Enjoy the benefits of joining a community

For someone new to social media, it can be a daunting prospect. You sit there with your brand new Twitter account and think, “What the heck am I supposed to type?”
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Feb 2014, 08:46 BST
JPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek MartinJPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek Martin
JPCT 150713 Alan Stainer. Photo by Derek Martin

You are NOT alone.

Everyone has to start somewhere and taking those first few baby steps can be the most difficult and rewarding challenge for the modern day human.

Think about it. Your message has the potential to be seen by the entire world!

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The world will look at you and judge you by what you share, which is where the fear starts to creep in.

That in essence is the blessing and the curse of social media. We share because we want to have our thoughts viewed and our brand spread to all corners, but sharing publicly means we may be sharing to the wrong people. So, how do you counteract that? I mean, talking to your friends and family on Facebook about something you did together in your local town is one thing, but saying the same thing to a global audience is entirely different.

How can we confine the ‘in jokes’ to the people that matter?

See, us humans are all about community. We thrive by making connections with people we know, or with whom we share something in common. It is these communities that enable us to deliver our messages to the right people.

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That is where Facebook groups (and pages) and Google+ communities come in. By joining a community, you know your messages will be seen by people that are at least interested in what you have to say. It also means that you will see posts that you are interested in too.

So, are there any groups or communities that I would recommend? Well, the list is as long as your arm and depends entirely on what you want to get from a social network.

There is a very successful page on Facebook all about Horsham if you are on that network.

https://www.facebook.com/horsham.uk

Google+ has several communities that I would recommend for particular interests, but if you want to find local news you may want to try Horsham UK created by the West Sussex County Times.

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https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/ 101818828589212967320

There is also Local Hive – West Sussex, which covers a slightly larger geographical area. https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/ 107887853121915300224

Finally, as this is a technology column, you might be interested to know I started a new community myself called Computer SOS.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/ 109844420339114291071

Alan Stainerhttp://www.alansitsolutions.com

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