Stepping out of the Stone Age

Back away from the rotary dial, it’s time to embrace social media once and for all
Julz Darroch
www.julzdarroch.co.nz

Amongst us are those who have yet to fully embrace this ‘technology thingy’ – successful, smart, talented women who are hiding a secret: They don’t really ‘get’ the social media business.
There are a few signs that this might be you.
Do you remember when a phone had a rotary dial? Or when credit card transactions were done on a manual machine with carbon paper?
 
It’s tempting to try and avoid entering the social media minefield; where do you start, how do you make the most of it and for many us girls over 40; what exactly is it?
The first experience of social media leaves many people with the feeling that they don’t ‘get it’ – the social media universe is full of profiles and pages that have been launched with enthusiasm and left abandoned.
 
Social media: web-based and mobile phone-based technologies, which are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue among organisations, communities, and individuals.
 
In a nutshell ‘social media’ is an umbrella term for all those websites (including Facebook, twitter, pinterest, Linked-in) where you have a page or profile that belongs to you, and the ability to post comments and pictures that people who access your page can see.
 
Actively embracing the social part of social media is the key to its success as a business tool.