Monday, January 23, 2012

I Want to Ride My Bicycle


I've had a few people recently ask me how to use social networking sites. This kills me. Actually, it infuriates me. A while back I learned that if I was going to learn something I'd have to get into the program and use it. This happened because I asked someone to teach me how to edit video on FCP and they said...we can't. You'll have to teach yourself. This was for my college degree in broadcasting...but that's a different rant.

Anyhow, as I grow up in this technological world, I realize that no one is going to add training wheels to my technology. I simply have to learn how to ride the bicycle of social media and advance my skills on my own. You would be so surprised what you can teach yourself. I really cannot stand the excuses for not using social media when it's crucial that you get on board with it already! Excuses like "I've tried but it's all too fast for me" or "You're just younger so you're used to these types of things".

I'm sorry, did you hear me saying to my parents..."you're older so you're used to riding a bicycle". "I just don't understand where I put my feet on the peddles". It's the same principle. Or, even worse...I bet people felt pretty stupid for telling Henry Ford that the car just wouldn't catch on...or that it was "too complicated".

Seriously people, get a grip! Just use the product, site, etc. Stop making excuses and take a leap of faith. Your computer is not going to blow up because you decided to tweet a disjointed sentence. Oh, and I have attribution to this post as I know a woman in her 70's who uses social media regularly and other computer based programs with no worries.

So no, I will not hold your hand through your first tweet. I'm pretty sure they tell you how to do it when you sign up. Take your training wheels off...and go join the rest of the world. 

1 comment:

Bill said...

I agree with the thesis of your post — you don't need someone to show you how to use social media (assuming you have the whole web browser thing down, that is), but for the record, I can teach you how to edit with FCP. It's what I do for a living and it's much more teachable than social media.

Thanks for the twitter follow, BTW.

Bill