As I was relaxing over the holiday weekend, I thought about how social media has changed me. It is funny that I have only been using social media for the past six to eight months, but it has really changed me in that time.

With social media, I feel like I am in touch more with local and distant friends and clients. I am able to answer questions quicker, but also learn and receive answers much faster as well.

With Twitter and Facebook, I can follow the companies of products that I use or am thinking about using, and if I have a question, I usually receive an answer back within the day (minus companies like TimeWarner that I am still waiting on ). Instead of waiting days for a generic email, I receive a real response. I love it!

I am really excited to see where the creation of jobs using social media will go. I know many companies starting to look for Social Media Director positions and I think we will start to see more of these types of jobs in the coming year as budgets open up and also as they see how important social media is to integrate into their marketing plans.

It is so exciting to see how social media has changed me and I am sure it has changed you as well. What do you enjoy most & least about using social media?

Reflecting back on my week…I had 2 very different social media experiences; one great and one not so great! I’ll go right into it…

My Rave:

@infinitinews – My wife and I test drove an Infiniti and I had a few questions, so I tweeted to see if they had a twitter account. Within minutes I received a response from infinitinews that they did and also a facebook page. I was very impressed on how fast they responded. I had a few questions and they were very helpful in answering all my questions. Happy potential customer = a new Infiniti customer. I was very impressed at how quickly they got back to me and the great service. Thank you Infiniti!

My Rant:

TimeWarner: So far as of today, no response back. I had a question about our DVR, so I asked if they have an account. Right now I am not impressed and I am hoping Verizon or another company comes here. That or over the next few months we may move to the Dish Network. Time will tell.

So that’s it… good and bad uses of social media from two very large companies.

Do you have similar experiences? Feel free to share them here.