Social media: The scary pit of despair or happy fun times with friends?

I have a confession to make.

I suck at social media.

Yes, I’m on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and I have a blog. Yes, I understand the principals and how it all works: good content + good engagement with community = social media success. And yes, I want not to suck at social media ... yet I suck at social media.

How so? I hear you ask (or maybe you don’t because a fluffy kitten getting tickled on Youtube has pulled you away).

I’m an introvert with very low self esteem and high rate of sensitivity. I have no confidence in my opinions and I’m convinced nobody is particularly interested in what I have to say or someone has already said it. I’m also mortally afraid of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. Good content and good engagement with the community do not come easily to me.

Most of my social media activity is sharing other people’s content and interaction with people I know personally – I find interaction with people I’ve never met very difficult.

But, I’m writing this aren’t I?

True – I’m rather fond of battling my own limitations. I find them annoying and frustrating and so even though I am an introvert with low self esteem I’ll be damned if I’ll let that stop me!

In this day and age social media is a very powerful tool and any individual, company or product wishing to build a profile will need to be/have someone versed in it.

This is why I keep at it, I work in publishing – I’m interested in the digital development end of publishing. I also write. Conclusion: I’m going to need to be well versed in social media.

It’s been over a year since I first set up my blog and my twitter account. The numbers following me are modest and I am truly grateful to everyone here for taking the time to read and engage with me and my content. And guess what? The numbers are growing! Very slowly, yes but there is a definite increase in my social media presence. I guess I must be doing something right!

Every now and then there are days where I feel like I’ve finally got it sussed (I’m guessing these are my confident days) articles are shared, debates are ignited, daylong friendships are forged! On days like that I truly enjoy the social media experience – there is a bizarre sense of belonging (to a very wide, very diverse, very odd community).

If you want to engage in social media but are finding it too daunting all I can say is – just give it a try! You may suck but it could still be fun; and you might get one of those great days – eventually they’ll start happening more often!