I am often asked by people, most of them fairly senior level
executives, on how they could (and whether they actually should) begin using
social media to engage with a wider audience. While they were quite at ease
addressing difficult press conferences and demanding clients, they hadn't got
round to taming social media platforms like Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.
If you feel
you’re one of them, I wouldn’t blame you. While you were busy fighting
boardroom battles, the world was evolving in ways relatively unknown to you.
And before you could grasp the nature of the change, it became too important
for your businesses or job to ignore. I won’t be exaggerating if I said –
today, you are known by the social IDs you keep. Without wanting to sound like
a self-proclaimed social media guru, I could list six key lessons that
I’m confident could come handy as you decide to launch your social media IDs
and board the bus you fear you might have missed.
1.
Be yourself:
The biggest mistake you could make on the social media is to portray yourself
as being completely different from the way you really are. It isn’t
sustainable, quite simply because it’s not who you are! It’s difficult to keep
up an act all the time, even if you’re an amazing actor. Post what you feel,
observe, believe in, know, or want to say. Be honest. Don’t worry that your
posts aren’t half as smart as those of your colleague, who has hundreds of
followers and whom you secretly envy. In time, you will realize that there’s an
audience out there who likes you just as you are. You are unique, and so should
be your social media content. The first few posts are always the most
difficult. But once you get into the groove, it becomes as easy as thinking.
2.
Know your weight and use it judiciously: While social media offers you the
freedom to speak your heart and mind, remember you have a responsibility
towards your followers and readers. You never know when a message posted in a
hurry or with an opinion based on half-baked information may return to haunt
you. Before you hit ‘enter’ pause to consider the possible reaction of at least
three of your connections (including your current or potential future employer,
and your mother-in-law). The more prominent you are in the offline space, the
greater your burden of responsibility towards your audience. Think of your
social ID as a loudspeaker that can be heard miles away, and add to it a
record-and-play device that even more people will listen to in future. Now,
pass each of your thoughts through this filter before you posting it online: do
you really want to share it? While you can always delete or recall your posts,
you never know when you might leave a trace with a watchdog out there.
3.
Add (some) value (to someone, at least): Not everyone connected to you
wants to know how acute your toothache is. Telling people what you’re doing at
any given moment may amuse only a select set of people. And if
that’s all you’d like to do, you’re better off in a close-group environment
rather than a public forum. Unless you derive some perverse pleasure from
trying to arouse others’ envy at your (fake) lifestyle by ‘checking in’ at a
five star hotel (even if you merely drove past it) every now and then, or
posting photos of you posing with hot celebs (thanks to Photoshop), you’d
probably have a more ‘effective’ and meaningful follower base if you post stuff
that others find useful. There must be something you’re good at, or
you’re passionate about – make that the focal subject of your social
media content and you’ll attract an audience that shares your interest. Of
course, you needn’t stick to a single topic all the time – both you and your
audience need a few breathers (‘entertaining’ is useful too!).
4.
Learn from others but don’t try to copy them: There’s a lot
you could learn from ‘social media celebrities’ – their writing style, the
frequency of their posts, the ideas behind the content, etc. It’s
perfectly all right to borrow content (retweet, quote, or share). It will only
win you more friends and some might even return the favor once in a while. But
do be honest and give credit where due. Never claim someone else’s idea
as your own. Not only is it unethical, the Internet – however vast you might
think it is – is also a very small place, thanks to extremely well-networked
platform and search capabilities. You’ll lose face and credibility with those
around you if caught. I know of some people who meticulously search the Net
(some have even subscribed to daily feeds to save time) for smart one-liners
and quotes, and try to pass them off as their own! Smart, eh? I can bet you’d
take less than a minute to see through them once you’d interacted with them in
real life or simply googled their posts.
5.
Brace the democratic nature of social media: Now this is a
bit contrary to point 2 above. While you may be used to a patient, receptive
audience listening to you sincerely in the offline space given your position,
the social media gives everyone out there the power to voice their opinion,
positions notwithstanding. It’s a level playing field! Add to it the
option for the audience to remain anonymous. People with or without any
credibility or even name may challenge your solid, well-researched posts with
logic-defying arguments. Unfortunately, there are few laws or referees that
work in the online environment, at least not yet. You may feel it’s not fair
but that’s the beauty of this medium. Prepare yourself to brace the power
of this extremely democratic network, and shed some of yours with humility. And
if you are doing or saying the right thing, hang on there for a bit, for you
can expect surprise supporters to come to your rescue.
6.
Finally – no you don’t ‘have to’ be on social media, but it helps: If you are still
uncertain whether you should ‘take the plunge’ – trust me it’s far easier,
safer and more economical than getting married. Not kidding! Let’s accept it –
the social media have become too strong to ignore, and are here to stay and
evolve. The good news is you can ‘start slow’ by simply ‘listening’. As in the
real world, when you join a new group, you tend to begin by ‘sniffing’ the
context and other members (well, not literally) before actively participating.
You could do the same on social media too. Since there generally are no rules
(some unwritten guidelines are followed, though) on the frequency of your posts
and absolutely no charge for membership for any kind, you can be as slow or
quick as you want to be. You can sit by a poolside and watch others swim, but
you’ll only learn to swim yourself once you jump into the water. So go ahead,
and enjoy the splash!
- Amit Gundh
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