A lot of times, people think of those who interact in the world of Social Media as being kind of self-centered. After all, Twitter asks you what’s happening. Facebook asks you what’s on your mind. Your posts are things you’ve written. Your tweets are updates about your life and what you’re up to.
However, when we talk about engagement online, it’s usually a thought process that has more to do with other people, not ourselves. While I’m not really advocating you becoming completely self-involved, there are a few things that you really need to internalize, be aware of, and monitor as you prepare to engage with other people online. Think about the following:
[Read more…] about six things you need to know about yourself before engaging
Let’s say, just for the sake of saying it, that you have been working meticulously on a blog post. The subject is Men and Needlework during the 17th Century. You have been sweating over this post. You have tried to balance it between being too short and too long. You have avoided using too much jargon, but you’ve peppered in a few little hints of jargon to show that you know what you’re talking about. Every word has been chosen with the utmost care. This post, it’s safe to say, is your masterpiece.
Sometimes in life, we figure something out without realizing it. Then we go through a phase where we think, “Oh, hey, that’s accomplishing this thing over here. Wow, neat.” Then we realize that actually, this could be super helpful to lots of other people.
Since I’ve been blogging, I’ve had a fair number of people ask me to take a look at their blog sites. There are usually a few things that I look for as potential problems when I’m asked to do this kind of analysis. I’ve come up with 15 of these bloggy growth stoppers, in fact. If you suffer from any (or all) of these, take heart. Noticing them is the hardest part.
Take a moment and think about all of the people in your life. I mean all of them. Sure, there’s your family. Then your brain is probably moving to your close friends. Now you’re thinking about your friends with whom you aren’t as close. Let’s dig deeper. The person you see on a regular basis at the grocery store. The person who delivers your mail or your newspaper. That person you see on Facebook or on Twitter. What would you do if you found out any of those people were suddenly gone? Those dreaded words – passed away suddenly.