Twitter & Facebook vs Newsletters & Conversations
For those that know me, you will know that I love conversations. I really love conversations that involve the exchange of ideas, and I am always looking for conversations with experienced professionals where the exchange ends with my understanding the world better.
In the early years of Actuarial Solutions Inc. I wrote some newsletters (now online). The effort was intended to provide clients and prospects with information and ideas to help them think about pensions and the decisions they needed to make.
A few years back, my friends Jose and Alan redesigned ASI’s website. At that time, Alan persuaded me that we should restart the newsletter effort in the form of a blog. It has taken me some time to get the hang of it but I am putting something up about once a month – which to me is a frequency that I can manage and one that doesn’t overwhelm the readers on our mailing list. Who has time to write or read a daily blog?
As President of Actuarial Solutions Inc., I am charged with allocating scarce time to non-billable efforts. The ‘experts’ in social media all urge that I spend a portion of that time engaging with the world on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
I am now on Twitter @JoeNunesActuary. With 20 tweets and 37 followers under my belt, I am still a rookie but I have spent enough time to say that I just don’t get it. Does anyone really care to listen to my stream of consciousness in 140 character instalments?
As for Facebook, I don’t have a personal account. Of course I have heard of Facebook but I have just never had the time or interest to open an account and keep my ‘friends’ up to date on the daily happenings in my life (this just in….apparently I do have a personal Facebook account – not much action there of course). I have a handful of friends from University that I see and email from time to time – I can’t imagine doing much more than that. I know employers are worried about employee productivity and I sure get that worry. If everyone has to spend hours a day keeping up on what everyone else is doing that is time not spent doing something productive. The theory is that if I am on Facebook then prospective clients that are friends of my friends will somehow find me if they need an actuary. I am skeptical it will help and I am reluctant to spend the time to find out. Maybe this works for real estate agents and retailers – but for an actuary?
What I do believe in is getting together with people and actually talking. My list of people that I like to visit is well beyond the number of visits I can make in a year – so I am trying to develop a better way of staying in touch with everyone that is more proactive and less reactive. I also still believe in sharing ideas which has transitioned from the newsletter to this blog. People who know me and think there is a worthwhile exchange can sign up – and those that don’t much like the discussion can unsubscribe or delete on a case-by-case basis. Pretty efficient if you ask me.
Finally, I like LinkedIn. The rolodex of the 21st century, the Twitter for more substantial contributions, and the forum for likeminded folks to congregate electronically. To me, this is the social media hub that makes the most sense for business people.
So, the question is, what do you believe? What is the best way to stay connected? Are Twitter and Facebook personal tools or are they truly valuable to business people? And is it all business people or just a selection?
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