May 25, 2009

Personal Social Media Plan

I realize that just because GSCTX is about to have a social media plan - woohoo! - I as an individual do not also need one. But I would also like if in at least one of the...counting...1, 2...5,6, if in at least one of the six social media tools I use, I could do something more useful for the world than get on soapboxes about the top 10% law or share my excitement for my honeymoon. Something more productive and helpful than telling you how cute my wedding shoes are.

Don't expect this blog to be that thing though. No, I think I am going to focus my Twitterings on sharing useful, inspiring information with others. I'm sure not every tweet will make the world a better place but if more do than not, that's a good thing.

And in a digression, I was chatting with Mom weeks, maybe months ago, about what is it that I am most passionate about. Brittany for example knows its heart health. As I thought about tweeting to make the world a better place I was reminded of my personal mission statement which entirely revolved around the health of my family and community. Maybe whereas Brittany might one day tweet or blog all about heart health, maybe I should just be tweeting about a billion ways to make my family and my community healthier and happier. Whether the tweet is about ways to reduce breast cancer risk or creating awareness of online predators, maybe its just all about sharing what I learn and employ to make my life better with others so their lives can be better too.

I get that "making the world a better place" is a pretty broad and ambitious mission for any organization or person. However when I think about it, I think that might be mine. I don't mean to say "well I'm this wonderful and ambitious person who is going to cure everything from over-priced shoes to genocide through social media." I guess I mean that I can't pick just one narrow focused mission. I can't dedicate myself just to one thing. There's too much else that needs help!

Now maybe you are thinking "oh H-E-double hockey sticks, she's jumping ship on the Girl Scouts" but no, I'm certainly not. I may want to make every part of the world better but honestly, I can only have one job at a time. And Girl Scouts is good because its all about helping millions of girls go out and do good things. Millions of girls, plus all their parents, plus all the grown-up Girl Scouts is a pretty hefty chunk of people. If you are trying to help other people live better lives and help their communities grow, starting with the Girl Scouts ain't half bad. And, as a bonus, its a "teach a man how to fish" type of organization which is what I love. I understand that some basic needs just need to be handed out sometimes but for me, teaching someone how to balance their checkbook, use Microsoft Word, read a book, speak in an interview, say no to drugs, set a goal, cook a healthy meal, all these things and more prevent that person from needing charity and hand-outs later in life. That's what Girl Scouts and many other organizations do and holy cow, it feels good.

Anyway, I guess this all stemmed from thinking "I can't twitter about just Girl Scouts. Too many other things need to be out there too!" and from loving the passion and holistic approach of organizations like We Are One Central Texas, the United Way and YNPN. Organizations that say "lots of things need to happen and we're here to make them happen." I hope I can help make all those things happen a little bit faster by doing some do-gooder tweeting.

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