When Social Media Fills In The Blanks

You’ve probably noticed that while I’ve gotten back to curating a decent amount of content on Twitter, I haven’t really been “on” all that much lately. This is because more and more, life “stuff” and work “stuff” have been taking up the bulk of my time.

And since most of my “work stuff” entails spending time online – but for work – when I have “me” time, the last thing I want to do is get online some more. I’d rather play with Suzy Q., to name just one of the more desirable offline options.

I know. From a marketing perspective, that’s silly, especially given my line of work. That’s why I’ve gone back to at least curating content through Triberr and Buffer more frequently, from sources I trust on a somewhat regular basis.

I do need to do better, though; I recognize that. It’s not good enough to say, “Cobbler’s children” with a laugh. Baby needs to wear some shoes, dadgummit!

The socnet I’ve been turning to for my personal edification and jollification, surprisingly, is Facebook. I decamped from Twitter several months ago when the pace of it felt simply overwhelming. For a while I just went dark. But I’m a sharer (some might say, over-sharer), and I like talking to, and hearing from, people too much. So back I went to Facebook.

I suppose I did this because of the primary social networks, my personal Facebook circle is the one I’ve kept tightest rein on. I don’t accept any and all friend requests, so I feel more comfortable letting my hair down there, when I’m online.

You reap what you sow, of course. But I’ve been finding Facebook surprisingly fun of late, especially when I ask my friends to complete a sentence, or fill in the blanks. You know the game, we’ve all played it at some point.

And some of the most fun answers come when you post a completely random sentence. Like this one:

I must point out that Helen Mitternight was making a joke up there. Just in case the NSA is trolling this page.

Social media’s a lot of fun, but never more so when it helps you fill in the blanks. And doing things like this is what helps to grow your network and your community. I’ve given you a personal example, but it’s the same principle we need to incorporate in our work, especially if we work in social PR (as I like to call it).

So. Tell me. Sometimes you just gotta ___________. (Complete.)

Have a great weekend!