Social Media: Designed By Extroverts, Safe For Introverts

If you missed the Appomattox Social Media Seminar this past weekend, you missed an excellent chance to find out about cutting edge communication technology that just may have the power to change the way we build community, operate businesses, and talk to one another. I took notes over the weekend, trying to get a handle on just what social media was and how I might apply Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin to my own work and life.

Friday, March 6

Lisa Moussalli makes a point while others listen. From left clockwise: Andrea Roth; Chris Abraham; Jennifer Mills; Joe Gerstandt; Michelle Reeves; Linda Goin; Nannette Saunders; Lisa Moussalli.

About ten people gather for a meet and greet in the coffee shop at the Wingate in Lynchburg at 6:30 in the evening. It’s pretty casual, and we’re sitting around tables with cups of coffee. The get-together will also give us a chance to meet Saturday’s keynote speaker, Joe Gerstandt. I’m the novice of the group, and am mostly tagging along to get my bearings on social media, a term I’d never heard of until two or three months ago. Over the next couple hours a loose conversation develops around social media. How do you define social media? How can social media benefit your business? And how is social media changing the way we communicate with one other?

What strikes me most clearly is the idea that social media was bound to happen sooner or later. Why? Well, my theory goes something like this. There was no way that extroverted people were going to use the Internet if they couldn’t talk back, if they couldn’t be part of the conversation. Extroverts, after all, get their energy from conversations with other people. If they were going to use the Internet, they needed a set of tools like Twitter and Facebook that would allow free-flowing conversations…with photographs!

The coolest thing for an introvert like me, however, is how unobtrusive this extroverted technology is. Typing on my laptop, I have the best of both worlds – I’m perfectly alone, dressed in my pajamas, but I also have the option of reaching out to folks around the world who share my interest in music, books, and photography.

Saturday, March 7

Jennifer Mills and Al Baughman. The Social Crackers? That was a joke…

The Appomattox Social Media Seminar kicks off at 9:00 a.m. with around 30 people in attendance. This is the day I’d get concrete info on Twitter, Facebook, and a slew of other Internet tools that comprised social media. Jennifer Mills of Expressions Laboratories speaks first, explaining the nuts and bolts of social media. A couple of her points stick out.

• Mills says, “We are all social beings,” and that social media is breaking down the boundaries that separate people. Social media, then, is “another way for us to expand our relationships.”
• Mills also makes a convincing case that you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to set up and operate a blog – nor do you need a lot of cash. In fact, if you can type and have something to say, you’re probably good to go.

Joe Gerstandt offers a social vision.

Joe Gerstand speaks after a fine lunch delivered by the Babcock House, continuing a number of themes Mills had introduced that morning. And even though I’d met Gerstand the night before, his talk honestly surprises me. I suppose I suspected a computer geek or techno wonk, someone with the skinny on the choicest Internet tools and most happening text messaging devices. Instead, Gerstand sounds a lot like a philosopher, presenting a social vision that, he believes, can be realized through social media.

• Since social media removes boundaries between people, it allows more direct access to everyone. In other words, social media is democratic at its roots, allowing anyone with a Twitter account to “send a ripple out into the world.”
• Social media, finally, isn’t about the Internet or technology per se, but about people, and the quality of relationships between people. That, in itself, has the potential to make social media revolutionary.

Sunday, March 8

Don Baker and Copeland Casati discuss social media things.

So what did I learn over the weekend? While social media may sound like no more than another Internet fad, many of the folks I met would beg to differ. In fact, some of these folks think social media is going to rock our world, changing the very way businesses, communities, and individuals connect, listen, and talk to one another. Heck, some of these folks even believe that social media has the power to change the very way we live.

The key to understanding these bold claims is taking the time to measure the ways in which social media differs from traditional media. With traditional media, a small group of people made content while everyone else consumed that content, more or less passively. With social media, everybody gets to be part of the conversation. But I still had one more question about social media. How could I use social media on a daily basis – how could I, using social media, be part of the conversation?

Social Media and Me

All of the information I gathered this weekend – from speakers, individual conversations, and afternoon workshops – will probably take a couple days to sink in. To be honest, I was somewhat skeptical as the weekend began. I had nothing against social media…but wondered: What’s wrong with speaking to someone face to face, or picking up the phone to call Mom or Dad? And since almost everyone has email…what in the heck do I need a blog site, a Twitter account, and a bunch of friends on Facebook for? Did I really have time to spend a couple hours each day replying to Internet friends about all matters under the sun?

As it turns out, I might not really need to post photos on Facebook…and I may or may not need a Twitter account…but a couple of nice, informed folks – Jennifer Mills of Expressions Laboratories and Donald L. Baker of NSI Partners – convinced me that a nice blog spot would offer a valuable way to make people aware of my upcoming book on music and a good place to develop ideas for future projects. Likewise, a presence on the Web would give me a chance to get feedback from a broad community of folks who dig the same kind of music as I do. Best of all, the cost for the initial set up seems fairly reasonable.

I don’t pretend to fully understand social media, or exactly how it will change the dynamic of the world in which we live. But I learned enough over the weekend to know that it’s time to get on board and take part in this global conversation.