We never know it all

I attended a college graduation ceremony last week for my stepmother. She’s worked in accounting related positions almost her entire career. She didn’t get her degree to move to another company or change fields. She did it because she already knew what the keynote speaker at the ceremony knew: That no one, no matter how long they’ve been doing something knows everything.

 

Though some of us feel or act like we know everything, we don’t. It’s just not possible. This is why social media, digital publishing, online communities, and support forums are the most fantastic things. Each of us has the opportunity to share the things we do know and to look to others for help with what we don’t.

 

The best part is it’s a symbiotic relationship. I help you, you help me, she helps me, I help him just by sharing what we know and what we have found to be true. We make our knowledge available to others so that we can all grow. I’m always so excited when I come across a question I can’t answer. I go to my favorite search engine (begins with a G) and in about 2 seconds I have a screen full of details, tips, how-to’s, and commiserative stories about others with the same question and how they handled it. Amazing.

 

Whether the reason we do this is self-less, selfish, or otherwise doesn’t matter. We do it and all of us are better for it. No one has to feel the pressure to know it all, not that some of us won’t self-impose it. We have an infinite community to which we can pose our question or concern and get help and support. All this happens because we are willing to share, to be available, and to admit we don’t know it all.

Posted in Digital Media, Online Publishing, Randoms, Social Media
Tagged digital publishing, search, sharing, social media