Lara Kretler’s blog

I’ve been reading a lot of blogs tonight and wondering how everyone got started with social media. I’ll answer the question myself, then ask you to share your stories too – either as a comment below or on your own blogs. If it’s the latter, please be sure to let me know so I can go read them.

My start in social media had very little to do with my job – it was something I discovered on my own as a personal adventure, a long time ago before anyone called it “social media.” I got my first home computer in about 1994 and with it an AOL subscription, and that’s when I first discovered the fun of chatting with strangers. It was purely entertainment at first, similar to talking on a CB (yes, I went through that phase too – an even earlier version of social media, I suppose). Eventually I found chat rooms and discussion boards specifically devoted to my hobbies and interests, which at the time were mainly my cats. Especially my Bengal cat, Jake - Bengal owners were definitely early adopters of Internet communications.

Then, in 1997 when I moved from NY to Ohio, those early forms of social media became more than just a fun hobby – they became a lifeline. I knew no one in Dayton except the people I worked with, and I found I had little in common with most of them outside of the job and the fact that we were all dog and cat lovers. Worse, it seemed like all the women my age were married with kids already – I felt like a freak. I was married at the time, but I didn’t have kids and didn’t drive a minivan, so I just couldn’t relate. I despaired of finding anyone like me in Ohio until I started poking around online in chat rooms, discussion forums and email groups. In June of 1998, along with three new friends I had met online, I decided to go out on a limb and start a women’s group specifically for people like me. That was ten years ago. I was an active “community manager” (aka leader) of the group for five years, devoting immense amounts of time and resources to helping it thrive and flourish into a community of 100 members who met and bonded and shared both online as an email list and in real life through monthly meetings, lunches and girls’ night out get-togethers.

After five years of that kind of intense time commitment, I was ready to take a back seat and let someone else take the reins. In 2003 I put a succession plan in place and have taken a much more passive role in the group over the last five years. But would you believe the group is still in existence, all of my very best friends in Ohio are women I met through the group over the last ten years, and I can even say that I met my husband indirectly as a result of the group? Talk about something that’s been impactful and influential in my life!

I’ve also started and led offshoots of that original group too, most notably a couple of email lists devoted to health and fitness which are also still around though a bit neglected of late. I’ve promoted these groups online and off, shared content via them, kept in touch with friends and made new ones – in short, all the things we do today with the tools and sites we call social media. Boy, it’s a lot easier now though with sites like Meetup, Ning, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter and the rest. Back then, I did it the old school way, through email and a ton of hands-on time and effort. Especially in the early days, when I would dig and mine through Yahoo and AIM profiles and other websites to find prospects I could email about the group. It was hard work, but it was well worth it and I loved every minute of it.

The funny thing is, it wasn’t until the last year or so that my experience (some would say expertise) in the social media arena became something I tapped into for work. It was always just something I did as a hobby on the side. Now, my personal passion and knack for creating, marketing and managing successful communities is finally becoming a truly useful and marketable professional skill. I’m helping a client build and manage a professional community right now, and it’s fun and familiar territory.

It’s actually funny to me when I read case studies or attend webinars about best practices in online community and social network management. It’s all the same stuff I learned through the years with my own groups through trial and error. It’s all common sense really - it’s about understanding human relationships, needs and dynamics. Give people interesting conversations, inspiring content and a community of shared interests and they’ll stick around and participate and give back. It works across industries, across demographics, across geographic boundaries.

So anyway, long story short, that’s how I got started in social media. How about you? What was your first experience with this wierd and wonderful world of connecting with others through the wires of the so-called  “Internets”? I’d love to hear it.

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