100 Thoughts on Social Media

Last year I wrote a very popular post about 100 thoughts on marketing.

Given that in many ways social media has provided more experiences and intimacy, and created more interest around those thoughts, I thought I would work on an amended version. From the most amazing connection you can make, to the weirdest and most inappropriate question asked in public, here are my 100 thoughts on social media:

1. step into the conversation realizing that not everything needs to be more dramatic online
2. be alright with the idea that relationships may be temporary
3. don't let judgment guide the next step all the time
4. share experiences, in moderation
5. use multimedia for learners and readers with different styles/preferences
6. use your content and smarts to elevate the other
7. be helpful
8. care
9. realize that the most important person is the other
10. make the content rock
11. help readers rock
12. listen and ask questions
13. stay humble
14. keep learning
15. participate sincerely, and not to brown nose
16. connect
17. take responsibility
18. resist copying
19. liberate your inner fan
20. transform your attitude
21. challenge your assumptions
22. think community vs. self
23. collaborate freely
24. develop opportunity
25. stay passionate
26. insist on authenticity
27. stay open to changing your mind
28. provide a platform for others to find people with like interests
29. build interactions in your conversations
30. stay curious
31. stay offline when you're tired or argumentative
32. dream, think, do
33. facilitate conversations
34. build prototypes
35. invent possibilities
36. use engagement to accelerate learning
37. brag about your fans products and services
38. evangelize your employees
39. observe more, judge less
40. see the social triggers that make stuff happen
41. be more transparent
42. choose teaching over winning
43. open communication lines
44. prefer open understanding
45. keep your promises
46. build an extra mile on someone else's runway
47. laugh more, especially about yourself
48. be courageous
49. stay with it through the thick and thin
50. tell stories
51. respect private
52. find a cause for the fire in your belly
53. be original, be yourself
54. celebrate common traits
55. want less, do more
56. become the person you'd like to be
57. stay soft on people when you're hard on issues
58. appreciate the small gestures, they are a big deal
59. communicate more, when in doubt
60. amaze yourself
61. recognize talent
62. take more walks
63. connect because you want to, not because you feel you have to
64. discover and highlight worthy projects
65. understand the power of silence
66. stay hungry
67. thank often and liberally
68. be patient
69. encourage exploration
70. make your writing a work of art
71. find mentors
72. practice what you preach
73. be flexible
74. adopt and credit good ideas
75. break down elitist walls
76. step out of formulas
77. reinvent joy
78. earn your stripes
79. face your responsibilities
80. recognize and celebrate differences
81. learn to think with your own experience
82. invest in building something
83. appreciate success is several years in the making
84. know your values
85. work with others, it's not a competition
86. make someone's day
87. put people first
88. read more, react less
89. know your limits
    
90. find inspiration
91. experiment
92. adjust
93. be ready to be surprised
94. get to know your peers
95. inspire and find inspiration
96. know you make a difference
97. forget the numbers, you count
98. let others opt in
99. set a good example, thank often
100. raise your industry, community, readers

The highly capable people, the "power users", are not those who mastered the tools, those who make perfect, know all the answers, and tower over it all. They're those who elevate others. One last thought: when you know why you're going, you can move fast.

Your turn now. What are your thoughts on social media? Have they changed over time?

[image of Italian Wedding, courtesy of Christopher Chan]

© 2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Lance]

Love the list Valeria!!! "Reinvent joy"!!!(I find this one particularly awesome!!)

[Jeannie Walters]

This is a wonderful list, Valeria! I like "be ready to be surprised." I can't tell you how many times I've been surprised by what I discover via social media. Thanks - nice idea.

[Delfin Vassallo]

WOW 100 valuable lessons for social media and for life!

Thanks Valeria

[Jeremy Campbell]

Make someone's day is a great one, and you just made mine by writing this list :)

My mom is turning 65 next weekend so I'm writing a "65 reasons why I love you" list, and drew some inspiration from this list. So for that I thank you Valeria.

[RaynaNyc]

As a follower of this blog and your Tweets I respect that you 'walk this talk,' and that you so generously share this with others. I think this list can also a manifesto for life.

[Melody]

My thoughts are already posted above, but those are great life lessons, not just social media lessons!

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Lance - that one is special to me as well.

@Jeannie - many say it's the serendipitous nature of Twitter the part they like the most.

@Delfin - thank you for stopping by.

@Jeremy - that is an awesome idea! Your mom must be ecstatic.

@RaynaNyc - thank you, that's very kind of you to say. Glad you enjoyed the list.

@Melody - one more piece of evidence that it's all connected ;)

[Mary H Ruth]

Whoa, mama, I just read the first four of these, and they're all mind-blowing! Can't wait to read the rest, and maybe even print em out for framing!

[Mary H Ruth]

" 6. use your content and smarts to elevate the other."

YES!

[Travis Wals]

I just started following your blog this week, and I love it! Thanks for sharing this inspirational list.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Mary Ruth - glad the post inspired. Thank you for stopping by and for tweeting it, too.

@Travis - welcome to the community. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.

[Scott Crow]

This is a very inspiring post - THANK YOU! My head was swimming with ideas after reading.

[Ricardo Bueno]

Valeria, love this list!

[JacquiR]

It was nice to read this and nod in agreement. That is what I did here. Too often we immediately look for something to pick at, or disagree with what someone has written in order to elevate ourselves in the eyes of the other readers. Social media is about the passion we have for sharing and communicating with others, it's not about 140 characters, or the number of "friends". Like life really.

[Gemma Went]

Great list Valeria. So much so that I've printed it off and stuck it to the wall as a reminder (we all know this stuff but too often brush it aside).

Thanks