10 Reasons to Use Social Media

Little cat with cute look on her face lying on a bed.

Have you ever wondered why you are spending hours daily on the Internet without really working?

Some people assume that you are wasting your time when looking at cute cat images on Facebook.

Here are 10 reasons to use social media you might want to take into account to feel better about the time you spend on social sites.

1. Reputation, not just in the sense of reputation management by taking over Google results for your name, but having a reputation as the specialist dealing with x coming from y

2. Mingling with leaders in your field without having to meet them. I was able to debate online with Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land among others. Why?

It’s because I am a blogger and social media user you can’t ignore anymore as easily as someone who writes you an email out of 500

3. Getting links and visitors. When you are an avid social media user, people will link to you and visit your websites and profiles quite naturally. No linking schemes needed.

4. Building an audience. Ever tried to make people aware of something while nobody listened? It’s like stepping on stage and performing when nobody is around.

Thus green activists are very active social media users. You need an audience to address in case you want a message to spread.

5. Sharing. We are social creatures. Sharing is one of the activities that define us. In the real world it is difficult to share as everything you give away – like sweets for instance – you can’t have yourself.

In the digital realm sharing is almost natural. Jesus would love it, each time you share you multiply.

Thus sharing information is basically giving without having to give up anything beside time. You don’t lose anything by giving away digital items.

6. Making the Web your home. Do you remember the term homepage? Now it’s almost obsolete.

Where exactly is your homepage nowadays? Why is having only a homepage making you a loner hiding in the woods?

It’s because nobody will notice your homepage when it’s not linked or shared. The whole Web is your home.

That’s why most people prefer to live in cities or at least villages instead of remote uninhabited areas.

7. Overcoming alienation: most educated people in the western hemisphere work in offices using computers.

Staring at a screen all day long and talking only a few times during short breaks is not natural at all. It makes you feel bad.

While you should strive to stay in contact with real people you can overcome the worst Web worker blues by socializing with peers on the social web.

8. Peer review is one of the most practical reasons to use social media. When 100 other people appreciate a link you shared you know you can’t be wrong.

Even when your boss, spouse, children, class mates, coworkers assume you are insane at the same time.

It is much more difficult to find true peers in real life as they are often scattered throughout the world.

I socialize with people from the Americas, Asia, Australia and even Africa online. That would be impossible in real life on such a scale.

9. Love of humanity! Yes this one is very pathetic but we humans tend to depend on others in our larger family.

People who claim that we are natural born egoists err because we can only exist in a social arena. Nobody is an island.

It hurts to read about wars in Asia or Africa just because there are humans who get killed even though you never met them in person.

Now the Internet allows you to reach potentially millions of people by uploading a video to YouTube for instance.

10. Why not? Everybody does it just like watching movies or brushing their teeth. Social media part of our culture. You don’t need to feel guilty.

 

Find the proper balance

Now be careful. Just because there are at least 10 reasons to use social media does not mean you should spend all your time on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

Always on is not a way of life. It’s agony. Combine social media activity with actual social life with real people you meet in person.

Keep your life balanced and do not forget that social media are tools provided by companies. Social media are not your life, they are an enhancement of it.

Last updated: June 20th, 2017.