Finding Value in Social Media

Everyone's business is different. Everyone's interests are different. It's like a giant Venn diagram - some places you and I will be polar opposites and some places we might overlap. Polarization is ok. (This is something I learned from Guy Kawasaki.) You have to look at the product and decide what has value for your needs and price point.

Know Your Needs
Being a transplant and a creative person when I moved here I wanted to get connected to people who were passionate about technology and who I could learn from. I don't even remember how I started using Twitter. I'm sure someone suggested it to me and like most people, I thought it was lame at first. (Why would I want to be so connected with people all the time? For the record, I've been known to actually turn off my cell phone from time to time. Yes, there are people like that who exist.)

But without a community, I wasn't able to write about Charlotte events or things going on because I didn't know what was going on. So I joined Twitter and started following just about everyone who updated regularly in the Queen City area. It was a need that I was able to find in this tool and as many profiles I have on various websites, this one seemed to work the quickest for me.

So what are your needs?

Ask Around
You have a network whether it's online or not. Ask people what they're using and what they're gaining from different applications. Google it! There are hundreds of thousands of blog posts about people explaining all the reasons why they like Facebook or Twitter or FriendFeed. Whatever the application is... There's probably something out there. Find people your similar needs, contact them if you have questions, learn from other people.

Laurie (of sk*rt) and I were talking about how valuable people like Wayne Sutton are. Wayne's got a profile on just about every website. He's a great resource as to finding out what is good about a particular social media site and what is bad. Some other resources are bloggers Chris Brogan and Sam Harrelson. In fact, Chris has been doing a blog series called Social Media 100 which might be right up your alley if you're looking for ways to find the best social media tools for your needs. (Also see TechCrunch or WebWorkerDaily.)

Just Do It
Sometimes you just have to dive in and try something to see if it suits your needs. Give it a time period and then see where you are. You may need to adjust your expectations. Sometimes the tool you've found works but there's room for improvement. For example: The Toad Stool's 10 Things I Hate About Twitter. Maybe you were looking to fulfill a need such as finding a better way to extend your company brand but realize that this particular tool instead helped you to communicate with and gain new customers. You just have to weigh the pros and cons against the time and energy you have to put into the product. A lot of these services are free but you also have to remember that your time translates to money if you spend enough of it using an application. While I went looking to increase my network here in Charlotte, I also found that I was also (sometimes) able to find answers without having to search (hat tip.) for an hour through blog posts. So there are shifts from your original need but still add value.

And don't worry - what may work for me might not work for you and vice versa. I haven't found much value in Digg or MySpace. But that doesn't mean that they aren't useful. MySpace is great for musicians and comedians to get their information and creativity out to their audience.

What has worked for you? What do you find value in?