I saw this tweet the other day, thrown out into the ‘Twitterverse’ by none other than Denzel Washington himself.
First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way:
I absolutely agree about privacy.
It’s so important these days to keep aspects of our life private.
It not only contributes to our sanity, but also to our well-being.
But we also can’t ignore this vast, open space (it’s literally a NEW WORLD), connecting us rapidly to one another, and allowing us to make impact, and grow.
I used to think of social media as an all-or-nothing.
Kind of like how Denzel views it. And to say the exact same thing as him. I still say it all the time.
But two things have happened in the evolution of our communication sphere:
- I realized that times are changing and that this is how people are communicating. Our kids are growing up in these spaces and I want to – no, need to – be here with them
- I realized how much my profession thinks it’s “better” than this space, and therefore, how much we were needed in it
Truth: whereas we once lived in a completely different world that was not at all reliant on social media to help market thought leadership and our businesses, times have changed.
We didn’t use social media in our past simply because it did not exist.
In the world of today many businesses require it. Esp when they’re looking to scale. It’s all in customer/client/patient acquisition. Just how much you need it all depends, of course, on what you do, & what your brand or company’s growth depends on.
The bottom line is this: privacy may work for some business models, but others require forms of media on which to advertise, network, and grow.
When it’s your time to take a step back, because you’ve succeeded without this (scary and exhilarating) online space, you take those steps back.
Luckily for Denzel, he really doesn’t need yet another noisy media outlet to spread his expertise.
He’s already met with success.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t work hard to get where he’s at today.
Of course he has! But he just may not need it anymore.
He may have already reached his peak, as did everyone else at the tippety-tops of their career, having grown brand recognition; esp if they did so when communicating through social platforms wasn’t “a thing”.
Bottom line, to each his own.
But also, to those who do can use it wisely (to gradually build & market thought leadership), don’t be afraid.
You’ll be cleverly leveraging a free platform.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
Doing it can take every single one of us a very long way.
