JENSIZED LAST ACTIVITY IN MEMPHIS TOWN

Think you for ruining social media

By Jen

I am over “social media.”

There, I said it.

I love chatting and sharing links on Twitter and pinning home hacks on Pinterest. I love showing the MicroMemphis class how to enhance their reporting with Tumblr and Foursquare. Even though I’m not there anymore I loved my job at The Commercial Appeal, where I got to share news and hear feedback and talk to readers on Twitter and Facebook all day.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, and I’m not referring to anyone in particular. I thought as adoption increased that people would realize there’s no secret formula to being “successful” on sites like Facebook. But some self-styled ”gurus” and marketers have siphoned off all the joy and tried to distill it into cash.

Somehow they managed to convince people a different set of rules apply for communicating on Twitter than anywhere else online. Or “in real life,” for that matter.

Be constructive.

Don’t be a jerk.

Use common sense.

Don’t say anything you’d be ashamed for your grandma to hear.

The key to “social media success” is the same as the key to making friends: Be interesting. Talk and listen.

That’s it. Seriously.