Reflections on Social Media

A COMPENDIUM OF ARTICLES DEALING WITH THE NATURE AND EXPERIENCE OF BEING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I haven't written that much about social media because, speaking candidly, I don't find it that interesting. I compare being on social media to eating: I love to do it, but I find talking about food and how to cook uninteresting. Not that it is on any objective scale, just that I find it so.

Similarly, I find a good deal of satisfaction writing and publishing on social media, and engaging about my views and opinions there. I just don't find that talk about things like how to best way pick up followers on Twitter, or how to use Snapchat for business promotion has much draw for me.

That said, I do have to admit to more than one rant about various social media platforms, such as LinkedIn. And I do have to admit to waxing philosophical several times about how too much time on social media may be harming us.

Earlier today, one of my fellow independent writers on LinkedIn and beBee,  Franci Eugenia Hoffman, found a nearly year-old LinkedIn post of mine that was highly critical of management actions on that social media platform, and shared it here on beBee. That got me to thinking, maybe, I should be pointing the way on beBee to some of my older LinkedIn posts about social media and the lessons to be drawn from my LinkedIn experience — as several of those posts rolled up thousands of reads and hundreds of likes, comments, and shares, all without any substantive help or promotion from LinkedIn or its Pulse Editorial channel.

I realize this approach may be to run against the tide in an era when blogging is king, and blogging is generally about as focused as an un-choked shotgun blast. And when articles are rated by the platforms on which they appear by how long, on average, they take to read, one minute, two minutes, three ... or, heaven forbid seven or eight.

But, what the hell, I've always refused to condescend to my readers, to believe they were dolts with miniscule vocabularies and even tinier attention spans. And I will continue to do so, that is, continue to write at a level I believe is necessary to putting serious ideas across. (Except, of course, when I'm joking, which is a good percentage of the time.)

 So, here is a compendium of those writings, with easy-to-use live links to the posts themselves...

Please read, enjoy, and feel free to comment, whether positively or negatively, briedfly or at length.  For the name of the game is intellectual engagement.  —  Phil Friedman

"Arrogant Control Is Not Leadership on Social Media, or Anywhere Else"

"Take Your Algorithm and Shove It !"

"View Counts on Pulse Posts Headed to Oblivion"

"Conversation Isn't Just Politely Waiting Your Turn to Speak"

"The Monetization of Desperation"

"Supermen Need Not Apply"

"A Writer's Commune With the Oracle: Publishing in the Shadow of the LI Algorithm"

"Lessons Learned from Publishing in the Shadow of the LI Algorithm"

Author's Notes:

If you'd  like to receive notifications of my writings on a regular basis, click the [FOLLOW] button on my beBee profile. As a writer-friend of mine says, you can always change your mind later.

Feel free to "like" and "share" this post and my other LinkedIn articles — whether on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Google+, provided only that you credit me properly as the author, and include a live link to my original post.

About me, Phil Friedman:  With 30 some years background in the marine industry, I've worn numerous hats — as a yacht designer, boat builder, marine operations and business manager, marine industry consultant, marine marketing and communications specialist, yachting magazine writer and editor, yacht surveyor, and marine industry educator. I am also trained and experienced in interest-based negotiation and mediation. In a previous life, I taught logic and philosophy at university.

The (optional-to-read) pitch: As a professional writer, editor, university educator, and speaker, with more than 1,000 print and digital publications, I've recently launched an online program for enhancing your expository writing: learn2engage — With Confidence. My mission is to help writers and would-be writers improve the clarity of their thought, master the logic of discussion, and strengthen their ability to deal confidently with disagreement.

To schedule an appointment for a free 1/2-hour consult email: info@learn2engage.org. 
                

Text Copyright 2016 by Phil Friedman — All Rights Reserved
Images Credits:  Phil Friedman, FreeDigitalPhotos.com, and Google Images

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