Social Media is a Conversation

Part Two of the Green Festival Series

By: Jonathan Mariano
Social Media is growing more and more in popularity. Social and economic movements are building on these networks. Political candidates are taking to the screens to campaign. It has become one of the easiest, go-to mediums for companies to forge relationships with customers. It is our daily source (if not by the hour, minute, or second) for information on our friends and colleagues. As pervasive as social media may be, what does social media really do? How can it benefit sustainability?

If we abstract away the technology of Facebook, Twitter, or any social media service, what are we left with?  We find that social media is a conversation. It’s a way for folks to talk about anything in a public, ranging from current events, life’s successes and failures, or even about our passions like sustainability. It’s just another medium to have a conversation.
Some may say that social media isn’t a conversation at all, but rather a form of publication. It is a way for anyone to publish anything from anywhere on the Internet.  While publication is an important part of social media, more so, social media itself thrives not on the act of publication, but rather on sharing and conversing about that publication, whether it be an article, photo, video, funny comic, political opinion, or anything that one may share while perusing the world wide web.

It is as if social media is a worldwide virtual coffee lounge, open 24 hours a day. Some folks pop their head in for a few minutes and just people watch. Others may converse for hours on end.  You can listen in on other people talk. (It’s probably more accurate to say you can look on to what other other people typed.)  Or, drop in on a conversation you may find fascinating.

If the conversation doesn’t hold your interest, you can meander and find others. Or if you are savvy enough, you can be in two or more conversations at once. You can tag and hashtag your way to pulling in others, even if you have no direct connection other than the topic you are sharing. You can be following multiple #hashtags on Twitter, or keeping up with your wall and comments Facebook. It’s an endless stream of information sharing and dialogue.

But in order to have that social media conversation, you need to know to speak the language, i.e. how to use social media. The best way to learn is to just do it and learn from others who do it.  Observe and pay attention to how others are using the medium, then start contributing to the conversation. Like in a coffee shop, you can people watch first, then jump in when you feel comfortable. Learn not to talk at the screen but through it, to the real folks at the other end of your virtual networks.

Social media is an ongoing conversation, shaped through the topics we share on our walls and feeds, and through our likes, comments, shares, invites, +1s, tweets and more.