Learning the Art of Sharing

Elizabeth Bishop (photo/poets.org)

Modern feminist poet Elizabeth Bishop is known for her delicate descriptions of difficult life events. Her poem, “One Art,” describes a speaker’s emotional struggle to learn the art of losing valuables, especially loved ones. The poem, found at this link, is one example of how many people are often told to learn a particular task, yet fails during the learning process. 

In my next textbook to discuss on my blog, the art of sharing in social media is explored. “Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals," is a guidebook, compiled from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, for beginning social media learners. 

The opening two chapters provide specific instructions for how companies or individual people can spread ideas through the form of sharing links, photographs, videos and stories in social media. 

The textbook says, "More than 70% of the internet population uses social networks in one form or another and the numbers are growing daily" (3). This book was published in 2012, so yes, social media has tripled in size and importance since the textbook's statistic. 

The book adds, "57% of people talk more online than they do in real life" (4). 

Isn't that sad? People prefer to type on a computer or mobile device than to sit down with someone and have a real conversation. That's one of the main problems I have with social media. People have forgotten the special flavor of face-to-face communication. 

"Share This" offers valuable information for companies about how to engage with audiences through social networking. 

"Share This" (photo/kistasso.com)

    1) Choose a Goal 

    Every company should choose a goal for the social media accounts. Do you want your social media presence to bring awareness to a certain need? Do you want to bring in sales to your company? Do you want to be loyal to your customers? Each goal has a different approach to the art of social media. 

    2) Think Character and Content

    Character is the real person others desire to know. It is a relatable figure. Customers want to be connected to their clients. If a company's social media accounts display a caring and compassionate attitude, then customers will feel welcome to work with the company. 

    3) Measure What You Treasure 

    Be smart and know your statistics. Companies can identify their popular audience. If the audience is not the targeted group a company desires, then the company's social media professionals can alter the way they monitor the company's social media accounts. 

    Sharing is one form of communication. It's delivering information in an efficient manner. It's a difficult art form to learn - the art of sharing. However, to be successful in social media, it is one lesson that you must attempt. 

Sharing. (photo/digitalinformationworld.com)

-   -KJL- 

Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Ed. Stephen Waddington. "Share This: The Social Media Handbook for PR Professionals." West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.