A little over a month ago, I started my journey into Social Media.  I knew all about Facebook and LinkedIn, had accounts and had friends and contacts. This was going well. Along came my introduction into Twitter. What was Twitter? What was the point of posting what I was doing, thinking, etc. on Twitter? What are followers and who are these people? Why would they follow me? Admittedly, I was Twitter challenged.  

I received a notice of a workgroup on Social Media in the location Virginia area. I signed up immediately. The workgroup was put on by Mayra Ruiz-McPherson (mayraruiz.com) and included speakers Beth Bates (http://www.bethjbates.com), Jill Foster (http://www.jillfoster.name), and Shashi Bellamkonda (http://www.shashi.name).

The workgroup was fun and exciting. I now understood Twitter and couldn’t wait to get started.  I read the materials provided, started my Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/sharondexter) and followed the recommendations.  I started following some “key” people, searched for people who posted about items of interest, followed and watched.  

I had followers, posted comments here and there depending on items of interest. I was preparing for a large presentation for a potential new client and posted about my research and the outcome of my meeting.  I was doing research for another proposal, I found some interesting sites that I thought would interest people.  Not too many posts, just here and there.

Then – I noticed that a few of my followers had left me. What did I do wrong?  Why don’t they like me any longer? Did I offend them?  Did I say something that they didn’t agree with or perhaps they found me boring?  Did I not post enough or perhaps with the few posts that I made, post too much?  What happened?

This bothered me for  a few days (and still does to a point. I’m only human and want to be liked by everyone, we all do). But.. according to the information on Social Media and the way that Twitter works – it’s OK.  Not everyone is for everybody and it’s OK to stop following someone if you want.  So, I’m trying not to take this personal. (Honestly, I am)

In order for me not to take this personal, I’ve decided to keeping on keeping on into the Social Media Stream.  I am going to embark on a Social Media adventure with a company to gauge Social Media, track responses, followers, success rates, etc.  I’m not giving out the company name here, I want this to be a true experiment.  

I’ve downloaded and read articles and materials supplied by quite a few Social Media Experts such as Chris Brogran (http://www.chrisbrogan.com/), The Road Map to Become A Blogger Report (www.becomeablogger.com) and The Beginners Guide to Social Media (http://www.blahblahtech.com/).

I will be applying the information and best practices of Social Media over the next few months and will keep this blog updated with the results.

I’m looking forward to this experiment and hope that everyone will find the results helpful.