When I talk to people about social media, I notice similarities to talking to people about math.
Here’s a handful of the things I’ve seen.
Those who do it, think it’s fun and intuitive!
As any engineer, math major or computer geek and they’ll tell you that math is no problem – it’s even fun.
And when you talk to a Twitter addict or someone devoted to Google Plus – boy howdy they can’t get enough of it.
Those who don’t do it say, “I’m just not a ___ person.”
Have you ever heard or said, “I’m not a math person”? I hear it all the time.
But more often I hear, “I’m not a Twitter person.”
Curious. But true.
How you do it is a personal preference.
If you’re a die hard twerson (TWitter pERSON) you would be just as happy if all Facebook stuff fell off the planet.
If you’re a pencil and paper person, you could care less that Microsoft Excel offers a way to balance your checkbook.
If you’re a technology person, you probably think pencils belong in a museum.
Why you do it depends on your world.
Some people take to social media like a fish to water. And some people do it because it’s necessary for their business.
The same holds with math. You might do it for fun – like Sudoku puzzles. And you might do it because if you don’t, you’d bounce checks all over town.
You do it even if you think you don’t.
If you don’t do math – even for a day – then you’re probably dead. Setting your alarm clock takes math. Driving through traffic takes math. You do math all the time, effortlessly.
Social media is the same. You might not ever log on to a computer. But someone you know has talked about you online.
And even your grandma has forwarded an email with a joke or hoax. Guess what – that’s social media too!
You can have someone else do the annoying part.
Hire a CPA to do your books. Find an actuary to figure out the risk for investing. Even consult a think-tank to help you work through some logistics. All are professionals that work in the math world.
And you can get social media experts to do everything from designing your Facebook page to tweeting or writing blog posts for you.
There’s tons of technology to help.
If you really need to manage the craziness – there’s a tool out there for you.
Calculators, MatLab and Quikbooks help with math challenges. Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and (my latest find) Destroy Twitter are there to help post to social media sites.
There’s always a new take on it.
There’s tons of blogs on social media – like this site – that give you a new, fresh and easier perspective on social media.
And there’s so many blogs about math that there’s a whole site devoted just to tracking them – MathBlogging.org.
Your turn!
So what are your social media challenges or accomplishments? And how does that compare to you and math?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Bon Crowder
Latest posts by Bon Crowder (see all)
- How Social Media is Like Doing Math – September 20, 2012
