Social media has always been tough for me. I love interacting with people, but I’m not inclined to share my every thought. I don’t take selfies – heck, I don’t like taking pictures of myself period. And I’d rather have a deep, philosophical discussion about the meaning of life than tell everyone what I ate for breakfast.
But knowing this was my Achilles’ Heel in the marketing-driven world of writing and selling books, I attended an IWOSC marketing seminar. I knew they wouldn’t tell me what I wanted to hear – “You don’t need a social media presence!” – but I was hoping for some nuggets of wisdom that would make it a bit easier to put myself out there.
One of the presenters mentioned a site called Quora. People ask questions, and other people answer. You can have a dialog with others in the comments. I thought, “Who knows? Maybe my obscure knowledge of metrology and statistics and philosophy can actually help someone.”
So I registered on Quora and started to browse. A question about Donald Trump caught my eye, and I was drawn to answer because…why not?
I got some views. Some Likes. A few comments. Not all the comments were positive, but the engagement was. The discussion was respectful and productive.
So I answered some more questions. Other people started requesting my answers! This was awesome!
Two months later, it’s still awesome. I’ve met some great people, I’ve honed my answering skills, and I recently became a Most Viewed Writer in Teaching. You can read my content here: Andrea Ring’s Quora Profile
I encourage everyone to check out Quora. It’s a great way to share what you know and engage with people from all around the world. Thank goodness, I’ve finally found a social media site I’m comfortable with!