New Adventures of Old Cathleen

For numerous reasons, most beyond my control, I have jumped into using social media websites. Though this blog has been around for a bit, I now have a facebook account, am LinkedIn, tweet regularly, bookmark my favorite web musings and digg. Yeah, I admit it: I came late to the party but I showed up.

While I have always had a fair understanding of the power of social media, online networking and their application in a business sense, I had no idea of the magnitude. On a personal level I have 'reconnected' with people I knew in high school and even some I barely knew. The later is weird and surprising - finding out I have much more in common now with someone I never knew as a teen and are only 'friends' because we should have known each other as teens. It has been fun and not the time suck I was warned about - honestly.

The value of social media is vast and, as a writer and photographer, I cannot deny its power in generating a buzz even about my own skill set. Here is where I will insert my shameless plug: I am doing a 7 part series on social media for another blog (http://www.alderwoodgroup.com/TAG/Blog/tabid/67/Default.aspx).

Even more interesting is that in the last three days I have had two separate conversations about the value of Facebook. First, do I facebook or am I opposed and second, how do I use facebook? In both dialogues there was someone opposed to the whole notion of Facebook. Frankly, I think their views stem from the fact they aren't using Facebook or any other social media sites. Why wouldn't they be opposed and not see any value in it? The second conversation was a bit more intriguing and danced around the notion that none of us felt comfortable using Facebook to discuss the minutiae of our lives. I agreed but admitted that sometimes I felt compelled to post in kind - professing my love for pizza or my excitement at another mountain bike ride with my girlfriends.

My friend felt his Facebook account was necessary but not something he believed in. His friend said she used hers to post pictures - letting the images detail her life. I, on the other hand, just felt a little too private to boast about what I was up to 24/7. Had tried it once or twice but didn't feel too adept at it unless it related to some aspect of what I do for a living.

In short, while I won't be discussing the details of my day-to-day on sites like Facebook, I will blog about my love for pizza and a cold beer after a day of climbing at my favorite crag. And, at the very least, I am finding the more I engage with others online, the more I am liking this social media thing.