Educating someone on the style of communication that is required
for the effective use of social media is not an easy task. The concept of
organic conversation shared electronically has a very informal nature rather
than a more formal style that we might be, either used to, or simply want. And
postings need to be short and snappy, engineered communication rather than
ramblings.
A number of years ago, I made an effort to teach social media
communication to fellow oldsters at the College for Seniors here on the
university campus. Facebook was still relatively new and the senior demographic
had become the fastest growing segment of Facebook users. At the same time, their
children and grandchildren were still relatively new to the medium as well. It seemed that it was an opportunity for the more experienced and sage
members of society to participate in an exciting new social experiment. If we
could sensitize ourselves to the style of communication that was attracting
others to Facebook, we would have a chance at a leadership role that would
allow us to share our wisdom in a manner that might actually be heard.
My experience was similar to running into a stone wall. Those
who signed up for the course were only
interested in seeing the images that
their children and grandchildren were posting. They were reticent to sharing
their own thoughts and ideas. They couldn’t be bothered to attempt understanding how they might communicate with others. I asked them why they felt
that this approach would do anything constructive. Why waste their energy on
simply passive participation? Would they still be interested when those cute
pictures of children turned into pictures of new tattoos, wild parties, and
outrageous images of their friends acting out? This is what young people do. A long time ago, many of us lived this life.
Taking an active role on Facebook is a challenge. It requires an
awareness of how to effectively communicate. It requires a commitment to an
ideal. It requires a willingness to adapt. It is not a great medium for the
righteous. It is, however, a great place to expose ideas and convince. This
will not be done with a lack of respect, or drawing lines in the sand. As stated
above, Facebook is a medium for engineered communication. Facts can be
presented, reiterated, and later used as the basis for points that we would like to make. They cannot be tossed in the face of
those with different points of view. Those folks already have their “alternate”
facts. They need to be subtly led to truth not hit in the head with it.
At least this is my humble opinion. Now, can I show you my new
tattoo?
