Sharon Discussion Was Something To 'Like'

Navigating the world of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter depends on what you like.

Sharon resident Stephen Dill, an outsourced director of digital marketing, offered this advice Friday night to a crowd at the .

One person asked, "Am I a better person if I make my life more complex?"

"I can't tell you that," Dill replied.

"All in all, it's a big world out there. And this is an avenue to go and find some of it. It's sort of like a library, but now it's sitting there in front of you in your PJs."

Dill's discussion ended the monthly "Conversations at the Meetinghouse" speaker series for the year, organizer David Nelson said. The series began in January. Suggestions for next year's series are being accepted, he said.

By a show of hands, much of Dill's audience was using social media to some degree.

"It sounds like a lot of you, if you're not in the deep end of the pool, you're in the pool," he said.

Dill said he recommends to every company that they "pick a couple" of social media tools, "and I really hold off on recommending Twitter."

"To use it well and to use it with interest takes some skill," Dill said.

One person asked Dill how social media has affected politics.

Dill noted that Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign raised funds online.

"Then, the Obama campaign raised the bar" in 2008, Dill said.

Now, the White House uses the Internet so extensively that citizens can "look at the actual effect of your tax bill" online, Dill said.

"I think that social media has irrevocably changed our political machine," he said.

One person asked, "Where do people have time to do all this?"

"After eight hours of sitting at the computer, I don't want to sit at the computer," she said.

Dill replied that he advises firms "that have these same questions."

"There's so much going on out there, there's just got to be something of interest," he said.