Congressman Bob Inglis talks about “Why Social Media?”
Congressman Bob Inglis spoke with me a few weeks ago after his January presentation to the Social Media Club in Greenville, SC. In his presentation, he admitted not engaging on a regular basis with his audiences using tools like Twitter and Facebook. He also admitted that it was not to long ago, he was learning to become more technologically savy. This conversation was great and exploratory, where I gained knowledge of individuals like Congressman Bob Inglis…like many busy decision makers that have a hard enough time managing their day and now Social Media.
It is political representatives like Congressman Bob Inglis that are finding the value in using Social Media Technologies to engage with audiences, but admits does not want to engage with those “nay sayers”. It is this issue that I think is starting to transcend many of the politicos because of a few different barriers: technological ignorance, time management, and not understanding the context of those who are trying to connect using Social Media Technologies.
Social Media provides technologies to connect but does it really break down the walls of communication? We all know it is easier to connect and conversate when we are face-to-face, because it provides the opportunity to understand tone, delivery, and read facial expressions. Politicos might have a hard time communicating with the nay sayers because it is hard to communicate through such a marginalized method. There are words and information that can be lost in translation. The “nay sayers” might be interpreted as having a “not so positive” connotation, but in actuality they might be just trying to ask a question or have a concern; and they have a hard time translating that concern via Twitter or Facebook.