Lost in the social space

I’ll let you in on a couple of things that are my escape.  Music and movies.  They show through in my most of my social feeds at one time or another.  I love getting lost in a great movie and I turn to music to relax, get jacked up, clear my head, focus or just zone out.  Tonight, it was music that inspired this post.

“A generation lost in space”

I’ve heard the song that provides that line a few hundred times, but last night when I heard it, I thought how that line from 1971* is so fitting for today’s social media landscape.

You can literally get lost in the social space.

You are here

Why

I’ve said this before…why.  This absolutely has to be part of any social media program.  Why are we going to use this platform?  Why are we going to use this tool?  Why are we going to post this information?  Not to mention, why are we using social media?  Once you have your why, the rest will come much easier.

Focus

You need to have a clear idea of where you are going with your organization’s social media presence.  If not, you have no idea whether your efforts (outputs) are having an effective impact (outcomes).  If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you possible have any idea if you get there?  Setting your goals will guide you in maximizing the outcomes for your efforts.

Knowledge

Knowing how to use the tools within social media will save you a great deal of agony that will come with mistakes, improper etiquette and simply fumbling around.  Take the time to learn how to use the tools.  Videos, blogs, tutorials are all available to make it easy and at your own speed and in your time frame.

Time

This is the killer.  This is where we can really lose ourselves.  There is an abundance of information that is available to us with just a few clicks and keystrokes.  Just look at the stream of Twitter.  Estimates right now put it at over 340,000,000[1] tweets per day! You can find yourself watching, clicking, posting for hours and accomplish nothing.  Facebook can be just as time sucking.  You need to dedicate time to your social presence.  Even if it is just as simple as setting 10 minutes aside for monitoring, research or reading and 10 minutes for engagement.  If you do that three times a day, you are dedicating one hour to your presence.  Whatever time you set, stick to it so you don’t get lost.  An effective user can accomplish a great deal in one hour.

Don’t be part of the generation that gets lost in the social space.  Be part of the generation that defines the social space for police and law enforcement.  Chart the course and leave a great path for others to follow!

  • *If you know the name of the song without using a search engine – 5points
  • If you know the history of the song without a search engine – 10 points
  • If you don’t know the song – You lose your “I’m a Classic Rock Fan Card”


[1] http://blog.twitter.com/2012/03/twitter-turns-six.html

About Tim Burrows

Tim Burrows was a sworn police officer for 25 years with experience in front line operations, primary response, traffic, detective operations and supervision. He has training in a broad spectrum of policing responsibilities including, IMS, Emergency Management, computer assisted technology investigations, leadership, community policing and crisis communications. Tim is available to assist you with your social media program and communication. Click here to contact him http://bit.ly/ContactTimBurrows
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2 Responses to Lost in the social space

  1. He is actually going on tour this summer. smaller venues, smaller places but I am sure it will be excellent all the same. LOL

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