What does Social Networking mean to me?

I am inspired to write some personal reactions to a great article posed on the ArtsJournal (Hat tip to YAP Tracker).  As a singer with a technological bent, I spend a great deal of time brooding on the implications of having a blog, sharing about my life and choosing from the myriad of communications options.

As I started laying out my plan for my internet presence,  my first consideration was how I like to communicate.  A website was fairly easy to implement and maintaining it takes very little time.  It is good but is not particularly interactive.  My biggest concerns have been how to deal with the various platforms of social networking.

After some initial experiments with Twitter, I knew that it was too fast pace for me. With only a limited amount of time in the day for updating and interacting with people, it became clear very quickly that I could not keep up. Twitter is a conversation in motion, I participate when I can, but I only end up checking my account every few weeks or so.  Likewise, my Facebook fan page is a great way to post videos and let my friends know about my upcoming gigs.  I try to check it at least every other day.

I made a conscious decision to interact in three primary ways that hopefully cater to my strengths as a writer and my timeframe (a tenor has to practice, you know): blog posts, responding to comments on my blog and fan page and emails directly to friends and fans.  I learned early on that prefer a more "long-form" method of communications.  I use Twitterfeed to send out these blog posts to both my Twitter and my fan page.  As of right now, I am new enough at this digital delivery system to enjoy a small following (thanks to you all!)  and so I can respond in a fairly timely fashion.

As a singer at to the beginning of my career,  I am trying to play to my strengths in communication and, most importantly, build the habit of interacting with my friends and fans.  As I continue trying to find the best way to interact with people I can only make these two promises: I am the only person who updates any of these forms of communications and I look forward to talking with you soon.