social media

A most interesting statistic - Australia is leading the way in terms of usage of social media... so says Stuart Buchanan of the nest. Aussies who are web savvy spend an average of 18.5 hours online a week. Stuart is in town training and sharing the benefits of social media to the arts community in Bendigo today.

It's interesting how communications and relationships have changed over the last decade or so, since the internet became available to the masses... Traditional media like newspapers, television and other print media are suffering financial losses as the next generation of users move away from them and embrace digital media in a way never before imagined. As a result of this, organisations who are not on board are scrambling to come up with various strategies to take the quantum leap into the social media phenomenon. Often the biggest hurdle is knowing who you're talking to, how you talk to them and what sort of things would actually interest the people you are trying to engage....the road to successful social media is littered with casualties all along the sidewalk :)

One thing that's for sure, it's changed the way I communicate with others in my work as a consultant and trainer. I don't have a lot of time to spend on a website, so I reckon social media is one of the more viable options. Project photos, my blog, social networking sites such as FB, VoIP calls via Skype and virtual net meetings are a regular part of my life now. This simple blogsite has been up since 2007 and allow me to express my thoughts and technical observations to all who are interested. My technical photos are up on Flickr and allow for quick visual communication of ideas and concepts to clients. Facebook, Skype and other instant messaging services allow me to communicate with clients all around the world, bridging the distance and time zones, and usually resulting in an extremely fast response time. There's still a long way to go.....but I reckon I'm getting there....