Navigating Social Networks Article

I was interviewed for an article called “Navigating Social Networks” for Halftime Magazine. The article is now available online. Thanks to Jeremy Chen for asking me to be a part of the article. Below are some excerpts from the article. Click here to read the entire article.

Navigating Social Networks
By Jeremy Chen

With social networking now being a significant game changer in the entire world of communication, marching arts organizations must ensure that this medium is being understood properly and being used in a manner that benefits—rather than hurts—them.

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. You- Tube. Pinterest. Google+.

Social media has taken over the globe, revolutionizing the way people interact with each other. The world of pageantry is no exception. Whether it is a small high school band or a worldfamous marching ensemble, everyone is staying connected on the Internet. From Facebook to YouTube, the marching world is being updated in lightning speed reaching out to more people than ever before.

With great power, though, comes great responsibility, as the uncle of a certain arachnid superhero would say. With countless stories of people being careless on the Internet and getting into deep trouble, there are certain rules that are to be followed if you don’t want the world to see you mess up. For marching bands, social media can be a friend and a foe. It just depends on how the beast is tamed.

“You’re not just broadcasting all the great things you’re doing,” says Dave Gerhart, professor of percussion at Cal State Long Beach. “You’re also going out and following other blogs that do similar things. If you’re a drum corps, you would be posting content from perhaps a major drum corps blog in order to show that you are contributing to the online community instead of just broadcasting about yourself.”

Be sure to read the entire article here. What did you think about the topics that were brought up in the article? Please leave your comments and feedback below.