tweetup sticker

Coming from foundations in hard-line SEO, social media was, for me, a learned skill that I honed during my days at Columbia, editing Media Ownership and Concentration in America. I would say that social media is not so much technical as it is brand building writ large.

The tools may be somewhat technical to the uninitiated and even somewhat dizzying in their plentitude but with enough time spent on getting to know the lay of the land one can learn quickly which ones are the most popular and how to use them to some extent. As far as how to use the tools and the strategies you will find that you learn all of this from the very community that engages in social media. That’s the real underlying aspect of SM that those inside know very well but only speak of if asked directly. Furthermore, it seems that the more people interact online, the more they want to meet up in person in some sort of capacity. That’s why tweetups and tumblr meetings have become popular ways to build local communities where social media users make friends and network.

The panel that I spoke on, put on by the Schulich Alumni Association could be looked at as a meetup as well since people were there to network. Although most tweetups don’t usually have formal speakers (not that they shouldn’t) the opportunities to learn are still there. I suppose the only difference is that in this instance we had a room of complete beginners who I sensed came in hopes of actually getting down to the nitty gritty of how to blog, tweet, share, etc. In a setting that’s a little more formal, such as it was, the environment may not be as open as a tweetup. I’m not sure. If you folks are reading this feel free to get in contact with me if you have any questions and I will point you in the right direction.

If you’re looking to get started with networking IRL, @photojunkie and  I do a monthly tweetup called “Tweetgasm” at the Gladstone hotel and they’ve become quite well-attended. It’s been a great way to reaffirm the Toronto SM scene. The last one was a big one as the Gladstone celebrated 5 years as an urban art space (122+ as a continuously operating hotel) so you should definitely come out to the next one and bring your twitter handle of some business cards.

Yes, I said business cards. In a post I discussed their use and asked “are business cards obsolete” so check it out and let me know what you think.