Social Networking
I am sure that many of you have heard of the term social networking, what is it and why has it become so popular? The rise and rise of this phenomena has happened over the last 5 years particularly. The current generation have embraced it, but the baby boomers are also using it prolifically.
Many questions arise when discussing this topic. What is the draw card, why is it so popular, how can dancers and dance groups use it to their advantage? People are busier now and work/life balance is a big struggle, many of us don’t have the time to catch up with friends the way we did in the past. The new social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo (to name a few) help us keep in touch with people regularly, even those on the other side of the world. Good or bad news travels fast. We can let our friends know what is happening in our lives. Twitter is another service that provides us the opportunity to tell people what is happening in our lives in an instant. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well depends on who you ask, but I believe we need to embrace the change and make it work for us.
Not only do you have a personal webpage which shows your friends and family what you are up to, you can also join groups and search your interests, there are literally millions of them and thousands just in the area of dancing. If I do a search on Facebook on dancing in South Australia you can find many of the local dance providers with a good following. Why would they bother some of you may ask but it is a great way and fast way to tell people about what is happening with your dance school or group.
Those of us that are passionate about dancing can use these forums to promote and spread the word about dancing. I have heard from other dance groups that I am associated with, that by talking about their interest and providing a link to their group to other friends it has been a great way to promote their group or cause.
As much as dancing appears to the realm of the over 45s we need to get more young people coming along and especially encouraging them into Dancesport. Where do we find these people easily…..at social networking sites.
Something to think about and embrace
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