Social Media Overload, the next part.

U2 in Chicago

I was again reminded how important it is to use a communicative platform in just. Whether or not you agree with Bono's outspoken political stance, no one that can deny that he has advantaged his fame to call attention to causes that he feels are important to our world. He isn't afraid to make a scene or stop a concert to make sure unforgettable faces of this world don't go unnoticed, and moreover, to stay true to who he is. The music is a given. The humanity rocks.

The Social Media Overload I elude to this time is the 'flakiness' overload. The 'quick fix,' 'hurry up and build a social media site with absolutely no plan or direction accept that we have really good deals we want everyone to know about!'

It doesn't matter how many status updates you post, blogs you write, videos you upload, or tweets you send out if they are void of content. The crowd amassed on social media sites will see through any facade you put up in order just to sell them things. What do they want, then?

HUMANS.

Look, we all know that everyone is trying to sell us everything all of the time. It's a given that if someone becomes a fan of your company's site that they either have the product you sell already or are thinking about it. Leave that hook for your TV commercials.

Here, you have to humanize your company and your product. People come to social media to socialize with their friends.

My dad gave me a pocket guide to Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" when I was young. In it are the invaluable truths that companies need to apply to their social media.

It's all about how many friends you have...not acquaintances.

The challenge of this media is that instead of simply finding what people are interested in and blasting them with it, they want to know who YOU are. And if you are a ga-zillion different personalities, and ever-changing depending on who your biggest fan base is this week, you'll fail. Take a stance. A stance. Not 5, 10, or 20 stances.... a stance.

Find and focus on your humans. Be human in your posts and updates. Be honest in allowing those that join your site to comment both positively and negatively. Being involved in a digital community is only different in the digital aspect than being involved in your own physical community. Treat is as such. BE PATIENT. Build over time, you'll have a fan base that tells their friends to be fans and so on. Oh, and they'll probably buy stuff from you, too.

Happy posting, updating, uploading, tweeting, friend requesting, following, content building, commenting.....................