Interesting post by Rob Petersen
Rob Petersen, who recently gave a presentation at the Library/Score business lecture series (and in my opinion, probably the best in my 2 or 3 years of attending these events), had a recent post on his blog, BarnRaisers, about why people in general use social media, and in particular some insights about teen use. For a source he used a survey done by the Pew Research Center, which is known for producing unbiased and reasonably accurate measures of public opinion. You can read Rob’s post here.
A few takeaways for me:
- The phenomena is aptly named, people use social media to be social. The survey found that the most important reason cited for social media use is staying in touch with old friends, followed by staying in touch with family.
- Contrary to much “common wisdom”, it is not a young person’s “game” only. The fastest growing segment of social media users is 65+!
- It is not all fun for teens. There were some what I would consider serious implications with how social media is viewed by teens. My personal thought is that any parent of a teenager should be tuned into how their young person is affected by it.
Most of what I see on Social Media, etc. is focused on the details of how to use it, how to create effective content and so on. And that’s important. But it is also good to read a good piece about how this incredibly fast growing and powerful phenomena is affecting society in general. My guess is that we’ve never had any thing like it sweep through the public with the speed and impact that Facebook, Twitter, Texting, YouTube, and all rest have exhibited.
Even I went over to the dark side and now have a smart phone. How about you? Has all this affected you, or your family?
Wilton Chamber Leads Group 
Good insights and good questions, Bill. Yes, social media has affected me. My kids have been using it for years (no surprises there). They are my go to people when I need quick information on how to use of the media. I started using it just recently, thanks in part to your efforts to get me blogging, and to a young friend who thinks I must use social media for business. LinkedIn is my friend. I’ve been using it for at least two years and find it business-like and easy to use. Facebook and Twitter are very new to me and I am not comfortable with them yet. I belong to a private women’s networking group on Facebook. There are only 24 members and I am comfortable using and experimenting with Facebook within that private group. I am using this as my learning tool. I’m sure I will continue to expand my horizons by using social media, but I must go at my pace. And I will continue appreciating your efforts to keep moving me forward!
There are a number of social media savants, like Rob Petersen and others, through usage, that have become practitioners of the art. Most of the rest of us though are not there yet, either because of our reservations or that we are still learning the ropes. I think the most important point here is to be on the trail, to be moving toward an eventual mastery of whatever portion of this vast sea of communication tools and techniques that makes sense for each of us.
The pace of our travel along this trail is ours to set. We need not be concerned with where others are on their journey, only that we are moving. In my opinion, to stand still is to go backward. And that is something most of us do not want to do. I know that I do not.
Thanks for post Bill. I really appreciate and glad you found the post and presentation on social media helpful
Thanks for the comment Rob. As I said in my post, your presentation at the Wilton Library was the best I’ve seen. I hope the Library repeats the series and that you’ll return. In the interim I’ll continue to follow the Barnraisers blog and probably reference a post or two along the way.