Ahhh . . . my soapbox. Beautifully constructed, worn smooth with careful but enthusiastic use, and smelling of Lemon Pledge and determination. When the topic is of curious interest to me, and I feel like I have something to say, I am very comfortable up on it. Not that anyone is listening, mind you, but we all want to speak out once in a while and throw our two cents in, throw our hat in the ring, and give others a piece of our mind.

I realize that seems to be a lot of cliche's, but isn't that usually what you hear when there's a soapbox around?

I believe that the whole social media phenomenon began to take off when people started working from home rather than commuting into the office. The thought of the freedom of working from home was intoxicating, and with the internet there to keep us as connected to the office as we wanted to be, why not give it a shot? Casual Fridays became "work at home" Fridays. Some people gave up their bus tickets and subway tokens altogether.

What happened is this: after the first week or so, the elation of sitting at the computer in your PJ's and working with General Hospital playing over your shoulder - that feeling of freedom - began to fade, and something else crept in to fill the void. Social beings that we are, being free from the office, the boss, that weird guy in the corner cubicle (you know who you are) began to feel . . . well . . .lonely. After all, no one really envied our status as "remote worker" and all we really achieved was to make ourselves out of sight . . . and out of mind.

Leave it to Americans to find a way to use technology to "reconnect" us to each other without actually needing to speak to or see one another. So, lo and behold, the intellectual powers breathed MySpace into being. Then Facebook, then Twitter, and a hundred others.

Social Media gives us the illusion of being attached to other as humans. Don't get me wrong. I like "FarmTown" as much as the next automaton droid does. But if we are not careful, we can allow the Social Media phenomenon to narrow all of our human interactions into shallow, meaningless exchanges consisting of 140 characters or less.

Kimberly Turner wrote an awesome blog on this subject. 7 Ways Social Media is Ruining your Life. Read it HERE.

Don't think I'm right? have I gone too far? Next time you're out, see how many people sitting across the table from each other are both looking at their phones instead of their friends.

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Ok, now that I have bashed Social Media, let's learn how to use it!

Facebook is the largest online social networking site and currently has over 69 million users. I talk big, but I actually love Facebook. It is lots of fun, and can be a great source of promotion for yourself, your event or your business. And it is highly addictive!

Get an Account

First, go to Facebook.com and sign up. It's free and just requires one minute to setup.

The first thing that you'd want to do after setting up your Facebook profile is to set the privacy settings (under "settings" in the upper right hand corner). This will control who can "see you" and the things you post. You may want to broadcast your activities to the whole world or you may want to let "only friends" see them. Many of the fields are highly customizable, so you can actually drill down specific people who "cannot" see you.

Update Your Status

This is what Facebook is all about! At the top of your Facebook page, write what you are doing right now. You may want to type "I'm setting up my new Facebook page" or something obvious like that. You may also want to type a quote or a poem or something that you want to share. People might "get it" and they might not. Maybe only your closest friends will understand the inside joke. That's what makes it fun!

Find Some Friends

Prepare to meet some folks you haven't seen in a while, or meet some new people - whatever strikes your fancy. With almost 70 million users, chances are your high school friends, church friends, college buddies, guys from the gym, your kids' gymnastics teacher and your garbage man are on facebook. Head up to the Search box at the top right of your page or click on the "Friends" tab and start searching. Search by name, town, college, common interest, or just browse people in your city.

You will be amazed by who you find, and once you add a few friends, you'll be shocked by who finds you! People I would probably never have seen again since high school are now on my friend list. Once you have a healthy friend list, you will be able to see all of their status updates and "their wall" on your news feed. When you logon to your page, the newsfeed appears on the main page, so you can keep up with every friend in your list. Friends can also see all of your status updates and items you post as well. That's how facebook helps you stay in touch!

I should also mention that not only can you add friends, but you can also remove them if you need to. In fact, you can selectively block certain posts from certain users so they do not appear on your Status Updates list or on your wall. This is handy for those who reconnect with an old girlfriend or boyfriend and discover that they aren't really "over you" yet. The internet breeds stalkers. it's nice to know you can turn them off.

Write on Some Walls

Once you have friends on your list, you can send messages back and forth by writing on your friend's "wall." The wall is just a place where anyone who is a friend can write a message, or comment on something you have written. Once a comment is made, any of your friends can comment on your post. Once a friend comments, all of their friends will be able to see their post, and so on and so on.

Become a Fan

One of the terrific aspects of Facebook is the ability to become a "fan" of various things (such as the iPhone, In-and-Out Burgers, your favorite celebrities or even your hometown). Simply perform a search for your interest (upper right hand corner) and if they have set up a Facebook page you can become a fan, or you can also click on the "groups" tab in the results page for common interest groups that you'd may want to join. I just joined the Skateboarding group and a group for ex-skateboarding professionals. This activity is called "friending" or "fanning." If you like, you can create your own group, like the "I love Krispy Kreme" group so others can join in and share in your love of doughnuts.

If you own a business, set up a Facebook page for your business so people on Facebook can become fans of yours. Go to the Pages center to set one up for your business. Click HERE to go there now. just like Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search marketing, you can create ads that promote your business (for a fee) to Facebook members all over the country.

Play a Game

We all like to play games, and Facebook 'gaming' is certainly not lacking in any respect. To "find" the games simply put in a search for what game you are looking for and then click on the applications tab. Here you have a vast selection from classic casino such as blackjack, poker, etc., to role playing games such as Mafia Wars, simulators, and loads of other games (such as Bejeweled Blitz, Guess the Sketch, Lexulous, etc.)

Most people I know rack up a lot of time playing one or many of Facebook's free and very addictive games. Try FarmTown, Mafia Wars and Yoville.

Other Stuff to Do on Facebook

One of the most popular features of facebook are quizzes, passing on notes and using the photo album tool built into Facebook. The quizzes range from the silly to the interesting and you can even create your own quizzes as well.

Notes are interesting in that no one seems to start them, but they seem to get passed on ad infinitum. Basically a note is just that, a note that you can "tag" to other friends to read. Many times the notes are personal questionnaires that people can erase your answers, and input theirs to keep passing the note along. A warning with notes however is that you may get more information on your "friends" then you ever wanted to know.

The photo area is a terrific area to visit just simply for the fact that you can easily and quickly share photos with family and friends online. Lots of pages do this, but with Facebook your friends see them instantly.

Facebook recently began allowing users to have a personalized URL (web address) for their Facebook accounts. Simply go to http://www.facebook.com/username to get this done. then give out your web address to all of your friends to get connected with them more easily

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If you are not plugged in to one of the many Social Media sites like Facebook, MySpace, Blogspot, Flicker, Digg, Scribd or Twitter, you probably should be. It's not for everyone, especially if you already have antisocial tendencies. I actually know someone who never leaves their house. Maybe once or twice a week to go to Wal-Mart.

Don't fall into that trap. It's easy to communicate through chat and status updates because it doesn't require us to move out of our comfort zone, or to care about what we look like to our fellow humans.

But remember, just because you can order groceries over the internet doesn't mean that you should. Stay connected. Please?

I would love to know what you decide, but if you choose to drop by and tell me in person, be sure to text first.

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For information on any of the information in this month's newsletter, please call Available Technology at 864.232.1234