Wrangler Dani

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an industry meeting for social media types. There were panels filled with professional Twitterers, Yelpers, Facebookers, LinkedIners and social media freaks and geeks of every variety. The entire day was packed with testimonials about the friendliness of social media fanatics, the usefulness of new technology and marketing techniques and the ways in which the world has grown both bigger and smaller with the use of social networking.

As a professional in this field, it’s all fascinating to me. I completely understand the value of online marketing, I love the real-time abilities of Facebook and Twitter and as a media junkie, I’m enthralled with the 24/7 news cycle. But something was nagging at me the whole day, something that has taken a while to percolate and find a voice, but is starting to float to the surface.

I’ve realized that as sparkly and winning as this technology is, it’s merely another communication device. We’re all amazed at these new ventures, but I could have attended a sleepy conference about the telephone or the typewriter for all of the depth it gave me. Because it’s not about the ways you communicate… whether you blog or vlog or tweet or Google + or Facebook us every time you stop at Starbucks.

It’s about what you say. What I say.

I haven’t been blogging lately because even though life has been overwhelmingly good, I’ve been in a funk and have needed a few days to myself to listen to my muse again, recharge my batteries and remember why I write in the first place. What I say, not how I say it, has begun to come to the top of the rolling boil of my heart and I’ve realized that skimming off the fat and nasties is much more critical than merely producing a half-finished pot of lukewarm thoughts.

Despite this realization, I find myself playing to the industry norms, worrying about my rankings and popularities and online witticisms until I’ve run ragged. Because any good blogger will tell you that you have to write every day in order to win and keep a following, and that social media requires daily, hourly engagement. But if I’m not speaking truth, if I’m not saying anything of value, what’s the point? I’ve gotten so addicted to the noise of new media that I’ve forgotten that a well-written paragraph or a tasteful note is of great value – not because it was hurriedly spammed into the Social Network, but because it was written with intention, crafted with care and said with grace.

So I’m re-entering the world of online communication with intention, remembering that my words hold power. Words were spoken this weekend at Momma Nichols wedding that reminded me: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

I’m seeking to be much more than a resounding gong, even though technology rules and new messaging techniques abound. I want to use these tools to say something that matters, not to simply clang about selfishly in my own world, concerned with my Facebook fans and social networking chops instead of the people that my words affect.

What do I have to say?