Top 10 Discoveries on Social Media Engagement (2015 Original List)

Here are my top 10 discoveries on social media

1. Person-to-person conversations are so yesterday

Instead of conversations, I can script a post to share my thoughts, themes, ideas, and philosophies — and skip the arguments in seconds of typing.

2. Technology is more entertaining than it is boring

For a gregarious introvert — yes, the oxymoron is real — I am more fluid in my virtual communications.

Open communication with others online is a daily exercise in new and informational exposure. It is engaging to see personalities revealed by the candor of their reflections: political persuasions, religious enthusiasm, atheism, stereotypes, the misunderstood, the bigots, and the zealots.

3. Maintain neutrality — or don’t feel the mandate to pontificate

The public exercise of virtual freedom is not meant to be open warfare. In this fractured digital world, there are dictators and spectators, communicators and relators, orators and berators. In the expose and the narrated, the truth and the fiction, the philosophical and the unsophisticated — all share in the popular culture of virtual reality.

4. Viral is relative

Stars and media thrive on viral excess. To have star power and become a brand like the Kardashians, anything that arouses Twitter and public reaction is viral-worthy.

Kim Kardashian poses with butt implants for a cover shoot — newsworthy. Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda video antics? Viral material. Rihanna and Miley Cyrus show up in fewer clothes — more viral fodder. This is news, viral, and epidemic.

Viral is momentary. The stars enjoy their fame until the next spectacle is posted. Their viral fortune grows with each stunt.

5. The economy of virtual spending

Online grocery shopping is expedient, with bargains easily found by a quick search. Store pick-up or home delivery beat the frustration of parking, loading, and long lines in-store.

One of the best online purchases of 2014 was the Overstock.com Barbie Dream House. The labor of love from my son, assembling it on Christmas Day for my granddaughter Raylynn, was priceless. Her look of complete bliss? Beyond words or money.

6. Isolation and introspection are not loneliness

The choice to experience a rich virtual education does not erase human encounter. When posts share nostalgia for faraway homelands, connection blooms. Even in trivial scrolls, a kind affirmation can lift you. Harmony between lives becomes more visible.

7. Sharing is caring

Sharing pictures and common interests introduces people to one another. For some, it entertains. For others, it politicizes. For many, it creates prayer and faith circles. Sharing opens doors.

8. Virtual optimization is visibility

Online exploration of destinations excites my travel curiosity. Sun, sand, and beach photos remain my favorite posts. My hashtag #LifeisaBeach documents virtual tours of places I want to visit.

#Ihopeyoudance is another — from line dancing with the 55+ crowd to hip hop moves by ages 5 to 95, it’s a zest-filled share. #Familying links immediate family, friends, and even former strangers into a circle of bonding connections.

9. Virtual is the new actual

Being socially engaged is not just a virtual pastime. It is my highway to people, places, and experiences. Virtual is the new actual.

10. Be authentic — just be you

People engaged online are individual and unique — sometimes esoteric, sometimes ordinary in daily life. For those uncomfortable with radical issues or doctrines, social media can be a challenge. For those who embrace diversity, authenticity is all that’s needed.

Engagement in social media is filled with exploration and discovery.

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Update (2025): Ten years later, I revisited these reflections in a new post. Read the continuation here: Top 10 Discoveries on Social Media .