The Purpose of Social Media

I’ve begun to notice more and more recently that very few people are using social media to their full advantage. Most are missing the entire point! I find this most noticeable on Twitter, though I’m certain that it is happening elsewhere as well.

I’m Too Sexy To Listen

Have you ever happened to meet someone that exuded an aura of conceit? I mean, someone who’s Life Soundtrack would be “I’m Too Sexy” filling an entire disc, set to repeat infinitely? Whenever you tried conversing with them, the conversation always somehow managed to revolve around them; or maybe they only would help you or listen to you if it somehow gratified them in some way. (Leos are apparently renowned for this.) And how long did you continue to listen to this person drone on about themselves? That long, eh? I bet you left that conversation or even relationship thinking “I wasted that much of my life putting up with that? They stole part of my soul with their selfishness!”

A Fact of Life: People Want To Feel Important

Whether you are a one-man band or a Fortune 500 company, the worst thing you can do in social media is appear to be too self-involved to listen to others. The entire purpose of social media is to build tribes by transforming the monologue conversations of traditional media into dialogues with your customers, creating a mutually beneficial relationship that could otherwise not exist.

Twitter is not your soapbox! It is your chance at a free and effective Research and Development department!

If you have an enormous amount of followers but only follow 5 people, you aren’t effectively using this technology. Sure, people want updates and news about the going-on’s of your organization. But they also want to be heard as much as they hear other people.

How To Use Social Media Ineffectively

1. Don’t follow more than 200 people.
2. Don’t respond to any mentions.
3. Don’t thank people for following you.
4. Don’t thank people for retweeting you.
5. Never, ever, ever, never participate in conversation.
6. Only provide information that may or may not be useful to your followers.
7. Shine your pedestal and dust your shrine-to-self at least once a day.
8. Talk about cats, post that you are taking a shower, or ramble about other useless nonsensical crap.

Examples to Follow

@projectsti, @aigadesign, @conceptfeedback, @target

How To Use Social Media Effectively

1. Respond to anyone that mentions you, follows you, retweets you, or otherwise gives you some form of attention. This will build your relationship with them, causing them to be curious about who you actually are beyond those 140 characters.
2. Retweet any post asking for help, offering something for free, or anything else that you think others will benefit from. This will build relationships with those you retweet. It will also cause others to view you as a wonderful source of information, further building their trust in your brand.
3. On a regular basis, respond to someone who hasn’t mentioned you, followed you, or retweeted you. Prove that you understand that cyber-space doesn’t revolve around you, and people will respond with positive action.
4. Speak only if you have something worth saying. Nobody cares if you like the color blue, you’re sitting on your porch doing nothing, watching TV, or otherwise doing absolutely nothing. Provide people with useful information, links to things that might interest others, humor that they will identify with or brighten their day, etc.

Examples To Follow

@justcreative, @scotthe, @indiebusiness, @brewhouse, @targetinteriors

The Purpose of It All

Communicate! It is called “social networking” for a reason. If you are only there for yourself, no one else will be there for you. It is a fact of life, and it transfers over into all things social. Do you really need a lesson in social skills?

You might also enjoy:

• Utilizing Facebook For Your Business
• Say Something! | Finding Topics for Your Blog
• The Hype of Social Media
• 140 Character Challenge
• Using Social Media Effectively

Tags: communication, social media, social skills, twitter