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I will never forget the time I received brilliant advice from a Green Beret (Army Special Forces Operator). It was a hot August day on Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and it was time to retrain on the heavy machine guns. Support soldiers stood in a horseshoe circle around a couple of the Special Forces guys listening to their crass jokes and stories we dare not believe to be true. I can’t remember exactly how the subject of social media came up, but one of the older SF guys with a weathered face from more than a decade of performing the tasks of an Operator, bluntly proclaimed, “F*** social media man. Any of you kids married? Do yourself a favor and get rid of facebooks, instant-telegrams, and tweeters. Think about it, who are you following on social media? The girls you’ve been with, girls you wanna be with, girls who wanna be with you, nothing but trouble. Do yourself a favor and get rid of social media if you’re married.” All the sudden social media seemed so dumb to me. He was right – not verbatim - but he had a good point. There are a lot of people out there you just don’t need to be in contact with anymore. It fits with the concept of “you can’t go home.” There are people and things in your past that belong in your past.
SPC Jose Martinez, 3rd Special Forces Group
So, I married the love of my life, and almost immediately rid myself of all social media. The first couple of weeks I felt like something was missing. I continually checked my phone only to find nothing interesting on it. I resisted the urge to open up my accounts again. Well, mainly because I did everything possible to completely erase my online presence. After a while it felt great. No longer was I walking around my daily life looking for things to share online. No more were the days of scrolling through other people’s highlights comparing my life to theirs. It was incredible! I definitely recommend it.
But wait, there’s more. I’m back on almost all the social medias, but why? Because I decided I wanted to be a business owner; I wanted to start my own freelance writing company. All of the sudden there was this great and ominous demand to have a strong online presence, and it was overwhelming. After all, I had escaped the social media world for over a year, and had no real desire to rejoin it.
In today’s society, it is pretty much impossible to start a business without investing a lot of time, energy, and technical skill into your online presence. Any existing company that has continued to refuse to make a name online is losing potential leads and customers, and therefore is missing out on capital gain. So, yes, I’m back. But I am only here for business to increase my Search Engine Optimization. I’m doing it because businesses need to adapt; companies must be able to understand trends and stay at the forefront of marketing.
Are some social media platforms more profitable to invest in than others? Absolutely, but there is no blanket answer for any which one. Different platforms will cater to different audiences and strategies. If you want to learn more about how each platform will operate for your company, then feel free to ask me.