A Non-Valentine To Social Media
02/14/2010
Dearest Social Media -
Today I was going to ask you to Be My Valentine. I was going to send you virtual hearts and chocolates to let you know how much I care.
But now I'm not so sure. For you see I've found out that what you created is an illusion. You made us believe that we need you to connect with each others. Even to finding love.
Oh sure .. The Suits are loosening their ties and opening their hearts beyond corporate talk. The playing field is leveled for small businesses and non profit organizations to tell their stories without huge budgets. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, MySpace, LinkedIn and more offer ways for people to reach out to people to express opinions and passions.
This morning, as I was about to create my ode to you social media, I received an eMail from my friend Kate with a link to a New York Times article about the Victorian Era. How quaint is that I thought. It was more than quaint .. it was a dose of reality from circa 19th century. In the age before a tweet people were using newspapers ads to find love. You created an illusion that if it weren't for you dear social media we would not find ... love, happiness, business, friendships or even our newest, favorite restaurant in town.
We don't need you social media to send Valentines. We don't need you social media to connect to people. We don't need you social media to build relationships or sell our products or find new friends. We don't need you social media to find the humanity in humans.
No we don't need you dear social media but ..
Dear social media I must admit you have given us new ways to build bridges that sometimes span oceans of geography and opinion.
You have given us new opportunities to meet people who might have never come into our worlds.
You have given us avenues to tell the stories of the people who are the heart of our organizations and those who use our products and services.
You have encouraged us to be more of who we are in our transactions with customers and that courage to be ourselves often spills into our relationships with family and friends.
Perhaps this Victorian Valentine is just the right way to say Will You Be Mine? While reminding us that what you offer complements what we already have.
