Another Strawberry-meme! She surely keeps them coming :). I must admit I rather call them ‘blog challenges’, a ‘meme’ (in my world) is more something that happens spontaneous and is not really planned, but I guess one can argue about definitions – which I will not!

So this weeks meme is about social media. My kinda subject! As I have surely mentioned here and there in the past, my job is : online social media. Yeah, I Facebook, tweet and blog and whatnot for a living, every day.
I love it, I have a wonderful job! However, being a ‘company-account’ all day and working online has had its impact on how I deal with and experience my private, personal social media. There are days I cannot be bothered to login as myself, after a day of being busy at work, just because it is too much. Even for me. Now, besides my personal, rl, social media …I also have a whole set for Caity. Basically I have 3 online lives as it where, and it may be obvious: all my real social media energy and care goes into my job..then my personal real-life and then comes Caity. This is why, although I know a lot about social media, Caity is not that super-active. She is my escape from RL, she is my distraction – I do not want her to do the same as I do all day already!

So, here we go with the questions and answers!

What was the first social network you joined using your SL Avatar?
Oh, tough one to start with. I think it must have been, the now gone, Avatars United.

Which social networks are you currently on using your SL Avatar?
My.secondlife.com (aka the feed)
Facebook
Twitter
Plurk
Flickr
Koinup (oops, heavily neglected lately…)

Which network is your favorite?
MySecondlife, the feed, by far. The main reason:  it is directly connected to your Second Life, you can use the viewer or the browser-version, it allows you to upload locations/snapshots when you are in-world and it is exclusively for SL residents. Oh… and it does not look like…work :P.

Which network is your least favorite?
Plurk. I hate the lay-out, it looks like a site my 7 year old cousin would love. The whole structure, look and feel of the horizontal timeline is terrible. Besides that it is near impossible to really get into it, unless you spend hours/days/weeks creating a base of friends/fans etc. The messy, childish way it works is a turn off and I hardly can be bothered to login, as I am obviously not ‘in the know’ anyway.

Which network do you have the most amount of connections?
My.secondlife.com

How/Where do you usually read/use most of your networks?
Depending on where I am and what I am doing, but mostly on my PC, then my laptop, followed by iPad and Iphone and Android.
(I am always online, even when I am not…)

What are your favorite social networking apps? (if applicable)
For PC: hootsuite and tweetdeck for twitter and Facebook, on Iphone the official twitter and facebook apps.  Sadly enough my.secondlife.com has no apps (not even a mobile site version!!)  and I have to use the browser on mobiles, in my case the Firefox app.

What do you like most about social networking sites?
The contact with my SL friends, even when I am not able to be inworld (my preferred way for a chat is still inworld and not via a website) due to either work or work-travels, keeping up with news on what is hot and not in SL. Sharing experiences and cool places to explore, fashion tips and tricks!

What do you like least about social networking sites?
The dramaz some people feel the need to spread. Admitting I do like a bit of drama every now and then (don’t we all?) as long as it is innocent, goes away fast, does not involve me – too much –  and most certainly not about RL. I am really easy in disconnecting, unfriending and unfollowing individuals who tend to use the network(s) to spread their personal drama and try to make their problems mine.
Spammers and people who only want to connect with me to use me as an advertising tool without asking  me I ‘unfriend’ rather fast as well.

Do you feel social networks are a good way to promote you/your brand/your work?
I am sure it works for brands and businesses, being it done in a tasteful – not spammy or cheap looking – way. I do not have a business or a sponsored blog, so I could not care less for my own stuff and do not use it as such for my SL activities, although looking at my twitter I guess I use that one mainly to tweet my own blogposts (that goes automatically).

What is your main reason for using Social Networks?
Interaction, sharing experiences and keeping up with news. Just that. It may sound simple, it is NOT!