The Real Value of Social Media? Connecting Online to Offline

You can’t measure the value of social media in a vacuum. EG: you have to look beyond Twitter itself in order to realize how valuable it can be in your professional or personal life. That the online world is linked to the offline world, and the best way to use either is to constantly be moving back and forth between the two.

In the video above, I illustrate this with a story about some colleagues I met online, and how that turns into a trusting offline relationship in an effortless manner. The other day, I spoke at the Backspace Writers Conference, an invitation from my friend Colleen Lindsay (Twitter: @ColleenLindsay). There, I was introduced to both Lauren Cerand (Twitter: @luxlotus) and Jennifer Laughran (Twitter: @literaticat) both of whom I follow on Twitter, but who I never really had a real-life conversation with. The video explains how because of the familiarity we built on Twitter, we immediately moved to a great conversation over drinks and dinner.

If you are a writer, I definitely recommend you consider following Colleen, Lauren, and Jennifer on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/colleenlindsay
http://twitter.com/luxlotus
http://twitter.com/literaticat

Thanks!
-Dan