You know what? Egypt!

I'm too busy actually doing it to write about social media (except I'm here, writing, but that's cuz I love you). I see my peers writing all sorts of articles and interviewing people and such about it and the sort of work we do with social media...and I wonder where they find the time. I am constantly plugged in or on the phone texting, tweeting, blogging, snapping pics and putting them up on Facebook for clients. You know, actually working?

This latest gig with the Utah Senate has been the most fun...and the most work. It's pretty much a full-timer for the session (which ends in 40 more days...and I'm told toward the end we'll be working from 6 am to midnight, yikes). The thing is I love it. I love being in the thick of it and being so busy I don't have time to write silly how-to articles about how to do it. The other thing is I actually love teaching others how to do it, how to get into and effectively use social media. Mostly to steer them away from all the bad advice out there.

I did this with the Senate interns the other day. They say the millennial gen is teaching the older ones how to do it. In reality they know nothing. They know about as much as your 50 something  year old mom. Just went over basic stuff and talked about Obama/Sarah Palin and how they're using social media to connect. They were glued.

I teach it because I love to see their minds light up when it finally dawns on them how amazing the internet and all it's applications really are in connecting others for their cause. Like Egypt, for example. I hear it all the time - I have a cool job, but Twitter doesn't make sense. It's cool, but it doesn't make sense seems to be the general opinion of everyone not on Twitter. And that's okay. Of course it doesn't make sense if you've never used it or understood it. But in Egypt, it helped them start a revolution. It's been the tool of choice for countless other political protests around the world. It also (IMO) helped elect Obama and gets us real time news faster than CNN. It really only makes sense if you are politically or globally minded or want real time news and info from real people (or want to "stalk" celebrities). But the trick is you gotta know what you are doing to navigate that world. Okay, it's lunchtime and then another committee meeting. Write more later.

Comments

George Marie said…
Saying that older people know nothing is, at best, misleading if not incorrect. When I lived in Iowa City, I took a class that let me work with senior citizens and make a newscast for Iowa City Public Television. They were using Final Cut Pro, high tech cameras, and blue screen to do a documentary about senior citizens working with the station.

I have a 70-year old relative who is on Facebook. She often will comment on a status message inappropriately or do something else that doesn't quite make sense (like a sideways photo), but the fact that she is trying to socially connect and the fact that she picked up on Facebook is remarkable.

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