For my current internship project, I am learning about Social Media. I am to give a report on it this coming Monday. I’ve read a few articles and some books on it and I am planning on compiling a small free downloadable e-book in the next few weeks. Until then, I will be eeking out snippets of my learning.

A commandment that transcends media is “Be Consistent.” Social Media is about gaining an online presence. You do this by being a “regular” of the Internet. Someone that is around. Becoming a familiar face on the Internet means having the same face whereever you go. The above image describes my attempt to maintain my personal brand on different platforms. (Note: I am just a starting student of design and I haven’t really cemented my brand. So that will probably change and when it does, it will change consistently.) A rule in advertising, as we’ve seen in the Aflac commercials, is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be good design to be memorable.

I’m excited to be working with a company that is just starting. All of these social media sites have been rolling out sporadically since I got my first hotmail account in 2004. Now, if I were to do it all over, I would make sure that I use the same username for each site. The usernames have have adopted over the years are like tattoos on my online presence that I want to scrub off. They are not me as much as my Facebook me is me. It’s hard to get something off of the Internet.

After exploring Pinterest this morning, I thought about how there are so many platforms that have very narrow scope and great use. As Internet Literacy increases, its users are going to have a virtual toolbelt of apps to deal with all the information that they want to track.

Here’s my toolbelt so far:
(note: I still haven’t figured out what makes Tumblr and Google+ useful for my particular goals, but it’s good for exploring.)

Pinterest
Wordpress
Facebook: Timeline
Twitter
Tumblr
Google+
LinkedIn

What sites are you on? Can we be “friends,” mutual “followers” or G-buddies?