Sometimes, just because we know to do something doesn’t mean we actually do it. Doctors smoke. Personal trainers let themselves get fat. And digi-techno people like myself … sometimes fall down on using social media to learn, grow, and connect.
No excuses here — the daily grind of just keeping up with the stuff that pays the bills got the best of me, plain and simple. Meanwhile, I’ve watched not-so-techie family, friends, and business contacts migrate to online social platforms as a primary means of maintaining bonds. If I’ve found any consolation, it’s been in knowing I’m not alone in feeling social media overwhelm.
Brian Blau, research director at Gartner, wrote of “social media fatigue” that, “The trend shows some social media fatigue among early adopters, and the fact that 31 percent of Aspirers (younger, more mobile, brand-conscious consumers) indicated
that they were getting bored with their social network is a situation that social media providers should monitor, as they will need to innovate and diversify to keep consumer attention.”
That said, I’m ready to get a jump-start on my 2012 resolutions by resolving to be a more sociable social media presence in the New Year. To challenge myself in sticking with it (and embarrass myself for not), I’m issuing a public declaration: I’ll be publishing a series of video tutorials to YouTube, as part of a self-administered social media “reboot.” And I invite you along to take advantage of this DIY series.
You’ll learn step-by-step how to:
- create custom backgrounds and landing pages for the major social media sites, so you look like a professional (even if you have a tiny or non-existent budget)
- use social media sites to improve your quality, not just quantity of connections
- tips, tricks, and even insider knowledge of how the big sites work
It’s all free, and you can expect episodes about once a week, starting this week and wrapping up around early February or so. To stay updated on the latest episode, simply subscribe to my YouTube channel or add me to your contacts on LinkedIn or Twitter, where I’ll issue a notification with each new video. If you do take advantage of it for your own social media project(s), it would be nice if you dropped me a line somehow — either rate and comment on a video or message me directly through Twitter, LinkedIn (search “Akweli Parker”) or YouTube.
To kick things off, here’s the first video, on how to get started on Twitter:
