I’m drawing the line at FaceBook and MySpace.

I’m going to write an overview of the major social networking sites and the value (or lack thereof) that I see in them. It should be interesting.