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Some People Just Don't Get Social Media

  • Social media is something that has gripped us over the past 18 months, it all kind of started with Facebook coming over from the States and showing us that we could talk to our friends, share our pictures and thoughts and meet up with old friends who lived on the other side of the world shivangi joshi. Then Twitter came along giving us its trademark 140 character blog with the ability to add a link if needed, we could then follow celebrities as well as friends to see where they were and what they were up to.

     

    Social media really has changed the way we think about things, I am from the generation of hiding your personal information and not sharing it with anyone, however now it is all about sharing, where you have been and what you have been up to. I actually do like social media and have managed to change my thoughts on it and have embraced it.

     

    There are many individuals and businesses using platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with each other and share ideas which is absolutely amazing. The businesses that use these social media platforms well have seen the tremendous impact it can have on website traffic and sales. There are however many businesses and individuals who just don't get the social media thing.

     

    OK so social media doesn't work for every business but it works very well for most. It is all about how you use it, so here are some top tips for this:

     

    Do not just become friends or follow anyone.

     

    You must use social media to interact with people and businesses that interest you, for instance within my industry I follow and like people who write interesting things about it such as new design techniques and opinions on SEO. It isn't about the amount of followers or friends you have, it is all about the quality.

     

    Don't just write all about yourself hoping that people will find you interesting

     

    Many people start up their social media accounts and think that if they just post or tweet lots of things about themselves the crowds will come flocking, unfortunately this is untrue. You have to take your time with it and build relationships with others, give them your opinion or point of view and give them information that will interest them.

     

    Remember that everyone can see your posts or tweets

     

    We have all seen tales of famous sports people and celebrities that have got into trouble by posting or tweeting something bad about someone and it amazes me the stuff people put up on Twitter and Facebook.

     

    Always remember that more people can see what you write than you think, so be careful about what you write and do not offend anyone. No one wants to see or hear about your political point of view or religious beliefs because it is not relevant and if you are doing this from your business social media platforms you could just be committing social media suicide.

     

    Keep it regular

     

    You must keep your social media accounts up to date and regular. Think of it this way, if you go onto someone's Twitter account and see that their last tweet was 4 months ago are you really going to follow them? No, because they bear no interest to you. If you set up social media accounts don't just use them for a week, get bored and stop, they take work and dedication but the rewards can be very handsome indeed.

     

    It also amazes me how so many large national corporations are saying - "Oh, we are cutting back on expensive television advertising and are now going to use the web to create our brands" When you hear this you think, well that's a modern approach! The only trouble is that only a couple are getting this right. Some car manufacturers such as VW are using their television campaigns to interact with online media such as YouTube which for me works very well. Some brands though who are taking this modern approach must be being very badly advised because you cannot actually see them or their brands online unless you go purposely looking for them! This kind of defeats the object for me.