So over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking quite a bit about Local Search Day. Did you think I forgot about Social Media Day? I didn’t! After all, Rocks Digital was originally founded in 2012 as DFW Rocks Social Media Day to celebrate Social Media Day exclusively. Here’s the history of Rocks Digital.
Dallas, Texas’ Annual Social Media Day 2017 Celebration
We’ll be celebrating Social Media Day in a big way this year. From a concert the evening before to 9 awesome information-packed workshops on June 30 – Social Media Day will ROCK.
We even have a Social Media Day Proclamation from the Town of Addison and Mayor Todd Meier to prove it.
As one portion of the proclamation states:
“Social Media Day is a global celebration of the technological advances to enable us to connect with real-time information, communicate and have our voices heard, locally, regionally, nationally and globally…”
As part of today’s kick-off announcing the Social Media Day Celebration I want to reflect on the power of social media.
My Social Media Journey
I entered the social media space in 2009 as a social media marketing strategist. My first peek into social media was in 2008 when a friend showed me Twitter. Frankly, it looked a bit confusing, and at the time I didn’t get it at all. (Maybe it was the pregnancy brain I was still experiencing. After all, I’d just had a baby!)
But when Dorothy Beach showed me Tweetdeck about a year later, all that changed. I was immediately in love with Twitter, and that’s how it all started. My passion for social media – and Twitter specifically – was born.
When I started growing my personal brand it all began with a tweet. You can find yours by clicking this link.
Today, I think we take the power of social media for granted. We can pretty much connect anywhere around the world with anyone we want. And we are doing this via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and countless other social outlets.
Not only are we posting updates, we are uploading pictures, creating live videos, and having conversations in real-time. Social media has revolutionized how we connect, create relationships, and do business. This is all great and I love it. However, social media has changed us as people dramatically. Keep reading to find out how.
Social Media is Not a Crutch – Stop Using it Like One, People
When we meet someone offline (or online) we go to the web and Google their name. (I am guilty of this too. I’m the most guilty probably.) We look at their Twitter account, their LinkedIn profile and their Facebook for sure. If another social platform comes up we might go stalk them on there as well. Social media has made us curious and even spoiled. If they don’t have a social media account, or we can’t find it, how will we know anything about them before that meeting or phone call exchange? Are they real? Should we trust them?
I admit it – I vet all the Rocks Digital Marketing Conference speakers and guest contributors to the content site through social media. If they don’t have a following, it’s a negative tick mark. If they have a big following, it’s a plus. If they run their social media on autopilot, are constantly negative or cuss like a sailor, those are negative tick marks. Most of the time I can know if they are married, single, have kids, their viewpoint on politics, where they like to hang out and what they like to talk about with a few quick clicks.
While I love social media and all the information I can learn about someone online, I still feel like we’re using it as a crutch. We do and say things we shouldn’t online (Kathy Griffin, anyone?). I actually wrote about this on my blog, LissaDuty.com, in 2009. Here’s the article. Ironically, it’s been circulating again lately. I guess others agree with me about people using social media as a crutch.
Social media can build a business up quickly – and take it down even quicker.
Social Media is Powerful!!!
We all need to remember that social media is not a weapon, it’s not a place to complain about everything that doesn’t go our way, it’s not the replacement for taking the time to develop an authentic relationship; it is a tool, so let’s start using it that way!
Join us at the 2017 Rocks Digital Marketing Conference in Dallas, Texas and you’ll learn how to leverage this powerful tool to drive site traffic, convert followers into customers, and build a foundation that takes your online relationships to a new level offline.
Social Media is Not Going Away
People have been saying that social media is just a fad since it all started in 2009. But it’s not going away, it’s changing. It will continue to change and evolve. And you must change with it, or you will just be the guy or girl complaining on Facebook while everyone else is doing business, and making a difference in the lives of others.
Have you registered yet? Use the promo code SOCIALMEDIAROCKS and get $75 off. You can register for a ticket on June 29 and automatically get upgraded to the two-day ticket, or register for June 30 only. Register now / meet the speakers here.
