How I use Social Media

Facebook is my go to site for social media. It's the place where I am most connected and use it for various purposes. I use it to post quotes, thoughts, etc. to engage in conversations. I use it to update family about my family and to post pics for them. I use it to interact with my youth group kids from my current group and from groups in the past. I use it to make announcements about youth group, to contact parents, church members, etc. I use it to link to articles, blogs, videos, etc. that people might find interesting or useful. I use it to follow those friends or peers that are encouraging or helpful in my life. I use it to promote our church, my blog, etc. It's the overall useful tool for me. At first it was addictive to see what everyone was doing or to play games, or browse pictures, but now I leave it constantly open on my desktop because it is my most effective communication tool.

Twitter for me is a simple tool to get bite sized nuggets from people that I want to learn from. That simple. I don't do it to get followers and rarely do I post something other than I want to get something to post on Facebook without signing on to Facebook. Twitter is for me and not to promote me, which I know is kind of the anti-Twitter perspective, but that's how I roll. 

Google Reader is my second most used social media tool. It is a one stop pop to read all of those blogs that I follow. I used to bookmark them all and then have to go to each site, but now I subscribe to the blogs and then wake up in the morning, sign in to GR and they are all there waiting for me to read. I also use it as a test tool for blogs. I get a lot of recommended blogs to read and so I'll plug them in and check them out for a while to see if they are worth my time, and if they are then they get a permanent place in my rotation. This is the tool I use to collect all of my links to share on my blog posts, the funny pictures that I include on my blog, and so many great articles and ideas to draw from for teaching purposes, preaching illustrations or just simply for my own personal growth. And there are many that are just highly entertaining and give me that much needed laugh. GR is a great tool to use if you consume a ton of blogs!

Google + was intriguing but has lost steam for me. It's not even close to being equivalent to Facebook, although there are things I wish Facebook would incorporate that G+ offers, such as the ability to edit a post without have to delete it and post it again. Not much else going on there for me, and realistically, as long as Facebook exists I don't see myself using G+ all that much. It was a response and not an original, which usually bears bad for the copycat! Not impressed.

I use Blogger as my blog host of choice. It's free, and it's been my constant companion for years now. I've tried other hosts, but I like Blogger better than any of them. My blog is the place where I write. It's relaxing and allows my mind to have to focus and discipline itself. It's fun. I enjoy sharing my thoughts, and its a great way for me to interact with my hobbies. I like the challenge of writing and have recently joined with a few buddies to co write the blog. It's mainly a hobby and it has opened doors to get free books and other merchandise. If nothing else, I blog for me and if others enjoy it that is an added bonus!

That's about the extent of my social media use. How do you use it?