Ron Miller, a technology journalist in the US, talks a lot of sense. Last week, in relation to social media, he said:
Be Skeptical of People Who Are Convinced
I’m always skeptical when I see posts (and there are many) where people tell the reader the rules of using social media. Sure, there are techniques you probably want to avoid (like spamming people or only using social media as a promotional tool), but beyond that we are still very much in the experimental early adopter phase (especially if you believe that only one in 10 of us are even using Twitter as the Pew survey shows).
The only thing you have to keep in mind is the social part of the social networking. It’s about getting to know people and give and take. Beyond that, don’t let anyone tell you how to use Twitter or Facebook or any other social media tool. Sure, they can make educated suggestions, but this whole area is still very much evolving and it annoys me when people start dictating there are rights and wrongs when it’s simply too early in the game to say that with anything approaching conviction.
This seemed like the perfect follow-up to my recent post on how translators should not use Twitter.
(Social media has been on my mind a lot lately – can you tell?! Even more so since I was invited to co-present a session with the Blogging Translator on its application for translators at the ITI Conference in London later this year…)
About the author
Sarah Dillon is a qualified, accredited and experienced professional translator originally from Co. Clare in Ireland. She specialises in producing English-language texts that don't "sound" like translations, ensuring her clients' message has the desired impact in their overseas market. She is based in Brisbane, Australia and works with corporate clients, small businesses, agencies and nonprofit organisations all over the world. In her spare time, Sarah is also Marketing Director of eCPD Webinars.
Sarah Dillon has written 252 posts for There's Something About Translation.
