Ideas and Inspiration From Social Media

Most people think that social media sites are only useful for finding what the latest news is. While that is one of the main functions of these sites, many times a pretty creative thought or article lands on the homepage.

Social media communities are built around information that inspires. People don’t want to talk, argue, or debate about a boring topic. They won’t vote for something that’s uninteresting or dumb. A community doesn’t exist around content that isn’t inspiring.

The key difference between social media sites and search engines is that humans are making the recommendations. This is why using social media as a “filter” for news and inspiration is a fantastic idea.

Sometimes Google isn’t the best place to find creative solutions or ideas. Sometimes the best place to search is through the archives of sites like Delicious or Reddit or Friendfeed. These sites have information that has been thoughtfully submitted on interesting web sites or topics. The difference between a search engine and social news or bookmarking site is that people filter the results.

There’s no shortage of creativity to be found at social news and bookmarking sites, they’ll often give great results for finding something very specific. A general rule of thumb is this: If people take the time to bookmark, submit or vote on a story, it’s more than likely to be a better resource.