After spending the last few weeks
working through some of the complexities of social media we reach the all-important
question: is it worth it?
And just as we had to break down
the definition of social media, we’ll have to break down just what is worth
what. Rather than providing us with a straight forward answer, this little
question of worth becomes more of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ matter.
Because what social media can
provide and produce can vary significantly depending upon an individual’s use
and expectations.
We’ve already established that
the only real cost of social media is time. That’s our input. What its
output is and what we can gain from it is generally measured in the
quantifiable terms of ‘likes’, ‘follows’, ‘shares’ etc. From a sales
perspective, musicians look for CDs sold and/or tickets sold.
But there is also a
non-quantifiable result. From a business perspective it can be about raising
awareness of your brand name and identity. From a collegial perspective it can
be about establishing connections with musicians you might not otherwise get to
meet, and sharing ideas and experiences.
As a harpist in Australia, which
has a rather small harp world, this is one thing I really appreciate about
social media. I have sat at home in my jim-jams eating breakfast while watching
a live stream of a concert in America and exchanging on line comments with
other participants. This is amazing.
Bearing this in mind it’s generally best not to approach social
media as strictly a marketing or promotion tool. Absolutely you can do that,
but this is a form of communication that prides itself on connection and
authenticity. So perhaps the question of worth is one which needs to be
measured experientially (do I feel that I am making and benefitting from good
connections?) as well as quantifiably (do I have lots of likes and is that
flowing through to a tangible (financial) reward?).
And here we might take a little side step to explore the problems
of ‘likes’.
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