So now you have a whole list of places to visit, bookmarks to make, RSS feeds to subscribe to, toolbars to use. In a sense, the question becomes the same one that I ask of my clients/students who are writing: so what?
Now that you’ve had a chance to look at a few of the social media sites, whether general-interest communities or those existing for a more defined purpose, you may be wondering exactly how to go about making them work for you.
It’s actually fairly easy. What it takes is time, and willingness to be open and helpful, and a little organization, and … did I mention time?
Communities on the Internet aren’t all that different from communities in your city or school or group: you get out of them approximately what you put into them. If you’re helpful, courteous, and willing to share, you’ll find that others are as well.
Here are a few ways to make social communities work for you:
- Help Others:Instead of feeling like you need to jump right in and tell everybody all about yourself, spend some time at first listening, figuring out what’s going on. A lot of questions are asked on these sites. Find some that you’re comfortable answering, and help others out. A tone of humility and frankness rather than arrogance is your ticket to success here.
- Contribute: This is along the same lines, but takes the first precept a step further. Social communities are all about content. Provide useful content for others and they will reward you in return.
- Connect: Somewhere along the line here you’ll start making connections, whether or not you refer to them as “friends.” This is your opportunity to meet people with the same interests that you have, who can become resources for you, part of your expanding network of Internet contacts.
- Expand: At first it’s difficult to think of contributing more than a paragraph or two. But as you get more comfortable, you’ll find yourself sharing links, pictures, videos as well. Let it happen. Relating via multimedia is one of the greatest strengths of Internet social communities.
None of this will happen overnight. People who use social media for marketing spend eight hours a day on these sites! While you won’t be committing that kind of time, you do have to understand that visiting your Facebook account once a month isn’t going to make you feel a part of the community.
Again, it’s not so different from Real Life. I frequent one particular pub, the wonderful Squealing Pig in Provincetown. I went there for weeks before the bartender remembered my drink (for the record, it’s Guinness). I didn’t go every day, but I kept going and kept going and gradually started knowing people—the owner, the bartenders, the regulars. It’s a comfortable and comforting place now, but only because I made it so.
think of your social community as your own pub and see what develops! And then you’ll be … beyond the elements of style!
