I have to confess Apple isn’t among my favorite fruits. That’s actually pineapple. So how can a non-supporter of Apple understand social media if they don’t endorse products like the iPhone 3G or the iPod Touch?
I, myself, am the type of guy who will laugh at a video featuring Steve Jobs getting pied (here’s one featuring Bill Gates), but will pray for his speedy recovery. I get bothered when I walk passed Apple stores in malls and see dozens of people in droves besieging the newest innovation. People save up their hard-earned cash (over saving for a house!) to go out and spend a fortune on these products that keep them tuned out from the world around them.
I’ll even walk passed a jogger with an iPod, thinking to myself they’re "cheating their run." Running was never meant to be accompanied by headphones, and classrooms were certainly not meant to be interrupted by i-type products. Don’t get me wrong – Apple is not the perpetrator of all unsound social etiquette but I do think they have a very secret message, a subliminal undertone: buy and get hooked for life. That’s a long time.
If I continued with this attitude, I thought to myself my knowledge of social media would be rather short-sighted-- if I didn’t jump aboard the Apple app store, as I see the many social media gurus and technology reporters and bloggers often do. So I came up with a routine to navigate social media as Axiom’s social media manager, to avoid the Web traffic from the Apple Store:
1) Every day, I read social media blog posts via subscription to RSS and comments feeds from the following BLOGS:
-Mashable
-TechCrunch
-GigaOm
-Scobelizer
-WebInkNow
-Convince & Convert
2) Thanks to Drew’s master plan, I participate in blog conversation by adding my two cents in the comments section. I oftentimes read comments before posting my own to get a context for the conversation thread. Sites like DISQUS make it easy to understand when a thought is continuing and when it ends.
3) I am on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but nothing else. Reason being: you can often immerse yourself too far in social network profiles and the newest microblogging devices—to a point where you’re wasting time as you click on one link after another. Pretty soon, you’re finding yourself reading about Britney Spears from a 13-year old who happens to like pineapple just like you. And you can’t help but comment on their Piczo account. What are you doing on Piczo anyway?
4) I blog, and good blog posts don’t take 20 minutes. The ones with worthwhile content take hours to compile—tagging, linking, and adding visual elements. My most recent social media epiphany has taught me to reserve about 10 posts and schedule their publishing when the occasion arises.
5) I develop relationships with people in the space. That doesn’t mean I follow 2,000 social media enthusiasts on Twitter (just look at my number) or invite everyone, their mom, and their grand mama to “friend” me on Facebook or join “my professional network on LinkedIn.” It means I engage with the top developers of social media devices, enough so that I can one day meet with them over coffee. After all, isn’t this space about building relationships online that will stick, will cause remembrance and recognition?
A lot of social media advocates may be huge proponents of Apple, but I’m not one of them. And I’m doing just fine.