A Quick Refresher on Social Media

Being apart of social media is programed within most of us at this point in society but the issue I see is people being lazy, uninterested, and not actively bettering themselves through the platform. The ability to be a contributing part of social media is a muscle within us that we need to continually buildup and flex during important moments in our lives.

We all have a message to get across in social media, whether that may be something simple and light (for example, this post about a cat) or monumental and significant (such as political views like John Oliver's). But how do we contribute productively and responsibly? By giving these muscles a regular work out that often get taken for granted. Social media is all about the compiling of an audience and the freedom to share your voice. We each have individualized audiences that we have (in a way) control over by what we post, but more often then not, we over look that and it's a shame.

We have the opportunity to build report, respect, and importance with this audience by posting meaningful, educated, and interesting opinions and information.

Now Bennett, how can I "flex these muscles" to give myself a better social media presence? Well, a good first place to start is properly using hashtags. Invented by Chris Messina (a former Google developer) who wanted to group internet subjects together and be able to take in a great amount of information, opinions, and thoughts effectively. However, I feel for many this definition has lost it's importance.

Too often I see people using these ironically, or satirically, when there is a good message in their post but it is because they aren't sharing something great to a potential audience or it simply isn't search-able because there aren't hashtags. If something is important to you, why not provide a thought that other people can take in and consider to grind through the 'ol brain blender, to interpret, and respond to in their respective manor (this is something I have not been the best at but I will strive to be better in everything I post in the future).

Now I'm not saying to go crazy and post wild, emotionally driven, uninterpretable rants every day, nor simply sloth videos every 20 minutes as that is a sure fire way to loose your audience, followers, and maybe friends if you want to be more than a one trick pony. Listen to what your mind and body tells you when you find something that makes you think. Is it infuriating? Is it different from others? Do you have more, well thought out, opinions about it? Why not help yourself in continuing to grow the respect for your audience while expanding and provide more to the web community. Keep flexing those social muscles.

B
(An important tool to grow a great beard is beard oil to keep your skin/facial hair healthy and smelling great. When it comes to this stuff, a little bit goes a long way. Depending on length of your beard: a couple drops, lubricate between fingers, and massage your face and beard while smoothing styling along the way)