The office laptop would not work with the projector and the guy from the government looked at me with these puppy dog eyes. He asked if he could use my laptop. It was for our AWENS board meeting and I said yes. I asked him if his USB flash drive had any deadly viruses on it. He say “No”. I inserted it into the laptop USB slot, and did what I normally do; I performed a virus scan before I selected “Open folder to view files”. Guess what I found? I computer worm. I deleted the worm and ran the Power Point presentation. This worm could have been the end of my laptop if I had not performed a virus scan at first.
What does this say about our computer skills? I think we could all use some improvement; especially for those of us in the business sector. Not that we are stupid. I am not saying that. What I am saying is that businesses generally do more with their computers and place themselves in greater risk than home users. They need to know more, because they do more. This requires increased computer skills and knowledge.
If you are going to dabble in social media, you need to have some computer skills as well. You need to have a good understanding of your file and folder system on your computer hard drive. You will work with a lot of files. You will have to be organized to find everything. Throwing stuff into a pile like our teenagers, is not going to work. If you are not organized, it’s going to take you time to find files. You also need to know how to properly run your computer and your mobile devices. This requires a good understanding of safe computer practices. When you connect to a network, do you know if you are safe? By default, file and folder sharing is enabled. Have you disabled this setting so that others cannot view things on your computer?
So social media is more than tweeting, posting and commenting. It’s about knowing how to use your gear properly and safely. I know we hate to read our owner manuals, but manufacturers give them to us for a reason. There usually is some good stuff in them. So take a quick read and learn what you need to get up and running properly. If you need training, make sure you get some. It will only make you better with social media.
