Boy, you sure do make me throw a lot of parties! I mean, granted, I talked to the Beatles of my own volition, but then you asked me to talk to great figures from the past, and now Kaarina Dillabough has asked me to see what different Hollywood stars have to say about social media. It just never ends!
Wel, I’m an obliging soul, so I toured Hollywood and got the perspective of several different people about social media – their advice, what they like, what they don’t like, the whole shebang. Hopefully you’ll enjoy their insights!
1. Paikea (from The Whale Rider): I know that our people will keep going forward, all together, with all of their strength.
I thought this was a pretty neat response for such a little girl. Of course, her grandfather taught her that while a tiny strand of rope can break easily, a braided rope with many strands interlocked together is strong. So it is in the online world. If you’re just out for yourself, it can be easy for you to break. If you build up a community, it’s much easier to be strong.
2. Pee Wee Herman: Everyone’s got a big but.
At first, I thought this was kind of a strange statement, but the more I thought about it the more I realized what Pee Wee was saying (boy is it sad to be intellectually out-done by Pee Wee Herman!). What he’s saying is that you really need to stop making excuses that get in the way of your success. If you want to become a successful blogger, do it. If you want to write a book, do it. Don’t let your big but get in the way!
3. The chickens from Chicken Run: We mustn’t panic. We mustn’t panic. AHHHHHHHH!!!
Yes, it’s weird talking to British chickens, if that’s your question. But I did it anyway, and this is the response I got. See, I think online it’s easy to end up doing exactly what you know you shouldn’t. The chickens didn’t want to panic and they ended up going bonkers. You may not want to alienate people, but if you keep concentrating on that one thing, guess what? You could end up alienating people. Also, I think they’re a little concerned about how much we talk about eating chicken online. That may have been more on their minds, now that I think about it.
4. Brian from Life of Brian: You’re all individuals! (Yes, we’re all individuals)
Brian tried really hard to explain to people that they shouldn’t hang on his every word. People should come up with their own opinions and their own ways of doing things. In the online world, it’s really easy to look for one person who seems to be finding a lot of success and then try to emulate everything they’re doing. That’s not really the best way to go though. The best way to go is to be your unique, individual self.
5. Will from About A Boy: The thing is, a person’s life is like a TV show. I was the star of The Will Show. And The Will Show wasn’t an ensemble drama. Guests came and went, but I was the regular.
Of course, what Will finds out is that those guest stars are what really make people want to tune into your show. They are what makes your show interesting and unpredictable. On the other hand, social media does kind of lead us to think like Will, doesn’t it? All of these sites ask us what we’re thinking, what’s on our minds, what we’re doing. We post on our own blogs, we run our own Facebook pages. It’s important to work guests in to your life, both online and offline.
6. ET – Be good.
He’s not a verbose guy, but I think this one pretty much speaks for itself, don’t you?
7. Chuckie from Good Will Hunting: Look – you’re my best friend, so don’t take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you’re still livin’ here, comin’ over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin’ construction, I’ll ******’ kill you. That’s not a threat; now, that’s a fact. I’ll ******’ kill you.
Out of all of the scenes from Good Will Hunting, this one really sticks in my head some 14 years later (wow I’m getting old). The message that Chuckie gives to Will here is simple. Don’t settle for the lowest common denominator. Even if it’s super comfortable, and even if striving for your best is really uncomfortable, you owe it to yourself to do it – and again, that goes for online or offline.
8. Gandalf from Lord of the Rings: Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.
Thankfully, most of us are not dealing with life and death in the online world, but Gandalf’s point is still a good one. If you can’t step directly into someone’s shoes, if you don’t know the whole story, and if you can’t affect that story one way or the other, do not be too eager to judge that person.
9. Yoda: Do, or do not. There is no try.
You’d never think a similar lesson could be learned from Yoda and Pee Wee Herman, but in fact, that is the case. Yoda, like Pee Wee, suggests that you can’t “try” social media. You can’t “try” to blog. You either do it or you don’t. There is no try.
10. Jimmy Dugan from A League of Their Own: There’s no crying in baseball! Er…social media!
Okay, so this guy only talks about baseball, but still, you need to have a thick skin when you go online. Even if you don’t, you don’t want to let people know that they’re getting to you. And by the way, you shouldn’t try to make other people cry either!
11. Random peasant from Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Help, help, I’m being repressed!!
Now, this peasant, from the moment he begins talking to King Arthur, is ready to be offended. He is already convinced that all of society is against him, and at the smallest chance, he “proves” that this is the case. In the online world, a lot of people perpetually talk about how their voice isn’t being heard, other people are drowning them out, so on and so forth. And you know what happens? People start to drown them out. Nobody wants to hang around a debbie downer for too long. Send out positive vibes and positive vibes shall come back upon you (I said that, actually).
12. Christopher Gardner, from The Pursuit of Happyness: You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.
It seems very easy in the world of social media to spend your time stuffing down other people instead of working on your own goals and dreams. Don’t let yourself slide that way. Concentrate on your own dreams, don’t let people push you around, and go get what you want. No regrets!
13. Various characters from Avatar: I see you.
When I talked to these giant blue folks, they said that truly seeing people is something they wish there would be more of in the online world. People seem to categorize people or make snap judgments. People tend to send personas out there instead of being themselves. Let people really see you, and work on seeing people as individuals who are worth knowing (or not!)
14. Mitch from A Mighty Wind: There’s a deception here. The audience is expecting to see a man who no longer exists.
Mitch, after about a 30 year break from performing on stage, has a major panic attack when he thinks about the fact that the audience is expecting to see the “him” of the past. This can happen if you present an online persona that is a far cry from what you are really like. You could end up getting really nervous about meeting people because they might find out about your deception. It’s always best to just be yourself. Do not worry about whether people will like the “real” you. Just be you, and the people who like you will come to the surface.
15. Jack from The Shining: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Well, hopefully you won’t become as creepy as this character, but let’s face it. If all you do online is promote your business, people are going to have a hard time engaging with you. Add a little spice to your online world. Let loose on occasion. Have fun! But let that be where you stop in terms of following Jack’s example. He’s crazy!
So there you have it. Now here’s the real question. What Hollywood stars or characters have you talked to recently, and what did they have to say about the online world?
1st Image by Michelle Dennis. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/saine
2nd Image by Gordon Fortune. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Bullit
3rd Image by Bruce Grigg. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/brucegrigg