Social Media Investments (no, not monetary)

Pamela Seiple (aka pamelump) makes some great points about the value of using  Twitter.

In my experience, much of the hesitation people feel when deciding whether or not to use a social website, like Twitter, sounds like “It’s not for me” and really means “the barrier I perceive to extracting value is too high”. If everyone could immediately  achieve the benefits Pamela highlights, wouldn’t everyone already be using Twitter?

The problem is, apps like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, require a committed investment of time (and maintenance) before one can tap into their most powerful benefits. I’ve made the plea before for people to jump right in, and grind it out. (You will be rewarded!) However, now I think a new strategy is in order. What if I could convince you, that within 10 minutes of signing up for Twitter, you’d  already be extracting value from it? Of course, you’d say, value without investment, let me at it! 

So, interwebs, let’s come up with a list of basic steps to using the afore mentioned sites, that don’t require lots of friends who are willing to play along, nor require much time. Basic steps that involve only your actions, that you can finish in short time.

For LinkedIn, we could reframe it as basic online resume management. Facebook as a photo cataloging site. Perhaps Twitter as different sort of news feed. Whatever we choose, let’s come up with concrete first-steps to make believers, and achievers, out of the hesitant.