Only a true user will know

Entrepreneurs around the world are battling with the same question, even though the issue as such is about to turn ten:

What do we do with the goddamn social media?

Can a local hairdresser make good commercial use of a Twitter account? And, turning the perspective: How many people like the idea of being friends with a pedicure specialist on Facebook?

I have but two truths to deliver.

First: there is no general answer to these questions.

Second: you will know and understand almost nothing about what is happening on the Internet without testing, hands on.

There is simply a limit to how good you can be at skating without access to ice.

So there it is, a beginner’s rule: Always test first, non-corporate. Just you. Yourself. Give yourself a month. Think about what attracts you, identify what bothers you. Think about how you move around on the internet, what you are attracted by and what you’re curious about.

Then, and only then, as an experienced user, you will have access to the right tools within yourself to build your company’s digital identity.

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Old news? Heck no. I am starting on Medium today. And I am late doing it. I obviously needed a reminder. So welcome. I promise a weekly update on all things internet — except the tech as such. I am not a tech guy, I just look like one.

This is, and will always be, about the digital humanities. About power and responsibility. About that place where mankind meets the machine.

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Andreas Ekström is a journalist, analyst, author and keynote speaker — based in Sweden, but working all around the world. He writes on Medium every Tuesday. Read more here: http://www.andreasekstrom.se/english/