Thursday, July 9, 2015

Social Media: Linked In is Out.


I've been thinking and taking a long, hard look at social media.  I've been asking questions and searching for answers not online from social media mavens or marketing gurus but from within my own heart.  

I don't want to just be a follower, I want to choose what to follow.

LinkedIn is sold as a business-oriented, professional networking service.  Started in 2002, LinkedIn now has over 364 million 'acquired' users in 200 countries and territories.  Last I checked it still ranks in the top 10 social media sites but its rank has slipped from the #2 slot right behind Facebook to #5 or 6.

So what?

Here's the questions I've been asking myself about social media sites:

Do I like the site, its mission, audience, overall look despite its published demographics, etc?
Do I use the site...am I on it, reading, posting, following anyone or anything?
Is it relevant to me, my life, work and art?
When I think about it do I smile, cringe, or feel neutral?

Here's how LinkedIn stacks up to my criteria:

No. I don't like the site or its mission.  I'm not interested in business networking. 
No. I don't use the site. I have been on it for 4-5 years and never gone there.
No. It's not relevant to me, my life now or my art.  
Have I made a helpful contact or sold a piece of work there? No.
When I think about LinkedIn, I cringe.    
I don't like getting those pesky 'notifications' designed to drive me back to a site I don't like and never use, just to up their user numbers


I'd like to add here and now, that I will be the first to talk about the importance of marketing my work.  But after years of advertising experience with other clients, I know that choosing a few  right venues and media works.  Finding the right venues and media does take time and some trial and error.  

I started out using social media because it was 'in' to do it and to market my art but now I see social media as a way to make connections for myself and my art. So, if it doesn't do that for me, now, it's out.

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