A manifesto is often defined as a declaration of one’s beliefs, opinions, motives, and intentions. In creating my own manifesto as it pertains to social media, I need to narrow down what is important to me. This will be my call to action for how I will choose to use the powerful tools of social media. To narrow down my manifesto, I will elaborate on three simple questions: What? How? Where?
What?
What do I want to talk about? What do I want to share? What am I passionate about? I don’t see any reason to spend my time using social media to talk about things that I don’t particularly like or enjoy. There are other people who enjoy those topics, so they can talk about them. I want to focus on what I’m interested in. I like computers. I like basketball. I like music. I like video games. I like the outdoors. I like fantasy. These are the things that I want to talk about on social media. I want to talk about these topics because I want to learn more about them and so do many others. Just as I’ve been able to get information from the contributions of those willing to share, I can pay it forward.
How?
How do I want to connect with my audience? Rule number 1: Positive interactions only. You can go on any social media platform and find contention. Read through the comment section for about 3 seconds and you’ll find toxicity. I want to avoid that. In connecting with my audience, I want to talk about my passions and hobbies without the negativity. I am not going to use social media to rant about politics, bring others down, or find fault and nitpick. That is social media’s greatest downfall in my opinion and would be a surefire way to distance my self from the audience I’m seeking. My objective is to uplift, inspire, entertain, and educate in my interactions with others. If my social media use does not do at least one of those four things, then it’s not worth sharing. I believe my target audience will appreciate my content if it holds these values and they will want to connect. My social identity will attract the audience that I want to connect with.
Where?
What channels do I want to use to communicate with my audience? YouTube and Facebook. These are powerful platforms with large audiences. I believe video has become the new king and allows people to see and hear my ideas. Facebook allows video posts as well as traditional text and photo posts while providing a straightforward way to promote my content. No effort is lost in posting a video to YouTube because that video can be shared on Facebook to reach more people. The two pair together well.
Short Summary
I want to share meaningful content that I am passionate about. I want my social identity to uplift, inspire, entertain, and educate. I want to share this content via YouTube and Facebook.
