6 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Life

Written by Monica Hamburg - 18 Comments
Categories: internet culture

social-media1.jpgThere was once a frightening period in our history, my friend. It was a sad time (although we did wear colorful clothes…). You may have seen pictures of our past, though we shudder when we recall. It was a time when we used faxes (I’ll explain that word at a later date) as a speedy way to communicate, and even used paper that would yellow and dissolve quickly, though it was not a spy-esque mechanism… It was a time where people would actually stay home to watch a TV show they liked (OK, I’ll explain TV later too) or even wait a week or more for written correspondence.

And yes, there was a time before we had the “tubes” of the internet. And before social media. But you can put all those years of inefficiency and dismay behind you, because that time has passed.

So you are probably wondering how does social media improve my life? Here are just a few benefits:

1. Say Connected

At a recent conference, Cultural Anthropologist Grant McCracken pointed out that Facebook means your contacts are always warm. You’re always in touch with them in a subtle yet meaningful way. “This is communication with little hard, informational content, but lots of emotional and social content. Phatic communications doesn’t get much said, but it has social effects so powerful, it gets lots done.”

While you may not have seen that co-worker from a few years back, your newsfeed tells you what she’s been up to. Or you read that your friend is planning a trip to Boston so you decide to send her the email address for that couple you know who also enjoys Melanesian Throat Singing. And your Facebook status can inform business contacts that you’re “excited about the new job” – which subtly clues them in to the fact that you have changed workplaces – without any drama. And as Chris Brogan puts it, social networks can be as connective as a local pub.

2. Be More Productive

Or at least save some valuable time. Rather than sifting through mounds of paper or your desktop favourites, social bookmarking tools like del.icio.us and Ma.gnolia make finding and storing articles, posts, sites and videos easy and fluid.

3. Show off your assets (no not those, put those away!)

You have talent, so flaunt it! Youtube let’s you show the world your abilities (and sometimes lack thereof), while Strutta takes it into the ring. Fray invites you to tell a story and Moments asks you to collaborate on one. You can Be Funny (or Die), or rock out while developing your fan base. There are even artist friendly marketplaces: sites like Pixish and Deviant Art facilitate the sale of creative work. And some artists use social media tools to make it happen on their own.

4. Smarty-Pants It Up

You know something about something. Even if it’s really nerdy stuff, there’s a place for you (or me – no finger pointing!). Demonstrate your expertise and provide others with (hopefully) useful info on your blog, with your comments on other blogs, or by responding to a problem on a crowdsourcing site (eg Innocentive). You can even develop something new or redesign something old.

5. Help others

Support a cause? Social Media provides you with a myriad of tools to be part of a solution. Help spread the word get donations, organize gatherings and more.

Sorry, what was I saying? Oh, that’s only five, right. Right!……

6. Distract yourself with ease!

Never before has it been so easy to procrastinate. You can socialize, write, read, avoid work and put off your impending thesis…  But hey, it’s social, man. And remember, you’re procrastinating on the cutting edge.

So…. has the social media improved your life? 

Monica Hamburg is a writer and social media evangelist in Vancouver, Canada. Her investigations and observations on social media, and its relation to business and connecting, form the basis of her blog, “Me Like the Interweb”.

  • http://shanelyang.com/blogs/articles/ Shanel Yang

    Thanks for the great idea to use social media for a cause! I don’t know why I never thought of it. Here, I’ve been wracking my brain on how I could get the word out to teens, immigrants, and minorities all at once about how to succeed in America (sharing all the lessons I had to learn the hard way) using an efficient, yet effective medium — and of course YouTube is the answer! Now, I’ll have to get busy figuring out how to do that b/c when it comes to technology, I am the biggest dinosaur. All suggestions from you and/or your readers are welcome! Thanks, again!

  • http://joelfalconer.com Joel Falconer

    Great post, though I suggest that people build up a high level of self-discipline before putting (2) be more productive to the test!

  • http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/6-ways-social-media-can-improve-your-life-now-on-pickthebrain/ “6 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Life” – now on PicktheBrain « Me Like The Interweb

    [...] June 13, 2008 Read it here. [...]

  • http://hummingbird604.com Raul

    Lovely entry! Now, THIS is TOTALLY bloggable ;)

  • http://www.onsimplicity.net Sara

    I think a lot of people out there really are participating because they want to help. Of course, the chance to gain authority status is a motivator, I’m sure. I simply like th e convenience. If I’m trying to remember what I enjoyed or what inspired me, I just check StumbleUpon, and it’s all there. It makes the traditional bookmarking method seem so clumsy.

  • http://www.etavitom.com etavitom.com

    Yes. Social media has benefited my life! I especially enjoy the conscious community of Zaadz. Thanks for the great post…

  • http://strutta.com Jordan

    Tell me more about this “fax” technology you speak of. Heh. Some might find it funny that in our office, where we actually have nearly every gadget one could ever hope for, we have no fax machine, and never will. In a pinch, we have a scan/email-to-fax program that we use about four times a year.

    In all seriousness though dahling, thanks for the mention of Strutta in the above. Hamburg FTW!

    Re: #2, I recommend the product suite from 37signals.com for making you more productive, FWIW.

  • http://miguelpineiro.net Miguel Wickert (Pineiro)

    Yeah, distracting myself with ease… you gotta love it! How did you place your twitter updates on the site? Nice.

    Your right, I find that people are willing to help you out on various social sites. I set time aside to browse around to find people needing help with a problem. Thanks!

  • http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/me-need-info-1-place/ Me Need Info 1 Place « Me Like The Interweb

    [...] 20, 2008 So, if you’ve read my piece on “Pick the Brain” (and according to one frustrated commentator (see previous “post”), you may not) [...]

  • http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com Monica Hamburg

    Thank you all for the great comments and the support.

  • http://www.604homesblog.com Matthew Collinge

    Sadly, I am receiving a fax right now. It is taking a while and didn’t work the first time. I hope to scan it and email to the next guy.

  • http://www.preservationtoday.com/2008/08/14/so-what-is-preservation-today/ Preservation Today » Blog Archive » So, what is “Preservation Today?”

    [...] We’ve been hearing about Web 2.0 for a couple of years now. Like a lot of folks, I sat on the sidelines to see if it really had legs. Spectating led to genuine interest, which led to experimentation and ultimately realization of the empowering nature of the social web. And the opportunity each person now has to find his or her own voice. [...]

  • http://monicahamburg.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/me-like-the-breaktime-2/ Me Like the Breaktime #2 « Me Like The Interweb

    [...] 6 Ways Social Media Can Improve Your Life [...]

  • http://www.widecircles.com juliana

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  • http://jimbob666.wordpress.com/ jimbob

    Ahh procrastination. I was going to write an intelligent comment, but I just found a video of a talking cat on YouTube.

  • http://www.monicahamburg.blogspot.com Monica Hamburg

    A cat! Where?
    ;)

  • http:www.aspiringminds.org martin

    Maybe even try to meet people from all over the world and sample someone elses culture,, meet contacts from abroard , this must help you in many ways

    Aspiring Minds

  • http://m-cause.com/enhancing-human-experience-and-avoiding-terrible-times/ Enhancing human experience and avoiding terrible times | m-cause

    [...] benefited from the way in which technology can create entirely new relationships online.  The best social media experiences I’ve had are those that lead to actual offline meetups and networking [...]