To everyone who gripes about the fact that schools don’t teach lessons for real world application, listen up. I’m about to seriously debunk the theory. It’s about time we address the fact that we’re suffering from a serious sharing problem. I don’t mean sharing things about yourself. Because that, we can agree we have NO shortage of. I’m talking the kindergarten lunchroom type sharing that little by little is going extinct.
All too frequently I’ll engage in a conversation with a fellow digital marketer and he or she will drop the phrase, “you know, I read an article where…” and I’ll think to myself well, I follow you on Facebook and Twitter and you even have my email address, if you felt engaged, educated and inspired by something you read then why didn’t you take steps to spread the love? This industry (and especially the Me Me Me Generation) has started to get stingy with our education and we’re on the brink of being serious hoarders. How many times in your personal life have you gotten to the end of an article and thought to yourself, “ah that was pretty interesting, I might even use some of these tips,” only to hit close and go on to your next task?
Let me ask, have you remembered nothing from kindergarten? What was the first rule of the library or your earliest memories with siblings? Let me guess, the lesson of sharing.
It’s not like we’re a nation adverse to it. The I Share, Therefore I am Culture is thriving. And the whole Pics or It Didn’t Happen? Yeah I suffer from that too. So in the same way you feel the need to throw your cool life content up on social media, I encourage you to view written content in the same way. When you approach the end of an inspiring article don’t just click out or move on, think of the best way you can spread the love. If it’s incredibly motivating then perhaps it deserves a tweet of recognition, if it’s specific to your company or office culture then perhaps an office-wide email could gain you some points. I send articles via gchat, email or text constantly. My friends (and even parents) have begun look to me as a source of knowledge when it comes to the latest trends in social. They’ll even send me things they read seeing that it won’t end with me and that I am vehicle to putting it out in the world if I felt it carried a strong message.
That’s what happens, you know. When you start to become an initiator of the conversation, you establish yourself as being quite the authority. If you take a minute to scan the LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook profiles of some of the top voices in social media you won’t see content that has come JUST from them. They regularly share what motivates, teaches and inspires them. You must give to receive. Which is basically what your mom has been telling you for all of these years.
I’ll leave you with one final thought. I was reading this New York Times article yesterday in the Travel section about a girl who explored Paris alone. She found a book that was registered to bookcrossing.com, a site for people to register and hide books around the world for others to find and enjoy. That is my message to the core. There is a profound joy in finding an item that someone has chosen to pass along to you. Reading her experience with bookcrossing.com reminded me that the sharing culture is not dead and could experience a revival if we all commit to its success.
Read On.
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