Ever had a time in your neighborhood or apartment complex or anywhere for that matter that you were enjoying the peace and quiet of a time and then it happened? You know. One dog barks then every dog in the neighborhood decides they have to have their say. Suddenly that peaceful moment is a cacophony of dumb dogs yelling at nothing in particular but still making a lot of noise and helping nothing. You just have to wait it out until they run out of energy and do the only thing that dogs do well; sleep.
Well, today I offer that maybe, just maybe, social media is not a whole lot different. What you say? You are trying to compare me to a barking mutt that is probably just as incensed over a rock as it is over a burglar? Yup. I am. Of course, I can say that only because I am part of the crowd as well. I am not pointing a finger without first recognizing the three pointing back at me. I guess that’s why I am writing about it.
I see a lot of really loud and pointless barking in my use of social media and many others as well. I think it’s good to recognize but it might be even better to actually do something about it.
People hate vacuums. Not the cleaning kind, although I been in some places where there is at least a healthy dislike of those, but the kind that involve silence. They also hate not being heard when they bark speak. That’s why political correctness exists. We can talk about that another day, though.
As a result, the medium of social media is allowing people to speak and be heard like never before. There is a problem though. There is more noise than thought that happens in the process. We are like a neighborhood of annoying barking dogs that need to just be quiet and listen for a while. Then when we see a true void that we can fill with something that is constructive (PLEASE don’t confuse that with something positive only – I’ve learned my best lessons from constructive criticism of people much smarter than me). Now we are getting somewhere whether it be personal or professional.
So approach social media for yourself or your company with purpose. Adding to the noise is not engaging in social media. In fact, it is quite the opposite – it devalues social media. Don’t bark when everyone is barking. There are no individuals in the din of mass noise. Just noise.
If we know anything about being heard it should be that we need to have the stage and the reason for being there to have any value. Stop barking, please, and earn the mike.
