I was just reading, emailing, surfing, Googling, tweeting, blogging, Facebook Liking, posting, Stumbling, Digging, Tumblring, Friending, texting, instant messaging, Flavor Me-ing, Quoring, YouTubing, listening and engaging today, when it occurred to me.
(Always a dangerous thing when that happens.)
I was bloody exhausted from all the listening and engaging. And that’s the truth of it!
There’s one hell of a lot of voices and opinion out there. In fact, it’s a huge social media dogpile and it’s damn hard to get out from under it.
And therein lies the challenge.
Did it ever occur to you why social media is called “viral”? Of course, it’s because it can be passed along so easily.
The problem being, that what’s passed along in so many cases is not very valuable. In fact, often it’s just re-hashed, re-warmed and re-served. Unless, someone you trust has expanded or offered their insight or through curation has added other value to the content.
How do you manage and sort through the noise and the volume? Then, how do you pick the best stuff? Finally, how can you tell if it’s factual, informed or influential?
The answer of course is it takes lots of time and plenty of hard work.
So far, the tools don’t yet exist to find and deliver me the “best” stuff for me. Partly, that’s because it’s different than your best stuff.
But there’s one silver bullet, a great antidote to this mighty social media viral infection.
Instead of emailing…
In place of texting…
As an alternative to tweeting…
Rather than posting to a Facebook Wall, blogging to bajillions or Googling and gargling…
The big friggin idea… is to pick up the phone. Just do it.
In a recent article, Jason Kottke wrote No one uses the phone anymore. And, he said, “As a long-time hater of the phone call, this is good news.”
Sorry Jason I disagree.
Talk to someone. Reconnect. Share a funny story with an old friend. Call a new client with a fresh new idea. Telephone an old client and ask how they’re doing. Pick up the phone and compliment reporter on a story well done. Call the restaurant where you had that terrific lunch and tell the owner how much you enjoyed it. Heck, even give your Mom a call.
As surprised as they may be to get a phone call from you, you may be even more surprised by the positive reaction you get for calling. Now that’s a viral idea that should really catch fire.
So, if you call me to comment on this post, and you happen to get my answering machine, don’t worry. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Honest.
I’m just busy at the moment. Reading, emailing, surfing, Googling, tweeting, blogging, Facebook Liking, posting, Stumbling, Digging, Tumbling, Friending, texting, instant messaging, Flavor Me-ing, Quoring, YouTubing, listening and engaging.
Talk with you soon.
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Author: Jeff Domansky is Editor, The PR Coach
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