Voice actors are not alone. We simultaneously revile and revel in Social Media, just like everybody else on the planet.
This whole thing with celebrity photos being hacked off iCloud…and the scare that FaceBook’s Messenger app can use your mic and camera to spy on you. I could go on. The social media landscape is scary/exciting…challenging/bountiful. We should all be respectful of what it can do…and how we should act within it.
I could write a book about it. Wait a minute…I AM writing a book about it…but here’s my quandary: like the attention spans of most Americans…changes in the realm of social media happen SO quickly that the “latest” thing has a shelf-life of…seconds. Here’s my rule when considering what to include: if the information is older than two months, it’s obsolete. I may have to amend that to “one month” or even 2 weeks if the pace continues.
This is why a blog is so wonderful as a form of digital media. I write this mere hours before you read it. By comparison putting information in a traditional “book” becomes a challenge in the face of such a rush of overloaded information-sharing.
Luckily, some generally accepted common-sense social media guidelines have staying power (for now):
- use pictures or video (links to either) in your posts
- stay away from flame wars…nobody ever wins them, but they leave plenty of victims
- contribute something that furthers the conversation
- offer information (links)
- ask questions
- be genuine
- be consistent
- retweet and repost the good stuff
Having trouble staying up with the ever-shifting policies of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google-plus? In almost every instance, those networks have an official blog. Use their FAQ’s. Read Mashable or Social Media Today if nothing else, and save time by using an RSS feed reader. Feedly is my favorite. If something, someone, or some forum bugs you…leave it Just don’t leave social media entirely. It’s too important a cultural/global phenomenon to fall out of sync with it.
CourVO
