#136 - Tell me about your Social Media Life!

Breaking news! The focus of Life Lessons has now officially changed to reflect the many ways we are all living our lives in the social media spotlight. (Note the new blog title above - Social Media Life Lessons.) In case you're wondering what prompted this change, it's quite simple. Earlier this week I had a conversation with a prospective client, an executive VP for a non-profit organization in Nashville, and he remarked that more and more he found he was "practically living on Facebook."

It was not the first time I'd heard the comment, and it suddenly dawned on me that the real reason I blog is to explore and possibly even enhance knowledge of social media - be it with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, SocialGo, Squidoo, hundreds of online communities, forum discussions, RSS aggregators, various websites, or online news sources. What's happening in social media affects everyone. It has changed the virtual landscape of media from print to broadcasting in an amazingly short span of time - just one decade. The medium is changing and we need to change with it.

To better reflect the nature of this site, I have changed its title to reflect a focus on teaching important life lessons framed within the context of social media, including news and events of interest to students, everyday users, and social media practitioners. The primary goal is to keep you, the reader, informed (with an easy, interesting format) of changes in social media (which seem to be occurring almost daily). Each week, we'll focus on a specific lesson covering the most effective and popular usage of one social media tool or technique.

Feel free to leave topic requests in the comments section below! I'll put my best research skills to work to answer any reader questions or comments.

You can look forward to many more posts on how to leverage social media for PR, news writing, advertising, education, business and even personal use. So, please, take a minute to let me know what you want to learn more about or better utilize online. I will research and report on any aspect of social media you choose.

A blog is only as good as the conversation it fosters...I look forward to collaborating with you, communicating and educating in this blog space.

In other news...
There was major news in social media today with the announcement that Google is already re-tooling the new Buzz network to address privacy concerns raised by consumers - just day's after the network launched. Google plans to separate Buzz from users' Gmail accounts, according to a report at Search Engine Land. Personally, I applaud Google for taking quick action to address any security concerns. I do worry that this rocky start for Buzz does not bode well for the search engine giant's foray into social networking.

What do you think of Google Buzz? Have you tried it? Do you agree that it should be separated from Gmail accounts? Inquiring minds really want to know.

It's time to get this this conversation started! I look forward to hearing from you.