It’s time I give you some truths about Social Media. Some of them are tough to swallow. Some of them are kind of comforting. They are all things I wish I would have known when I started this journey. I hope that you find them helpful if you are beginning your journey or I hope that you enjoy them if you are reflecting on from whence you came.
1. Social Media is not easy.
2. No one is obligated to help you.
3. No one knows your objectives.
4. You need to have objectives.
5. You need to have a plan.
6. Your plan needs to be flexible.
7. You are expected to give back whatever you get.
8. You have to put in a lot of time.
9. You have to make sure you control your time.
10. You have to read.
11. You have to always keep your mind open to learning.
12. There will be incredibly tough times.
13. There will be times of elation.
14. In the end, it’s about you and your goals.
15. In the end, you can’t succeed without others.
16. Promoting others can be more fun than promoting yourself.
17. There’s no rhyme or reason, most of the time.
18. People will love your least favorite content.
19. People will be silent about your favorite content.
20. Your brain will get tired.
21. Your soul will be challenged.
22. You will make unexpected friendships.
23. You run the risk of making unexpected enemies.
24. You are accountable for everything you type.
25. It’s a roller coaster, not a merry-go-round.
What would you add to this list?
A lot of people talk about blog comments based on the incoming traffic they can provide. The story goes, as Brian Clark noted in a popular post a while back, that if you 
When I was a kid, rap was (in my opinion) at its very best. It was kind of funny that I liked rappers like Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Ice T, and their crews. I couldn’t have been more separated from the worlds they were rapping about, and I certainly was not keen to become a gangsta myself. Ice Cube in particular seemed to be from a world that was scary yet kind of daring and exciting. I wondered how a guy named O’Shea Jackson could be so darned angry.
Over the weekend, I happened to catch a 3-hour documentary on Abraham Lincoln (showing my dedication to being a history nerd). It was an interesting psychological study of Lincoln, and it really concentrated a lot more on his youth than on his years as President.
One of my favorite parts of Enchantment is where Kawasaki discusses the role of the hero in the world of engagement. Now, to illustrate the point, he uses the example of the firefighters and policemen who strove to save people on 9/11. That kind of heroism is in a world of its own. But in the online world, there are tons of ways to be a hero to someone. It requires very little risk, can benefit you a great deal, and often takes a very small amount of time, too.
Up until I was in college, I was a huge fan of soap operas. As I got older I got (sadly) more interested in the stories and in the characters. Especially all of those 6-pack abs. Hem. Anyway…on a soap opera, there is a lot of actor turn-over, so you’d tune in one day and you’d hear this voice come on saying, “The role of Cassanova Villanova Smith is now being played by…” and the new actor’s name would be given. The characters were always completely ignorant of the voice and of the fact that their son/brother/lover/father looked completely different. But you knew that it was somebody new.