Eight years ago I came out. Yes that’s right, in 2008, at the same time as the iphone was released, I realised that I was passionate about facebook, social media and blogging.

It was almost like it was fate.  As I started to write more the term ‘social media’ was coined and cool new stuff that I could write for came on line including; facebook, social media and blogging.

An article in the Queensland Writers Centre Magazine schooled me up on this thing called blogging that I’d started to hear about. They even had a how to set up blog article.  So I started up my first blog www.waycommunication.com.au on the free wordpress platform.  As I learnt more, I changed the name of the blog, the direction and got a hosted wordpress site which you’re reading now www.nickywaywrites.com. Then I got all my social media accounts aka; facebook, twitter and youtube account in the same name. Instagram and pinterest came later.

Social media and blogging are great tools to be passionate about because chances are if you want to write about something, someone else wants to read it.  Moved a lot? Have experience in getting babies to sleep? Frustrated about kids who won’t eat? Share the love, there’s probably heaps of other people who have the same questions as you.  Need the answer to something? Ask the question on your social media channels.  Readers are a generous lot and they love to help and share an opinion.  Chances are you’ll have a response in minutes if not seconds.

Having moved a lot lately, advice has been really helpful and I think I owe it to social media and blogging to be passionate about these awesome tools.  They’ve kept me connected to friends and family and helped me find the answers when I’ve been lost.  The first thing that I do when I know I’m moving is jump on facebook and join the local community page, playgroup page and the buy, swap, sell page.  Before I even get to a town I’ve found out the activities for four year olds, whether there are places in kindergarten and daycare, what people think about the kindy and more.  I’ve even gotten invitations to coffee when I arrive.

On the other side after we’ve left a town, the boys and I get to keep in touch with friends and family we’ve left behind.  Facetime, skype and viber are awesome free ways for Nana and Grandma to see Ruben’s new Spiderman and hear Maxi’s rapidly expanding vocabulary.  Uncle Andy and Aunty Sarah in the US love it too, they don’t miss out on seeing the boys getting bigger.

Writing can take many forms and I’m passionate about social media because it increases my work count every day.  Whether for facebook, or my blog or instagram account, it all adds up, and I’ll take those extra words wherever I can get them!  Writing is all about creating a habit and writing for social media helps you with that discipline.

Using and writing for social media has also improved my photography skills.  Some of the most widely read posts are those with an engaging photo.  Although I think as long as a post has an image (even if the quality is poor), it’s better than no image at all.  People engage with imagery especially personal images that show an insight into the writer’s life.  When I’m out and about now I take notice of my surroundings.  I notice the beauty in small things that I might not have seen before.  I see angles and light that I’m sure weren’t there before and I see the laughter in my boys misbehaving where before I might have just seen my frustration.

And I’m passionate about social media because it has made me smarter.  Yep, that’s right smarter.  Did you know that around 70 billion pieces of content is shared on facebook each month?  Yeh, I know probably at least half of that is crap.  Another 25% of it is probably not even relevant to you. But think about it.  Even if only 1% of it is useful to you that still leaving around 1.7 billion piece of content that could help you fix your computer, start a small business or find out how to sleep train your baby.  How amazing is that!  Never before have we had so much information at our fingertips.

Don’t get me wrong sometimes it’s information overload and social media starts to drive me insane.  If I read another comment on Kimye’s latest vogue cover or Miranda Kerr’s sex life I might yawn.  If I check my smartphone one more time for likes and comments on my latest post I might throw my phone away.  If I have one more brainwave while I’m supposed to be relaxing on holidays I might have to have another glass of wine.

On the whole though, I love social media and I don’t think love is too strong a word.  I love it because it brings out the learner in me.  I’m passionate about social media because I’ve learnt so much in the last five years and I’m excited about how much more there is to come.  I’m passionate about social media because no matter where I move I will always be able to see my sister’s new apartment, and I will always get to see the face of my best friend’s new baby.  My boys will always be able commiserate with their cousin’s latest injuries, their greatest sporting triumphs and their grandparents grand travels. So I’m not sorry I came out, I just wish I’d done it sooner!

And oh guess what we’re moving again so I’m off to join the Wollongong Buy, Swap and Sell page.

Happy facebooking everybody!

Five reasons to be passionate about social media and blogging