A recent Pew Research Center study found that the Internet is now the third most-popular news platform, behind local and national television news and ahead of national print newspapers, local print newspapers and radio. Yep, our world has gone digital and–as my March Her Nashville column points out–if you’re not exactly tech savvy and don’t have a go-to geek in your corner, you’re missing a fine pixel parade.

Having a geek in your corner will increase your confidence and teach you a thing or two. If you don’t have someone to turn to for your slightly-intimidating social media and technology issues, find one. Among other things, your go-to-geek will:

• Encourage you to be your own guinea pig
Avoid the geeks that call themselves “gurus.” You don’t need a spiritual leader; you need the guidance of a tech-savvy person who encourages you to try your hand at social media, blogging, and good email etiquette. Through your relationship with this geek, you should begin to see in yourself increased confidence when talking about and using new media, not a gal who is rendered dependent on some secret geek sauce.

• Prevent you from breaking the law
Speaking of email etiquette, your go-to geek will not hesitate to read you the riot act when it comes to spammy, mass-email campaigns. It’s not only because they hate unsolicited email; when you commit this stunningly horrific faux pas, you’re actually violating federal law via the Federal Trade Commission’s CAN-SPAM Act. Worse, people will view you as an amateur.

I hope you’ll read the full column over at HerNashville.com. A complete archive of my Chic Geek columns lives here.