How Has Social Media Changed the Way You Live, Work?
On a personal note, I have been thinking a lot lately about how my life has been drastically changed by social technology. Some for better, some for worse, and some of it is just - well - different.
By on Apr 14, 2009On a personal note, I have been thinking a lot lately about how my life has been drastically changed by social technology. Some for better, some for worse, and some of it is just - well - different.
For example, these days there is a lot more crossover between my personal and work lives, such as:
> Today, I dont hesitate to provide my mobile phone number to clients. A few years ago I would have guarded it with my life. It's a convenience, and an expectation.
> My Facebook friends are an eclectic mix of friends old and new, and clients and colleagues and other work-related contacts. LinkedIn and Plaxo are the same.
> I am on Twitter (@wendyblackburn), and tweet on personal topics almost as much as I do work-related topics. What a weird world Twitter is. But I enjoy it.
> Used to be, when I left the office, I left work there. Now its common to open up the laptop following dinner at home, on the couch in front of the TV or wherever.
> I love texting. I love the ability to send a simple message "running late" or a late-night funny to a friend far away. And I tend to assume people have texting enabled on their cells at an unlimited rate not always the case!
Regrettably, there are also things I do NOT do anymore due to technology:
> Write letters. One of my oldest long-distance friends wrote on my Facebook page that she found a bunch of letters from me from 1996. It made me realize I really dont write letters anymore. I use things like Facebook and email to keep in touch more often, with only the occasional Hallmark card via snail mail. And I find that a bit sad.
> Print photos. I used to meticulously print photos and place them in carefully labeled albums. I dont print photos anymore. I barely upload them to Snapfish. I think this is a symptom of availability of time more than technologys fault. Except that I spend more time on Twitter and Facebook, so I have less time for everything else...
> I think less. Wait a minute. Do I perform critical thinking less because I use technology more? I sure hope not. But read this article [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128092341.htm] and see if you agree.
There are pros and cons to all of the above shifts in communication. As marketers, we are fools if we don't consider this within our overall contact strategy. How do our customers prefer to be communicated to? What messages are they most likely to want to hear at what time? How much time/attention span do they have for our messages? How can I effectively deploy the many pieces and parts of social media - in addition to the rest of my digital strategy - to best reach my audiences?
So tell us - how has social media changed the way you live and work? I'm interested to know.
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Wendy Blackburn, Intouch Solutions, a digital marketing agency specializing in pharma
Web: www.intouchsol.com
Blog: www.intouchsolutionsdigital.blogspot.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wendyblackburn
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyblackburn