A New Year... A New You? (Will My Social Media Obsession Continue?)

Happy New Year.
How is it already January 6th?
I can't believe that its been nearly a month since my last post.
And as you can imagine, I have plenty to say.

1. My social media wrap-up from last semester.
I guess due to finals and then leaving for winter break I never had an opportunity to do a "look at me now...how did I get here" post. The truth is that if you had asked me 6 months ago, I never would have guessed that I would be involved in this community. I have enjoyed learning and adapting social media into my life and my everyday routine (thank you google reader). I think that what I took away most from the class last semester was not only the friends that I made (old and new), the ability to share what I have learned , but most importantly this wonderful, smart and engaging community that I appreciate and look up to.

Now, I did say something here about being involved in this community, and I sort of feel cheap saying that. The truth is that I am not as involved as I could be. Or as I want to be. So this leads me to my next section.

2. Happy New Year... Now what's my resolution?

Like most people, I often make a little resolution for myself. Sometimes that means better organization, not just saying I will, but actually cleaning my room, or of course the infamous hitting the gym more frequently. But this year, due to my social media obsession my resolution is gonna be TWITTER.

The thing is, I need to be more active in this community. I don't think that updating my blog is enough. The problem most frequently is that I don't actually have enough time to do everything I want to, but that is why I am saying it right here right now. I want to get more involved.
boom.

(well see if it happens... but I usually am pretty true to my word... except for the cleaning my room... but its not that bad!)

Podcamp Boston... A social media extravaganza.

So I started this semester with an idea that with my new media class, I would grow even more obsessed with facebook then I already was, because I would be able to combine two of my passions: social media and PR.

I was always a little bit skeptical to really dive into crazy new media stuff.
I thought that this world was somewhere that I didn't belong because I didn't know that much about it. But now I have realized how much I really like this stuff and more importantly, that anyone can have an online presence -- and thats the beauty of it.

on to my next point.

This past weekend was Podcamp Boston and oh what a whirlwind it was!
There were so many interesting people to meet and interesting ideas to take away from this unique conference. One of the first ideas that stuck with me and really manifested itself throughout the whole day and night was Chris Brogan's "genius" idea, that everyone at this conference was human! Wow, what a crazy idea! But this really stuck with me, because what I have to say is valid and I can learn more just by looking to all these people because they are not just knowledgeable, but approachable.

So if you are seeing this, I just wanna say thanks so such an awesome time.

New media can certainly be intimidating. It's such a huge world, but its so cool at the same time!

Do we have time to LISTEN?

Yesterday, in Chris Brogan's blog, he has this post about the importance of listening.

Of course, I have a little something to say....
This post, which I found very interesting and really rather important really got me thinking about my generation in terms of listening to blogs and social media.

The thing is: I don't think we ever listen.

In an age where we are constantly connected, we are consequently growing increasingly impatient. I can hardly wait for a you-tube video to load, a friend's ringback tone to go to voicemail or the how long it takes the Boston T to take me to my final destination.

The thing is: although I am impatient, I do often take time to surf the web. I may lead a relatively busy life, but the truth is that I find a few minutes to read blogs and listen to and sometimes even participate in what people are saying. The truth of the matter is, to someone who is newly interested in social media, reading blogs and finding more info from them is the number one thing I can do to learn more. And although I think that most people my age claim to be incredibly busy -- and maybe too busy to read and follow blogs and trends, I enjoy it and right now it is something that I will continue to do.