social media bullying

Bully (n.) a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates   smaller or weaker people.

Nobody is a stranger to the term. Bullying is rampant in our society, and has become more so with the technology we have today. It seems to be easier than ever for bullying to take place with texting and the lightening-fast social media tools of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube, and so on. So many of our youth are armed with their cell phones, and they seem to be connected to their devices 24-hours a day. How do we as a society address this problem?

Too many of our young people have fallen victim to bullying; some teens have even taken their own lives due to the extreme bullying they have endured. This tragedy should never again occur.

As parents, teachers, community leaders, adults, it is our duty it is our due diligence to put a stop to this.  Handing over the computers, tablets, cell phones to young people should come with strings attached. Adults should have full access to these devices, and the social media accounts that are being utilized, to keep a watchful eye on the conversations taking place. Just as we would not hand over the car keys to someone without the proper training, we should practice the same with texting and social media.

I am a believer that an individual's privacy should be respected, and this can become a battle between parent and child; but if there is nothing to hide, that becomes a moot point. Finding balance and establishing trust is key to making this work. Let's not let another young person's life end too soon because we are not vigilant in protecting them.

Social media tips you can use now

In an ongoing series, we will discuss social media tips you can put to work right now. 

Today’s topic is scheduling and time management.

I frequently hear the same question: how much time should a business owner or professional spend on social media per day or week? My general response is most maintenance work (responding to posts and requests, sharing, pinning/re-pinning, and re-tweeting, etc.) can be done in less than 20 minutes per day. However, to do this, one must set aside a larger chunk of time during the week (Sunday afternoon?) to schedule posts in advance.

• Create a plan: what will you discuss/post for the next week?  Will you post photos, tips of the day, blog or article links? Collect all your information, and check that your links are correct. Use a link shortener if necessary: www.bit.ly and www.ow.ly are easy tools that are free and can track your links.

• Use a scheduling tool. Facebook has a post scheduler right on the status update bar, and it is very easy to review and/or edit scheduled posts from the Activity Log. Hootsuite.com is an effective tool that offers several packages; the free plan allows users to manage up to 5 social media sites, which is generally sufficient for most business owners and professionals. And then there is TweetDeck, another free tool that integrates Twitter with other social media sites. Pingraphy.com offers scheduling for Pinterest; package prices vary.

• Go old-school: use a timer! Don’t spend any more time on social media sites than you really want. Social media is meant to be just one of the tools in your marketing tool kit, and it is meant to be FUN! So, take those online relationships offline, and enjoy your life!

catch the big one

We are all familiar with the proverb, "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime." But what about giving the man a fishing pole, and not telling him how it works?

I had the opportunity to meet with a recent college graduate who is looking to enter the workforce in his chosen field of marketing. One of his college professors encouraged the students to create a LinkedIn account; they did as instructed. However, the students weren't give instructions on how to use this powerful networking tool.

I was pleased to share some basic tips and tools to this beginner; he was thrilled with the serious capabilities that LinkedIn offers. We edited his profile, joined some groups, and extended his network. And that is just scratching the surface. 

How lucky for me to teach a new member of the workforce how to use a new tool. Surely he will catch the "Big One."

it's all about timing

I am running late. Very late. Nearly 45 minutes later than I had planned to be on the road. It's all my own fault.  It was a lovely morning, and I decided to walk the dog, then spent a few minutes chatting with my daughter. Just getting further and further behind and getting that urgent feeling that I need to be on the road.

As it turns out, I cannot even get too far, as I need to stop for gas. Great! Now even later. 

And there she was, at the gas station: Serendipity. 

The car that pulled in behind me was driven by a local businessman whom I have known for a few years. He is a very kind southern gentleman, and spoke the customary, "Hey. How are you?" I inquired about his business that has been in our town for nearly 35 years, and about the health of his dear father who is known throughout our community. We had a wonderful conversation chatting over the gas pumps, and I drove away a much better person for having learned more about the history of his business and his story, and about our small town as well. 

My lesson for the day: destiny, fate, Serendipity, call it what you will. If I had not been running late, I wouldn't have met the gentleman at the gas station, and I would have missed out on an experience that set my mood for the rest of the day: fabulous.

we don't need a rewind button

Ice storms. That's what we get here in our corner of the world.

Despite predictions of a wintry ice storm, I kept my promise to my daughter and her friend, and we headed out for a weekend beach getaway. But Mother Nature, in her fickle way, decided to visit with her lovely icy frosting earlier than anyone expected. We, along with countless others, were caught on the road in the middle of the storm. As we crawled along, passing numerous accidents on the road, we prayed for safety, and I wondered about my decision. But we forged ahead.

Isn't that life sometimes: we make decisions, hit some rough patches, get delayed, question ourselves. There is no rewind button; we must always keep moving along.

As I sit here watching the sun rise and the waves crashing against the shore, it becomes perfectly clear: if we had stopped, turned around, decided against the trip at all, we would have missed out on this amazing gift from Mother Nature.