3rd January 2012
10 things that I learnt about
social media in the last
100 days…
A journey into self-discovery on social
media..
www.profmanishparihar.blogspot.com

Disclaimer:
• these are already established facts about social
media and i do not claim to have learnt them on
my own#. My mentors and other sources on the
net have enabled me to 'discover' these
truths..The sources have been acknowledged by
URLs where ever possible..
• AND, of course my observations are subject to
change..
# (this means you cannot dislike them on FB…  – just kidding)

1. We should refrain from having multiple
profiles / identities on social media.

• This is because our mind will be constantly engaged
in thinking what we would like to present ourselves
at which social networking profile.
• Ultimately, social media is just another kind of 'public
space' as per Danah Boyd - social media researcher
at Microsoft; hence, we just cannot be 'two' different
persons on it. As we cannot be two different people
in the real world.

2. Its not the numbers, its the quality of
friends that we have on social media.

• Some people feel that it is their birth-right to be
connected to every human being even to join social
media marketing.. but that actually builds up the
numbers... This results in a lot of 'noise' but this is at
a big cost of 'quality of conversation'. The former is
useless and the latter is priceless.
• As Seth Godin says in his latest book, 'Tribes', even if
you have only 1000 amazing friends on FB, you can
cause a revolution in the area which you are most
passionate about.

3. If we are not serious, then we should be
sincere

• (as per Chetan Bhagat) and be earnest (as per Randy
Pausch) on social media. People do not see whether
how many jokes or research papers you have put on
your profiles. They see how 'REAL' you are on those
profiles and they can easily indentify a 'poser'.
• A good example is the website of one of the social
media enthusiasts (trainer, consultant and my friend)
Prateek Shah.

4. Consistency is the key to build long term
brand equity on social media.

• Even if that brand equity is yours.. i.e. personal
branding. Hence, we should not pose ourselves as a
hot-bod-gym-trainer-know-it-all and then on some
other profile, show that we are a complete 'foodie'
and just eat whatever comes your way. We should
be consistent in projecting our real selves to the
world.

5. It is not about
how many
different social
media platforms
that you are
present on.

• It's about the quality of conversation that you are
having on multiple platforms and the focus of the
conversations. It is about "convergence" of various
platforms so that the online brand persona across
different websites is "seamlessly integrated".
• This magical word of convergence can help the
outside world to have a clear picture of 'who you are
as a person' and this just goes a long long way to
build credibility and respect for your online personal
brand.

6. Try to think beyond Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn.

• I know it is very difficult and we just can live without
these three platforms... but try to explore some amazing
other social media platforms in addition to these.
• For example, Quora is a wonderful platforms where there
is no avenue for entertainment. It is just a question-and-
answer portals where you will meet amazing
professionals (experts of their fields) and you can use this
platforms to actually do research in your area of
interest..

• Many more good platforms are also
present. For a detailed list, i would
recommend you visit the site E-Gurukul which
is run by a very passionate social media expert
Mr. Yogesh M.A.

7. Don't be scared of social media

• and don't be afraid to join new social media
portals. Ultimately, when the mobile phones came,
many of use skeptics said that we will never have a
mobile phone. But look around now, we just cant
live without them. The same holds true with social
media.

• Every company, every person, every
community, every NGO, every Government is
either present or will be present on some or
the other form of social media in the years to
come. So, shed your fears and join a social
network ! Its fun, especially when you know
how to use it to your benefit.

8. Don't over-hype and over-do social
media.

• It is just like you are playing 14 hours of video games
and then complain of neck pain and head-aches. Too
much social media will make you off-balance in the
real world and your attention span will suffer. It will
also create a wrong perception among the online
community that you are a job-less social media freak
and your credibility might suffer a beating.

9. Don't under-utlilize social media.

• Do not be a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of social
media person who goes underground and then
surfaces after six months and posts on FB wall "Hey,
today i came back out of my social media
hibernation". Ultimately, you have to keep on the
conversations, just like in real life.

10. Social media is just an extension of
our real social world.
Source: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?q=real+world+vs.+social+media&um=1&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=629&tbm=isch&tbnid=Najn1qHcnobsJM:&imgrefurl=http://www.joshspeters.com/book-review-and-
giveaway-the-real-truth-about-social-media&docid=XnJ-LdLPHJXvBM&imgurl=http://www.joshspeters.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/RealTruthSocialMedia.jpg&w=500&h=500&ei=n7MCT8_-
I8OGrAe1vdn0DA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=434&vpy=277&dur=3130&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=135&ty=93&sig=110208143357955753224&page=1&tbnh=137&tbnw=140&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:
0

• It is just the way we live in the world - physically. The
extension of our true selves, only in a new medium. That
medium is just another public space or domain. This new
public space demands that we be a part of it just as we
are a part of our society…

• Being real, conversing regularly, not bluffing
our way into other people's lives, respecting
ours and their privacy, not using this media as
an emotional gutter (to drain out all our
negativity into other peoples lives) and not
meddling too much into other people's
affairs....

• basically, just minding our own business and MOST
importantly, helping other people in need of timely
information or knowledge. Because there is a golden
rule of social media "Sharing is caring". But there is a
caveat: Do not share everything and anything on social
media. "Sharing only that which is useful and timely" is
the real caring.

www.profmanishparihar.blogspot.com
So go on, be social and have fun !!
manish parihar
3rd Jan 2012