Getting my arms around social media

I have dedicated this year–okay, well, maybe more like half of a year–to embracing social media. It’s been quite the learning process. Here are the things I know now that I didn’t know in July.

1. Each social network is a different animal. Facebook is an ox.  Twitter is a butterfly. One must post at least daily to Facebook, because the duration of a facebook post is about 3 hours. One most post multiple times a day to Twitter, because the lifetime of a tweet is about five seconds.
2. Crime pays, but social media takes days. Social media is free, the time spent on it is not. Being active on social media requires a commitment of time and focus.
3. It helps to have help. I hired the great folks at CyberPR to help me get my music out to the world. They’ve gotten me some wonderful reviews for my music.  Check a few of them out here, here, and here.
4. Planning can make it all easier. I found a few social media calendar templates online, and I’ve started playing with them.
5. Choosing topics to write about is fun. Just decided on a few topic areas to focus my posts around.  Looking forward to surprising my readers!
6. Social media can create meaningful real-world interactions. The week after I lost my wonderful cat Tree to illness, I attended an Artslab conference.  Numerous colleagues and friends approached me to offer their condolences for Tree, because they had seen my post on facebook.  This led to wonderful and heartfelt conversations that helped me get to know each person better. What a treat to see that online doesn’t mean out of mind!