Stung by Social Media: The Story of Chloe and the Bees
Posted on | October 22, 2009 | 1 Comment
I recently had a pet experience that made me look at social media in a different way. I thought I’d share it with you.
My dog Chloe is a fine dog and my trusted companion. I often work in our yard and she is constantly by my side; to be honest, it’s comforting having her there. I like feeling as though there is someone else around; she never disagrees with me and always greets me like I’ve been away forever. What more can you ask?
One day I was working outside and Chloe was customarily nearby. Used to her constant attempts at biting flying insects, I didn’t pay too much attention to her behavior until she had become much more aggressive. Looking over, I saw that she had gotten herself mixed up with a yellow jacket nest. Calling her, we retreated to the back yard where we got rid of most of the bees, except the few that had found me instead.
Upon my return, I discovered that she had inadvertently disturbed the nest by sitting about 2 feet away. She didn’t mean them any harm, but just wanted to lie down there.
I know it seems farfetched but I got to thinking about how often this same sort of thing might have happened to you. The first thing we teach social media beginners is to start by listening to the existing conversations and then participating when appropriate. I’ve found that this is sometimes easier said than done.
Some groups, communities, tribes are easier to become part of than others. Through the use of technology, terminology and habit, we as social media users may often unintentionally exclude those with whom we should be connecting. If you want an example try showing Twitter to someone who is unfamiliar. Hashtags, tiny urls, DMs and @ Replies… While these may be mundane for experienced users, understanding these social media concepts can become a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to newbies.
I’m not proposing that anyone eliminate the use of social media, but I am suggesting that social media users look at these tools and ask whether we are exclusionary in anyway – especially to those with whom we would like to interact.
Are you making it easy for others to interact with you using social media? I suggest that in many cases you may not be; in fact, you may be driving people away, just like Chloe.
Let me know whether I am way off here or whether you have experienced any of what I speak.
Rick Simmons
P.S. – Chloe is doing fine. After a day of recovery from her nasty experience, she’s back and her old self again.
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October 22nd, 2009 @ 8:20 am
aha, we should use our mind too at the same time before trusting on them, its okay that social media is too good to trust on for marketing products, but at the same time you cannot put everything on to them, its always profitable to be skillful