Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Retweet If You'd Like To Share A Comment

The following is a nakedly self serving blog post, I'm admitting it right up front.  But it will serve thousands, perhaps millions, of others as well so this could be viewed as a charitable act with the right kind of eye wear.

In case you couldn't tell, I've been a little obsessed with social media lately, but that's how I roll.  Obsessions large and small have governed my life, it's how I learn and lately when asked what I've been up to, I say that I'm back in school.

It's a self study program, but any education is valuable.

Today we're talking about all the different kinds of share buttons found on virtually every post out in the Cyberverse.  We've all seen them, but prior to my becoming a blogger, I rarely used them because of ignorance.  I did not understand the point of randomly saying, "Hey, I like that."

But in the Cyberverse, every single button click has a deep meaning for the clickee because it's a system driven by numbers.  Every 'Like', 'Plus', 'Tweet' and 'Share' gives us a tiny bit more exposure and moves us incrementally up the search engine food chain.

There aren't any rules dictating what should be shared or liked, it's purely a personal choice and there are no right or wrong shares.  If you see an especially humorous picture of a kitten, the chances are very good that others will want to see it too.  So what if it's silly or has no relevance?  If you like it, share it.

Remember this is SOCIAL media, be social, it's why you have all those Facebook friends in the first place.

Your vote of support can be just a simple click on the Facebook 'Like' button, or that little G+ on all the Blogspot blogs and WordPress also has a button.  If you really like something, share it to your wall by clicking the Facebook icon that is generally near the post - it does not take a technical genius by any means because most of the work is done for you.

Those buttons are designed to be easy to use, to make it simple for someone like my mother in law to share recipes, photos and inspirational words with her friends.  If my wonderful MIL can do it, so can you.  Is your lasagne as good as hers, probably not :)

You are not expected to have an opinion about every site you visit, but if a site does move you in some way, please don't hesitate to say so.  It is only the click of a button, it doesn't cost you anything and you will not be held up for public ridicule when you claim to like Carrot Top.

I generally have my TweetDeck open while I'm online, even if I'm not in the mood to tweet all that much.  I check in from time to time and retweet other people in my network because it's just a button click.  It only takes me a second to send my friend's information about a book, website or show out a little farther, to get them a little more publicity, because that is what friends do.

Would you hold a door for a stranger?  Do you sometimes put your pennies into the cup by the register for the next unfortunate soul who's a couple cents short of a Big Gulp?  It's the same thing, a small kindness on your part translates to tremendous good fortune for someone else.

Ok, comments.  Yes, I'm with you on comments, every site has a different system and they can be touchy, can't they?  All you wanted to say was "Hey, good job!", but nooooooo, now you have to squint, try and figure out what those hideous captchas are spelling out.  Many times it's not worth the trouble, I feel you.

I have no wise words to universally deal with comment sections.  Many times I will just subvert the comment system and go right to the source, I'll find the author's email address and tell them directly.  But you can always find them on Facebook or Twitter, so comment there, it's perfectly fine.  All they want, all WE want, is to know that you're out there, that you're listening and if we have impacted you in any way.

In closing, let's have a Doctor Who quote:

Well I've spent enough time with the Doctor to know whenever you enter somewhere new, press buttons.

Thanks for your time and please LIKE me!

3 comments:

  1. Yes we bloggers love our buttons! I have to explore tweet deck though....good post. G+ Ed it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I +1 it ;) Also i would comment more often without word verification. It's truly a pain to visit so many and try to decipher.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really helpful and interesting post Cairn - thanks for the info and guidance!

    ReplyDelete