"I’m not aware of too many things…"

“I know what I know if you know what I mean…” -Edie Brickell and New Bohemians

Starting a new job can be very exciting, but can also be unsettling. I have worked for the same company for almost 9 years, and in those 9 years have changed positions only 3 times, although all 3 were in the past 3 years.

Last week I started a new position within Gannett; Content Manager at Gannett Digital. This is very new for me and very exciting. Most of the people in my group come from a content background. Not me, I come from an IT background, kind of. I was an IT manager, webmaster, project manager, application developer. Content? Not so much. But when I was told the position was Content Manager specializing in Social Media, now that is something I can get my head around.

I had a blog. It wasn’t called a blog. It was a Geocities website, that I would enter diary-like entries on, and post to the world wide web. That was centuries ago. Ok, maybe not centuries, but definitely before the term Blog existed.

When social networking sites hit the scene, I helped beta test one (multiply.com) back before MySpace was the darling of the web. I got in on the ground level and had opinions heard and access to what the future might look like.

I gave up my Geocities site (although recently moved parts of it to godaddy) and moved all my content (photos, journals [read: blog], videos, music, etc) to Multiply.com. I totally understood it. My family joined and I was sharing content with them. My biggest issue? Most of my friends wouldn’t join. Those that did only checked my updates from time to time and didn’t post their own. They would still send emails with 36 attached photos of their kids, and clog up all their friends inboxes, rather than posting to Multiply, where their friends would be notified there were photos to see.

So what fun is a social network when none of your good friends are on it…? I still love Multiply and share content on there regularly. If for no other reason, I still feel it is the best network out there for sharing your multimedia life/digital content… but I have since joined Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter and… the list goes on. I am fascinated by every new product and application that is created. I install toolbars (reluctantly) and air apps and post here and there and everywhere. I love sitting and reading the posts of the social media thinkers (like Chris Brogan) and contemplating the many different possible uses for social media in business and in life.

So getting back to my job, do I have a background in content? Guess it depends on how you define content. Am I positive I can contribute to my new team? Absolutely. Am I excited about the future of a media company that has a reputation of being old media (while other like companies are declaring bankruptcy)? Yes.

Bring. It. On.