So I am
25, and I have been a member of Facebook since February 10, 2007. A strong
eight years of patronage so far and I don’t see myself getting off the social
media juice anytime soon. I recently read an article on why a person quit
Facebook. An excellent read, and it got me thinking, why am I staying?
First and foremost I will say that there are some contacts that
I am rightfully aware that I will never see person to person and that is okay.
However, call it nosey, but I am interested in their lives and what they are
doing. I can honestly say that I don’t really have any desire to go to my
quickly approaching 10 year high school reunion because I have a better way
into insight of your past 10 years than what you can tell me face to face in a
two minute self-indulgent and rehearsed speech. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly
value face to face interactions as it’s becoming less and less frequent in
society. However, if I’m not interested in the conversation, I can’t say to
your face that my Wi-Fi cut out and end the interaction. Not that I would, to
most.
I will say that as I peruse through the past eight years of
internet information disclosure I can see my evolution not only as a person,
but what I want and how I use Facebook as a tool.
It starts with the, now quite embarrassing, test-like status’
saying things along the lines of, “I’m hung-over” or “I’m out golfing”. Oh the
profundity of the 19 year old version of me and the naiveté of who I am sending
these messages out to.
Only later do I find myself engaging in more proactive dealings
such as creating study groups in university, asking questions to my network of
connections, and expressing viewpoints on topics. Not until being in my most
recent working position have I consciously assembled my online brand. I now
make an effort to be constructive with almost everything I post on any social
media. On what I call the big three (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.), I
strive to create a type of online synergy. All three convey different tones to
different types of connections, but I try to show consistency.
For me, I want this because in my last job, we were encouraged
to utilise social media. Being that it was a financial institution, it was
quite regimented with compliance. However, the underlining factor that I took
away from it was consistency. You wouldn’t advertise one rate on one media
site, only to conflict it with another on a different site. The same goes for
your personal message as a brand.
This became an almost philosophical question to myself when it
came to making the switch in becoming a serious social media presence rather
than just another contact on someone’s list. I really started thinking about my
values, and what I support. I want to be an advocate to those positions I have
because I know that even if it is a total of 1500 people that can hear my
digital call, it is still much more than what I can assemble to listen to my
opinions if I just yelled them outside my front door.
So I have since put it to action. I see myself as a digital
entity, whereby my reputation by means of what I post and who hears it, is a
more calculated and directed process. And to be honest, I have never felt more
efficient in my posting until now, however that may be a small bout of
obsessive compulsiveness.
So now when I ask myself, why do I stay on social media? I have
a much stronger answer than years past. Almost like a corporate mission
statement to myself,
I am on
social media to convey information that highlights and upholds my personal
brand. I am not here to spam or discourage, but to entice and encourage my
contacts to be ever more interested in the things I believe. I am here to
promote but not push my opinions, and I will make an effort to be as compatible
with as many people as I can by not limiting myself to just one platform.”
And that, is why I am still on Facebook.
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