Tuesday, March 24, 2015

When the "Media" takes a Back Seat to the "Social"

Regular readers of this blog will know that I decided to "all in" with social media about six years ago. I joined Twitter, started a blog and a variety of other social media platforms.

To this day, I tell everyone whose interested, that the decision to "connect" through social media has been the one of the best decisions of my professional career. My connections have put me in touch with some of the smartest, kindest and interesting people on the planet. 

Recently, however, my use of social media has dropped off significantly. While I'm not necessarily proud of this, I think it has become a necessary reality.

When I joined social media nearly six years ago, I was firmly embedded in relationships within my school community. This year, as I transplant myself into a new school community,  the "media" has taken a back seat to the "social".

My new beginning has come with an important opportunity to establish community, trust and leadership through relationships. 
But here's the thing about establishing new relationships - in the process one can easily take for granted the relationships that are already established. In this regard I am guilty as charged. 

There is no question that in my zeal to establish new relationships in community, I have let my established relationships (with those nearest and dearest and those on social media) take a back seat. 

I realize that some would argue that I am perpetuating the Digital Dualism argument (or even fallacy)  

The fact remains, I have been less connected in social media spaces because I have been more connected in "non-media" social spaces. 

In a sense, I think this a necessary reality when joining a new school community.

Truth be told, like anything in life, I probably need to strike a better balance.  

Nonetheless, I am still figuring out...