Seven Quick Takes Friday
Social Media Edition
My quick takes on social media – the good, the bad, and the unexplained. You can find and follow me on any of the platforms below.
–1–
Facebook was my first foray into social media circa 2008. I joined it solely for my own pleasure without an inkling of what a social media platform was or why one would want one. It remains my favorite social medium. Without character limits and the flexibility of text, photo, video, and sharing, I connect more and better with people on Facebook than anywhere else. I could do without the number of memes and cat photos clogging my newsfeed – and the fact that it constantly reverts to “top stories,” but it’s still my go-to application.
–2–
I don’t think I’ll ever love Twitter. I tried it once and quit. I didn’t “get” it. Then I tried it again and stuck with it. It’s an interesting way to broadcast to a large, diverse audience but often feels like I’m just tossing thoughts and images into the ether. What I do love? The challenge of working with 144-characters, smart and funny trends (“Make a movie Jamaican”), and checking in after major, live events such as championship games or new episodes of “The Walking Dead.” (If you don’t “get” Twitter and want to, I recommend Katharine Grubb’s Conquering Twitter in 10 Minutes A Day for only 99 cents on Amazon Kindle.)
–3–
I like Pinterest best for recipes and for organizing ideas, blog posts, and photos on a variety of topics. It’s perfect for craft, costume, and organization ideas. I don’t see much traction in getting my own posts pinned, but it’s a great visual medium.
–4–
I only recently joined Instagram when I upgraded from a flip phone to an iPhone. Like Pinterest, the image takes precedence here. While sharing is cumbersome, it also limits the number of times I have to see an inspirational quote repeated. I think I’ve just scratched the surface of this one.
–5–
I’ve been on LinkedIn almost as long as Pinterest. I don’t spend much time there, but that may be because I’ve been out of the workforce for so long. Useful in spurts, but not somewhere I can ever see myself hanging out.
–6–
Google+
Someone please tell me the value of Google+. Other than the fact that it’s a Google product and a presence there aids in search engine optimization (SEO), I’m not getting it. I like the clean layout, but while I know lots of people with accounts, I don’t know of anyone particularly active on there. If you love Google+, enlighten me, please.
–7–
YouTube
I’m growing to like YouTube more and more and am eager to master producing better quality videos. Having studied broadcast journalism, I feel like I at least have an inkling about video creation. Now, if only I could get used to watching myself on video . . . And while we’re on the topic of video, I want to give a nod to Periscope. Despite the fact that my first experience there was spotting a title about pooping, I think it’s an interesting format. Perfect for live events or getting an informal, man-on-the street perspective, I’m intrigued by it.
What is your favorite or least favorite social medium? Why?
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