Dusting off my old-school books and spring cleaning my Social Media
Perhaps sheâs âgiven-upâ on twitter.
She doesnât really practice what she preaches about being âregularâ and âdrip-feedingâ a âplanned communicationâ does she?
Oh, I can hear you all now.
Or perhaps I canât. Because I just canât imagine that anyone has really noticed that Iâve not tweeted for a month.Â
I decided to do a âdry Januaryâ. Not in an alcoholic or chocolate denial kind of way, but in a Twitter way. I wanted to âtake a month offâ. To be honest, it was probably more difficult than giving up anything else, as it had become very much part of my daily routine (not posting, but reading). And, four weeks spread into five. Which merged into six.
1. I wanted to free up some time to allow me to read some books.Â
You know those things that are made of paper (well originally they were!), take more than one or two clicks to access, and require a good âchunkâ of time, rather than time captured in-between multitasking.
Iâve become aware that Iâve been buying books, but not reading them. They were sat on my windowsill, left read. Enough was enough.
I like reading books on marketing and business - I find them inspirational. They make me stop and think. Yes, articles online do offer interesting insights. But you canât highlight the text, scribble ideas into the margins, fill them with little âtabâ markers and keep them close to your desk for when you need ideas or to reference something. Yes I do use Evernote and âclipâ things to it. (this is a really good app for keeping ideas or notes from online logged in one place), but, call me a luddite, I just donât think its the same.
With a book, I think about what Iâm reading. I process it more. I think about how it applies to the world of school marketing and how it could benefit the schools with whom Iâm working. Â Iâd got out of the habit of doing this, because I was reading online so much.
I wonât bore you with the books Iâve read or re-read. If you do want to know, just email me. And the reason for this isâŠâŠ.
2. Iâm just getting a little bored of all the noise.
Too many people are talking. Quite a lot of them arenât really saying that much. Or, Iâve started to find that what they are saying is repetitive. Harsh I know and Iâm sorry. And you perhaps may include me into this ânoiseâ, which is fine and Iâm going to take that on the chin.
So I thought that by standing back for a while, Iâd feel refreshed.
But I was wrong. What I needed to do was a âspring cleanoutâ â to look at who I am following, make a choice whether to follow them still, and more importantly to go out and actively find some new inspiration.Â
I suppose itâs a bit like being the same conference constantly every day. At the beginning itâs great and inspiring and you just canât get enough. Then you start to need a bit more coffee to get you through it. Next youâre actively avoiding the people in the room because you feel like youâve heard it all before.  And then, you stop listening, which means that when something new or interesting does come along, youâve missed it!
So, thereâs my justification for being off-line. Iâm back, but will continue to âspring cleanâ my social media, as well as rationing it, so that I carve out time to keep reading books (because thatâs what works for me!)
So, what possibly could be the âtake-awaysâ from my twitter absence?!
Go old school and pick up a book. If you havenât already read any of Al Ries and Jack Troutâs books, they are a good start. Or Malcolm Gladwell. Or Seth Godin.
Why not set your marketing team or SLT the challenge of each reading a marketing/business book (perhaps over Easter or Summer?!) and sharing the bits that you think your school could benefit from remembering, doing, or being inspired by.
Do a social media spring clean-outâŠ.. change who you are following, put people into âlistsâ rather than lose them forever. Using lists means you can read groups of people or about a specific area when you want or need to, rather than all of the time.  (These are particularly good if you using Hootsuite)
Get re-inspired by people outside of your âbubbleâ. Try following brands that you donât like or know; just to see how different people use twitter/social media. Or anything ânon school relatedâ!
Be aware that NOT using social media can be as addictive as using it.  I got out of the habit and once out of it, I struggled to get back âinâ! This is particularly useful to remember if youâre doing social media for your school. Ultimately, if you need a break (and are able to pass it over to someone else for a while) set a deadline to come back at the outset.
And please donât feel upset if Iâve âun-followedâ you â Iâve probably just put you into a list so I can read you more easily!