Ed. Note: This post originally appeared on ScottWritesEverything.com.
I’m not breaking new ground here with this statement: You don’t own Facebook.
You also don’t own Twitter, MySpace (apparently it’s still around), Foursquare, LinkedIn, or any other of these so-called social media services.
Why is this important, you ask? Because if you depend on one of these services as your sole means of communication, you’re in trouble.
Think about it: If all you do is post on Facebook, and suddenly Facebook shuts down tomorrow, what are you left with?
You cannot silo yourself to one place for communication, both personally and professionally. It’s just not a good idea because you don’t own the channel.
You may find yourself up in arms about Facebook’s complete lack of regard for privacy. Why should Facebook care? They own the service, and you’re using it for free. If you don’t want your privacy messed with, don’t use Facebook. And create your own social network. If you own it, you can decide how it works.
Yes, I have talked at length about the value I have gained from Twitter. Yes, I rely on Twitter for a great deal of my professional communication. If Twitter shut down tomorrow, would I lose a great deal of value? Absolutely. But would I lose all semblance of communication? No, of course not.
If you use social media, use it remembering that it could be gone tomorrow.
With all that said, the important message to remember: The most important word in social media is SOCIAL.
The goal of social media should be face-to-face interaction in real life.
Why? Two reasons:
- Because Face to Face Always Wins (right, DJ?)
- Remember, you don’t own the social media channels.
Taking the relationship to that next level takes the need away from channels you don’t own and can’t control.
Just think about it. You might see this whole thing differently.