by Ralph
on October 25, 2011
Image by fredcavazza via Flickr
In a revisit of an old blogpost where I reported my activities in three areas– blogging, social media and business- I recently reviewed where I stand with blogging. Today it is my turn to talk about social media. Compare today with two years ago.
Two years ago I was very excited about Social Media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. Twitter seemed cool and Facebook offered a way to connect with friends from the past. I jumped in. Over time I explored using them both to promote my blog and make connections. I checked out software to read and manage my Tweets and spent a few months Tweeting and re-Tweeting my posts to promote my blog. It didn’t make a big difference. I read all the Social Media gurus and made a big effort to understand and master Twitter and finally just let it all drop. I don’t get Twitter.
I have better things to do than watching my Twitter log and exchanging witty -or not so witty- comments with my community. The only thing I do with Twitter is to re-Tweet posts that I like. I don’t know that it helps bring ttraffic but it is a way to show approval and lend credibility to people whose work I respect and enjoy. That’s how I see it on my blogs although it doesn’t seem to boost my readership. I am pretty much burned out with Twitter. It might be a good vehicle for quick exchanges with a team but so far my teaming manages without it. Neither have I made any use of it on my smart phone. Filtering through so much information just annoys me and drains the battery. Skype provides instant communication in a more filtered way on my computer.
Facebook is something else. I use it- although certainly not well. It allowed me to connect with friends from high school with whom I find more in common than college classmates and provided some satisfying moments sharing memories and pictures from the old days. I check it at least once a day. I link posts from my blogs, click like buttons for activities, people and content that I like and I have just begun to explore advertising on Facebook for commercial purposes. I firmly believe that Facebook has legs. The numbers and my grudging use is prooof. What I make of it is yet to be determined.
I know that there are many other social media sites. I have an Amplify account and some content shared but I hardly ever check it. I much prefer to check the original blog sources. I also have a Linkedin account. I have made a lot of connections but don’t know exactly why or what to do with them.
Right now, I still think SM is important but I’m past the superficial excitement level. As I focus on business development, I can’t afford distractions or diversions. What is clear that SM defines where the web is going. It is a vehicle. It is a medium. It is a lifestyle. It is an opportunity. Finally it is a tar baby ready to trap you and suck out your energy if you embrace it without a plan.
So I’m being reserved about SM just now. It is important but a wild beast to tame.
That is my current position on SM. What is your take and what am I missing.
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by Ralph
on October 18, 2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sklathill/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
A coupe of posts caught my eye this week talking about education. They were both inspired by a post by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits in which he advocates turning education on its head. Lisa at Craving Balance thinks about her son and decides that education will ruin him – if not now, then later. Aidan at Ivy League Insecurities is more positive about education – or at least hers even though she has veered off the corporate track. As for me, I have been unsatisfied with public education since our first son attended school in the 80’s. It is designed for the ‘ follow the dots’ child and has no tolerance for others. My older son did just enough to get through high school, hating every minute, and refused college. My younger had great fun and wasn’t expected to do anything more. It’s an outdated model we cling to and it handicaps our teachers and does great damage to out youth by letting them stay immature mentally much too long.
I have just read A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century. I was blown away with the insight that had eluded me about what is wrong about education today. Oliver DeMille identifies the myth that prevents any solution of the education ‘problem’. This myth is that it is possible for one human being to educate another. He goes on to say that “Teaching, not education, should be our focus because great teaching inspires students to educate themselves. We are great believers these days in passive living. Let the system educate our kids. Let the system decide what health care we need or deserve. Let the government take care of us. Another of his points is that education is geared to training professionals but does nothing to train leaders and we suffer mightily from this failure. He suggests that we look at the kind of education that the early leaders of our country – Thomas Jefferson is a prime example- received. He asks what teaching allowed them to be the thinkers and writers that so influenced the founding of our country. Simply put Mr. DeMille identifies four phases of education. The core phase (ages 0-8) focuses on a foundation of right and wrong, good and bad with little imphasis on early acquisition of reading and writing skills, letting them develop according to the inclination of the individual. The second phase is Love of Learning (8-12) in which the child develops basic levels of understanding of the vaious fields of study as well as continuing to develop his understanding of identity and community. The next phase is the Scholar Phase (12-16) where the student learns to assume more and more responsibility for learning. The final phase is the Depth Phase (16-22) where the hunger for leaning is nurtured by a relationship with a mentor to guide this growth.
Now I wish I could go back and get involved with my sons’ education, perhaps even homeschooling. How can a responsible thinking person risk the future of their children to public education? I guess by sleepwalking just like I did. There is a better way, but it’s not easy- like sending your kids to public school- it requires you to take charge.
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