We all know the well used imagery of throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples spread out from the center. The same imagery can be applied to social media, I believe. But there are different ways choose the rocks and throw them.
Most of the time, I stand in the same place, casting similarly shaped rocks into the water. That is to say, I sit at my desk and tweet about things that pass in front of my eyes on a computer screen. Most likely, these are technology stones since that is my job, to engage in conversations about the technology that I sell or use, whether it be Cloud Computing or a gadget review. At my place on the shore, I’m able to gather similarly shaped rocks and I usually throw to the same area of the social media pond. The ripples roll out and I’m sometimes rewarded with a splash back in my general direction.
But sometimes it is important to move from your stationary spot on the shore and bring some diversity to the social stone casting. You must walk around the pond to get other perspectives of the social media pool, to find a new angle to throw, a different bank to cast your opinion and even different types of rocks to pitch into the waters.
And let’s not forget that there are different tools to help you cast your social pebbles into the societal waters. Choosing the proper type of stone will cause different effects: using a web based social aggregator like ping.fm has the effect of pitching a couple heavy round stones into the waters, causing many waves and ripples to crash into each other and overlap as many different social media properties receive the same message. Flipping a flat stone into the social waters can be equated to throwing that perfectly crafted and elegant tweet that then skips across the water as it is retweeted.
Also, in order to make bigger ripples and make and receive more splashes, you need need to not be sedentary and should be more mobile. By moving from your traditional throwing location, you have access to a wider variety of stones, learn different ways to throw them and create different ripple points from other locations, causing your social waves to be distinct, unique and personal. If you cast from the same spot all of the time, throwing the same types of stones, you run the risk of people putting up dams, blocking your social waves from reaching them. By providing a mixture of stones, throwing locations and tossing styles, the waves that you make within the social media pond will be hard to avoid and will lap on the shores of other stone throwers.
So what is the point to this? It’s simple. Get mobile with your social media efforts. Go to different locations. Use different social media services like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Yelp! and others. These services either have native Windows Mobile clients or mobile optimized sites. As part of a way to propel your mobile social stone throwing, you should be sure to vote at the AT&T Lose the Laptop Challenge (e.g., cast your stone by voting for me and retweeting this post) and you could potentially win a HTC Tilt 2 Windows Mobile smartphone. With this device, your casts into the social pond can be varied, using different services from a variety of locations, ensuring that your position is known, whether you are on the move or sitting comfortably on the shore.
Disclosure Text : I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. More information can be found in my About page as well as here. More information about the “Lose the Laptop” program is available here.
HTD says: As you dive into social media, be sure to travel and report from different locations. Having a solid mobile device can help you engage with more people with a variety of subjects.
