he story of social media isn’t a tale that begins with a “once upon a time” or even with a Jedi like “A long, long time ago, on a fan page far, far away” The story is so much more profound than that.

One might argue that the “story” of social media is the content we submit to the universe at large in hopes that it solidifies our brand and moves people to action. I suppose that’s part of the “story”, but its not the real story.

I’m talking about the story that many miss because they are so busy creating the next blog post, the next tweet, the next discussion, the next rant.

The story is the voice of your audience!

The story that comes with an understanding that as much as I have a story . . . you do too!

In fact, everyone has a story and wants to be heard,

wants to be validated and perhaps . . .

feel a sense that our stories didn’t just blend in with 10,000 other stories . .

all moving at the speed of light!

The story of social media intensifies when you are moved enough by your experience to then go forth and tell the story of that experience to your tribe.

Then the story takes on a life of its own and can travel the world many times over!

Today you are invited to be on the look out for “stories” which are disguised as

Status updates on Linkedin. Don’t just read them . . . respond to them!

The tweet that you think is “play by play” or irrelevant. Perhaps you’re missing an opportunity to connect!

The section of the email you just scrolled through in the spirit of saving time

The comment on your blog

Funny thing about stories . . .

You only get to hear part of the story when it lives on your computer screen. Are you transitioning your “friends” (who have lots of stories) to real time?

When you listen to someone’s story, people want to come back

You increase your virtual real estate by increasing theirs

Then people want to tell more stories about you and . . .

They become an army of evangelists . . . For YOU!

There are hundreds of other stories too

They are happening right now but . . .

For some of you, you will never hear those stories . . .

Because you decided not to show up.

But even that story has a happy ending.

There’s always someone else willing to show up and interact with the stories of others

It just sucks when they happen to be your competitors!

Oh and before you go, understand that there are “stories” all around you. Not just on that computer screen.

But perhaps that’s a story for another day!