There is not a right way or wrong way to use social networking. What is important about social networking is that you get something out of it. Some people have found ways to use social networking to make money, to become experts in their field, to learn new things, or to meet new people. All of these forms of interaction are useful and valuable. Do not let anyone define for you the way that you should use social networking. If you receive any benefit at all from your interaction with other people through a network environment, you are using social networking in a proper manner.

This blog is an example of using social networking. I place my ideas out on the Internet for other people to read, digest, and comment on. I broadcast the new blog post on my twitter and Facebook accounts so that others can read my thoughts. I share my interests, I respond to current events, and I provide advice. My personal blog is not-for-profit. I am not trying to sell anything with this medium, and I am not required to adhere to a set schedule. I use my blog as a way to communicate more information about my interests and myself.

I encourage everyone to find a method of social networking that they are comfortable with. Do not allow an expert to tell you that you are not properly using social media. It can be a great marketing tool, if used properly, but if you are not willing to devote the time and attention to use social media as a marketing means, you will fail. If you try to force yourself to use it in a similar way that has been successful for others in driving business, but you are not comfortable in the process, it will not be meaningful.

Using Twitter, Facebook, or even LinkedIn, to simply update friends and family on your daily activities is perfectly acceptable. Using these services to follow updates of others is also an acceptable means of interaction. Social media can be a tool for following current events, for learning gossip, for educating yourself, for marketing yourself (or your brand), or to simply distract you from the rigors of daily life.

The important thing to remember is to enjoy what you are doing. Do not be concerned with the number of friends, followers, or responses that you receive. If your life is enriched in any way in the manner that you are using social networking, it is beneficial to you. If you consider it a chore to use social networking services, they are not beneficial to you. If you want to expand your brand through social media, but it is unnatural to you, find someone else to do it for you.

Social media/social networking are just means that have been created to communicate with others through technology. In the same way that vehicles, telephones, e-mail, cellular phones, and text messaging have changed social interaction, social media is doing the same. Social media represents a natural progression of the electronic universe to take advantage of technology to interact with other people. It will not be the last change in interaction that we have, but it is an important one. Embrace the forms of social media that enrich your life, and ignore those means that do not. Find individuals on social media that you enjoy interacting with, and mimic the way that they communicate to you develop your own style.

Please share your thoughts on social networking in the comments section below. I look forward to continuing to interact with all my readers through comments, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other means that develop.

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The attraction to Twitter for me has been true social networking with other people that share my same interests.  I am one of two attorneys in a small office, and due to my area of practice, I rarely have the opportunity to communicate with other attorneys.  I limit my practice to Social Security Disability, and since it is a non-adversarial practice, I do not even interact with other attorneys when I go to hearings.  Although my clients and staff are great, I crave interaction with other people that share the same challenges and interests as me.

Twitter has allowed me to connect with colleagues.  In the past, I had to rely on bar associations, conferences, and rare happy hours to communicate with other attorneys.  Unfortunately, these interactions were few and far between.  Now I just logon to Twitter and I have an instant stream of messages from other attorneys throughout the country.  I have the opportunity to trade war stories, to seek advice, and just to share common experiences.  Twitter has made my practice more enjoyable, by providing me with the interaction that I missed by choosing to practice with a small suburban firm.

I currently actively read every post by those that I follow on Twitter.  I initially envisioned that I would use Twitter as entertainment.  I admit that I followed Ashton Kutcher (still do), Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and various other entertainers (no longer follow the rest), but I also followed various technology experts (John Dvorak, Paul Thurrott, Veronica Belmont, Leo Laporte, and Patrick Norton), and blog authors.  I soon also found a slew of other attorneys that had discovered Twitter, and realized how much I could learn from them everyday.  I found that the site that I turned to as entertainment had quickly turned into a business tool.  I even un-followed the majority of people that had caused me to begin using the service in the first place.

It is initially intimidating when you start using Twitter because you basically start with a blank slate.  Initiating conversations is awkward, and you have no one following you.  But this is where Twitter’s search tools work great.  I located people of interest, and then looked at who they were following.  Luckily, Twitter even allows you to peek at anyone’s public tweets before you decide if you want to follow them.  If you find them interesting, you can follow them.  If you are interested about a service, product, person, or anything else, you simply do a search and quickly find people that are experts in that area.  Before you know it, suddenly you have followers too.

My recommendation if you are new to Twitter or have not yet started using it, is to start slow.  First find people of interest and follow their tweets.  Twitter even provides you with suggestions when you initially register for the service.  If you are bored or overwhelmed by the tweets, un-follow the user.  When you get comfortable, jump in the conversation.  If you have something on your mind, throw it out there.  Due to Twitter trending and search features, by just tweeting, you suddenly start to have followers.  Soon you will have new friends from all over the world.

Currently I am a huge fan of Mashable for information about Twitter.  I also love MrTweet for finding more interesting users to follow.  I have tagged a number of articles about Twitter from my Google Reader account, and recommend that you read my feed if you want to learn more before getting started.  I currently use Twittelator on my iPhone to access my Twitter feeds, and I use TweetDeck on my desktop.  Both of these applications provide powerful ways to follow friends and other interesting people on Twitter and offer several options not found on Twitter.com.

So stop hesitating, and if you are not yet using Twitter, start now!  And if you find me interesting, also feel free to follow me on Twitter @DisabilityGuy, who knows, we may soon be best Twitter friends for life.

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