The growth of social media has been explosive in 2008, there's just no other way to describe it. Whether you use Twitter, ActiveRain, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, LinkedIn or another or all of the social networking tools, you'll have seen unprecedented growth in all of these and, with any such growth, come two very real risks: overkill and marginalization.
Email was hailed, and still is, a communication revolution. Like the telephone before it, email allows quick, almost instantaneousness transfer of information. Unlike the telephone, it can be more readily-accessible, in most cases free, allows the attachment of files and distribution to a wide audience in a relatively short time and can cause more headaches
Spam is to the emailer what solicitors are to phone users. Sometimes the two can be just as dangerous. Scams from get-rich-quick schemes to worms and viruses have been a constant threat and continue to fuel the security arms race that underpins the Internet. Unlike telephone solicitation, it's not quite as easy to join a “do-not-email" list, although there are such things. Many emails come from parts of the world where local laws don't apply. Email can come from many more channels that phone calls and the majority of email users have at least two accounts
Over 90% of email traffic is spam, according to many studies. I use that number conservatively because I believe it's much higher. That means that 90% of the messages “out there" are junk, unwanted, unsolicited, wasting bandwidth and disk space. Some people predict(ed) the possible end of email unless we can get a handle on spam
Social media networking has the potential to follow the same route. Like email, and the telephone before it, when used properly, blogs, instant messaging and business relationship networking tools can be invaluable in building and maintaining connections. Social media has given everyone the opportunity to reach a potential global audience without the enormous cost of production or printing.
But therein lies some of the problem. At the risk of offending people: there's a lot of junk out there. I remember a quote from a move (The Krays) “you've got nothing to say and you're saying it too loudly". When it comes to social media, there are many people who haven't got a lot to say, so they flood the “e"waves with rubbish, often in the hopes that someone will pick it up and run with it.
Unlike email, we have an easier option when it comes to blogs: we can bypass and not read what we think isn't worth it. On networks such a Twitter, things can be a little more difficult if one is “following" someone, because one is potentially inundated with tweets and retweets. But, environments such as Twitter give us the option of removing someone from a “follow" list and thus relieving our electronic ears of their babble
Sorting the wheat from the chaff can be difficult. When there is so much out there, how on earth do you find what's worth reading? And, if you plan to be part of this growing phenomenon, how do you do so without being part of the problem?
The answer is: tread carefully. Many people filter their incoming phone calls and emails, ignoring, blocking and marking unwanted messages (or calls) as junk and blocking future messages. The same diligence is needed on social networks when it comes to picking out the worthwhile from the rest.
More importantly, what you say is just as relevant. There are whole books written on subjects such as blog marketing, guerrilla marketing, social media marketing etc that strongly urge you to get involved. If you want people to visit your site, your blog, you have to interact so they'll know you exist. Trouble is, how do you do that? Leaving simple “nice post" messages isn't going to get you readers or followers. Engaging in dialogue will
The leading bloggers have an ongoing discourse with their readers. The most successful engage in two-way conversations that address the good and the bad. It's a dialogue and dialogue can be interesting and that interest can lead to new followers with similar, or differing, viewpoints.
Social networking takes effort. The results take time. How many emails do you see from mass-emailing sites that you either delete or ignore? Dozens? Hundreds? As social media evolves, people are going to get better at quickly determining what is worth following and what is not
I actively encourage my clients to blog. 
It can be one of the best and free marketing tools out there. For those that think that no one would be interested in what they do, I encourage them to write about something they find interesting that's got nothing to do with what they do. Everyone has an opinion about something. A conversation that is genuinely of interest to both parties almost be default, builds a relationship
Write about what you care about. Start a blog. It's easy and free. On places such as ActiveRain, you can select specific groups to post to. Just don't post for the sake for it. Especially when replying and trying to engage others in a dialogue, be courteous. You don't have to be a linguist, and it's okay to say “nice post", but tell the poster why
Imagine being at a social event, a party for example. You overhear someone talking about something that you're interested in, but you have a different take on it. Do you say something? That depends on you. But it's unlikely you'd just stand there and say “I agree" or “that's rubbish" without having something to add as to why you feel the way you do. You'd probably also not stand there and shout out (to no one in particular) “hey, my website is cool, here's the address..."
You may be shy and not say anything. That's okay too, but remember you get back what you put in
That may not be the best analogy, but I think it makes my point
If you have an opinion, by all means share it. Engage.
In 2009, be part of the social networking (r)evolution. That's what social media is all about
As part of our family tradition, every year we have "Christmas movie night". It started when my daughter was very young and, at the time, we would watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Easy enough to do in about an hour. Over the years, the list has grown to include the non-animated version of The Grinch, The Polar Express, It's a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Family Man. "Christmas movie night" turned into more of a "Christmas movie film festival".
Now, not all of these are what some would consider true "Christmas" movies, but as time has changed, so have we. Each of these films means something to us, albeit a reminder of a Christmas a few years ago. I haven't added The Wizard of Oz yet...but that was a reminder of a traumatic experience involving flying monkeys and being scared not knowing exactly when the Witch was going to explode into the middle of Munchkinland...
But I digress.
Since we started this tradition, our daughter has grown up and lives with her boyfriend. Through her middle-school, and then high school years, she'd stick around to watch the original favorites, but usually was playing WOW (World of Warcraft) and...let's be honest, there is only so much of Mom and Dad you can take in a sitting.
We still do "Christmas movie night", but it's just the original two films. My wife and I watch the others by ourselves. We both have our favorites, but an unspoken rule dictates that we watch the other person's favorites without complaints.
Okay, so apart from boring everyone to tears with my trip down memory lane, what's the point?
Well, this year has been a trying one; for everyone, not just us. We've dealt with cancer in our family, though we have a lot to be thankful for, Dad's in full remission now and finally eating without his feeding tube. Financially, it's been a very turbulent year. Medical care aside, the economy has hurt everyone we know in some way. Christmas felt as though it crept up and surprised us this year. We saw some of our neighbors decorating after Thanksgiving and said "we must do that" and never got around to it.
This is also the first year we haven't bought a tree.
It's not an "anti-Christmas" feeling. We love the season and the reason for the season (not just the commercial ones). But, in addition to money concerns, we just haven't felt "Christmassy".
This brings me to the point in a very circuitous route and my relationship to Charlie Brown and the Grinch. Like them, Christmas seemed to have lost some of its meaning, especially this year. The advertising on TV is almost desperate. The tree lots in this area are still very full. Many people around us haven't put up lights. We're not buying presents this year (like many other people).
So, that strips out all the "commercial" aspects; what's left other than a day off on the 25th?
Christmas is what you make it. Like Charlie Brown, Feeling Christmas is stripping back all the commercial facade and seeing it for what it is: a celebration of a new beginning, being grateful for what we do have and, like the Grinch, acknowledging that Christmas comes "without bows, without strings".
It really is a season of goodwill. You don't have to be religious to take meaning from the season. Whatever your faith (or non), there is good to be found and fresh beginnings to plan.
In my case, my father-in-law's recover cancer was a miracle. Diagnosed exactly a year ago, he was given a 50/50 chance at best, the cancer has progressed so far. Even his surgeon and oncologist acknowledged that this was a "remarkable" recovery. I think they couldn't say "miraculous" :)
My daughter, now grown up, turned out okay. She's with a guy who loves her dearly. She's sensible. She works and attends college. She pays the bills. She doesn't do drugs, she doesn't party. My wife and I are in excellent health. We both just had our annual medicals and it's a clean bill of health (woohoo - extra butter in those mashed potatoes please). We still have a roof over our head. We can put food on the table.
So what if there aren't any gifts this year? We have pretty much all we want. The rest is just "stuff".
To make a final comparison to George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life), if you look back and consider how things could have gone, even if you didn't have a banner year, you should (hopefully) realize that things could have been much much worse. If you feel as though you have nothing else to celebrate this year, celebrate that.
Forgive me if I sound as though I'm giving a sermon, I really don't mean to. This year, like all others, the Christmas season is very special. There's time for worry...there will always be time for worry. We're as individual as snowflakes. Each one has a reason for being and, like snowflakes, we can be beautiful and enhance our surroundings, or we can make things difficult for ourselves and everyone else. The season is about giving and those gifts do not have to be physical.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or whatever your particular celebration may be. If you consider, just for a moment, what it took to get to this precise moment, your reading this blog, from the Creation (which version is up to you) to now, you have to acknowledge, at least partially, that "It's a Wonderful Life".
Welcome to Carefree Physical Therapy's site www.carefreephysicaltherapy.com! The team at CPT is amazing. They offer a full range of therapy services including:
From a personal perspective, I'm really pleased with the way the site came out.
Merry Christmas everyone!
I'm delighted to announce the official launch of www.SouthwesternMobility.com! Southwestern Mobility is a T-Mobile partner with locations in Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler.
Well - closest approach to the Earth. Had to wait until almost midnight for the clouds to clear...but here were are!
Now I'm going to be :) 'night!
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