My friend Andrea Donahue got to know me back during my Livejournal.com days, when my blog was really more a diary that people could respond to (so scary). Back then, very few people used their real names or pictures online, which afforded a kind of freedom that is a lot harder to gain in this era of real names and face…book.
Of course, back when I was using Livejournal, I wasn’t doing too much else online. I had a MySpace account but I never really got totally addicted to it. I tested out Friendster and Orkut and they were okay.
Now of course, the story is entirely different. It is Livejournal that has petered out for me, and in its stead is this site, Twitter, Facebook, and even Google Plus. All of that inspired Andrea to ask me what of all of those platforms was my favorite and why. Maybe it’s because I have the kind of lag that can only come after a great vacation, but my gut reaction is, “Uh…all of them?” Since that is entirely not helpful, I thought I would give you some of my pros and cons on the different portions of the online world. Maybe doing that will help me rank these properly!
Blogging
So I consider blogging to be a part of the social media world, but not everyone agrees with that evaluation. To me, you are sending out content that people can comment on. Hence – social. Although of course you could always remove the commenting option…but clearly that would be *anti* social.
What do I love about blogging? I love reading what other people have to say. I love learning about things and thinking about things that never would have occurred to me otherwise.
If you want cons about blogging, I guess I’d have to say that even though comments are a part of the equation, it’s still really about 1 person sending thoughts out to other people. While comments are great, your blog site can still exist without them. Blogs are also time-consuming, both on the creation side and on the absorption side.
I still can’t decide if I like Facebook after all of these years. There are so many great things about it. I have gotten in touch with people I probably never would have heard from again, for example. I love being able to share videos and pictures.
On the other hand, Facebook has also put me in touch with people that maybe would have remained pleasant memories but now are updating me about their baby’s poopy underwear.
And don’t even get me started on the privacy changes, then more changes, and then even more changes.
In a blink, I’d have to say that there is a lot to Facebook that I like, probably more than the amount of stuff I dislike, but I think I like the blog world a bit better.
GooglePlus
OK, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that of all of the platforms I’m using right now, Google Plus is still my least favorite. While there are a lot of great people over there, and while there is a lot of great content, I still feel as though Google Plus is kind of a blog site on steroids. There are pictures, long posts, videos, whole photo albums – it’s so much content that it’s really hard to skim through a news stream, particularly if you have more than maybe, 7 friends. Yes, you can search by circle, but who has that kind of time?
It is neat that you can sort people by circles, which I still haven’t done, but to me Google Plus hinges on being less social compared to blogging. Indeed, it just seems like a lot of people talking loudly at the same time.
At least to me.
I would never have believed, a year ago, that I would like Twitter as much as I do. But I really do like it. And in fact, after going through this exercise, I’m going to stun you and say that Twitter may just be my most favorite Social Media platform. Why? Well, I think the chat function is what sets it apart. Now sure, you can do a huddle or a hang-out on Google Plus, and sure you can converse in a comments thread, but nothing really beats the real time back-and-forth of a good Twitter chat. Chatting is what showed me the true value of Twitter, and Twitter is how I truly connected with so many great people.
Of course there are downsides to Twitter. It’s harder to share things like photos and videos and there’s that pesky character limit thing going on. But so far as Social Media goes, I think Twitter has my vote.
Now it’s your turn. What other platforms do you use that I didn’t evaluate here? What are the pros and cons? What are your favorites?
Let’s compare notes!
Image by Dan Brady. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/danyul
Interesting take on social networks, Maggie. I use them all and have a love/hate relationship with each.
My flagship is and will always be my blog http://www.fearlesscompetitor.net.
Facebook is pretty nice – met a lot there.
Google + has potential. The circles approach is superb.
Twitter is like ice cream. It’s highly addictive and appealing.
Linkedin is still a great business network. Gotta be there.
All the best,
Jeff Ogden
Thanks Jeff.
Man, I can’t believe I left LinkedIn out. D’oh!
I’d have to agree with Jeff, although my exposure to others there isn’t what it is in say Twitter, our blog is where we control it all, from content to delivery.
I’d follow that up with Facebook [the fan page], although again our visibility to others is pretty limited. But again we’re able to control the content. Further there is a lot more interaction there than even in our blog.
Twitter would be third, through it we’re able to at least offer up for consideration topics and news we feel are interesting. Certainly there we have a lot of exposure and a fair amount of interaction. We also understand though that in anyone’s twitter stream it may be hard to catch our message as it goes by.
That’s an interesting word – control…a lot of people feel that a blog is the opposite of a controlled situation. You never know who’s sharing, who’s going to flame or troll…of course that’s true across the board, but many people refrain from blogging because they feel they have no control whatsoever.
Thanks for the comment, as always!
Mine are the same as yours: Twitter is my fave, Google + my least favorite. I do like Facebook though but I am not as active as I am on Twitter.
I used to love talking on those things in your photo, what are they again? Ohhhh telephones. I remember.
<3 Peggy
Yeah, I kind of miss phones to be honest. Am I weird? Wait, don’t answer that!
You miss telephones? You don’t own one? How do you talk to people?
Love blogging and Twitter. Like FB (pun intended). Not on google+ and don’t intend to be at this moment…still watching and listening to others’ experience, then will decide once it’s been around the block a few more times.
Oh, and like Peggy…I love those phones! I have a red one that I call the Bat phone. Cheers! Kaarina
The bat phone, huh? Well, why does that not surprise me? 🙂
Thanks for weighing in!
Thank you, Margie, for your analysis, and providing a pleasant Sunday morning – coffee, biscotti, and your blog! I think this is where you really shine, although your online presence has always been articulate, informative, and more importantly – kind, conscientious and thoughtful. It’s been a pleasure watching you evolve!
I still use LiveJournal, but mostly as you say, a diary; I post poetry there, and the odd photo, and most of the users are there to post fan-fic, a concept that still befuddles me. Facebook has a certain functionality in its transparency, but that is also what I don’t like about it. I signed up on Twitter long ago, but never really figured it out, and the character limit always rankles (even though I am not a writer, and don’t type well at all!) Google+, we’ll see.
Anyway, we all choose what works for us. The important thing is that I met someone who I count a friend!
😎
You hit the nail on the head, Andrea. So glad I know you and glad you liked this post!!
I agree Margie…all of them have plusses and minuses. I think I like Twitter the best also, though I find the time investment hard to manage, and the signal to ratio is very high. Twitter would be by fart favorite were it not for those two things. Love the ability to connect with and meet new people there. You didn’t mention LinkedIn though…some people consider it plumbing, but there can be some lively social networking going on there too!
I like that “signal to ratio” verbiage, but yes, the time commitment can be as much or more than blogging if you’re not careful. Excellent point!
There are pros and cons to each platform as with most everything in life. A lot of the pros/cons issues for me have more to do with ME and my efforts (or lack therein) than they do with the platform. My all time favorite is the blog because, while I am not gifted, I do love to write. And I LOVE reading other’s blogs. As you pointed out, though, it is time consuming on both ends. Facebook is fairly easy although maybe not as rewarding…easy in that you can post a clever or informative or interesting status update on your personal profile page or on your business Page and then, quite literally, leave because most often, you are not going to get an immediate response. So it’s post…..and wait. Twitter is definitely more conversational and therefore perhaps more effective or rewarding. I have found,though, that if you take a significant time off from Twitter, it takes a lot of time to regenerate your Twitter relationships and engagement. The jury is still out for me on Google+ I DO love it for my photography passion and have a very interesting “circle” of photography people that I follow and learn from.
Claudia
I agree about the photography aspect of Google Plus – that part is kind of nice, but I’m really a written word kind of person online, and I find it hard to engage on Google Plus still. There’s just so much going on there!
You seem to be plenty gifted as a writer if you ask me. Just sayin…don’t beat yourself up! 🙂
Good analysis, Margie. To me, it’s about dipping your toes in many things to try them out, explore them for yourself and see what works for your personality. Nobody has the perfect platform in itself anyway and I can find cons to the pros of every channel. So I do blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and trying to do more YouTube. But I’m with you on Google Plus – I want to like it but I’m not loving it. I have to feel like something new is so above and beyond what I’m already using and I’m just not seeing it with G+. Trying to have an open mind about it, though!
Margie,
Thanks for the post and I agree they each have pros and cons.
When I first started using Twitter I *thought* it was so blah, “Where are the pictures?”
But wow have I changed my tune – so much is shared in those 140 characters and it’s fun to quick the link and share. Anything you might be interested in you will find a kindred spirit on Twitter.
Facebook continues to be my homebase for family and friends. A window into the lives of friends and family that I do not get to see in person nearly enough.
GooglePlus, still trying to give it the attention it needs the potential is there.
Blogging trying to get over my fear and share – it’s a work in progress.
And nothing beats a phone call:)
🙂 Kelly
I thought you were going to say blogging Margie! Ok, so taking into account Tweetchats, Twitter is by far my favorite social drug as well (but I would be lost without blogging because I have an insane passion for words and writing!). I get so hooked on Twitter though that I can literally spend hours going from one tweetchat to the next, clicking on links people share and trying to read the content to re-share it out to my network, meanwhile the stream is zooming by and I am missing more great stuff. Phew! It is a mind rush of sorts!
Love the post, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I guess that’s the point of a blog. I’m on a bunch of social networking sites, but the only one I regularly use in addition to the ones you’ve listed here is LinkedIn. I use the various groups to meet and stay in touch with local and interest sub-groups.
My favorite platform is without a doubt Twitter. The 140 limit has taught me brevity, a trait I rarely used in the past. Given the use of abbreviations I learned to proof before I hit send (Ahem, Rep. Weiner) so I didn’t accidentally leave an unintended meaning with my word choices. Finally regarding Twitter the egalitarian nature of the platform is very enjoyable and helped boost my networking self-confidence.
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