Greetings of the season to you!
I was watching a social media expert talk about how his
company pays attention to the way people function in the e-world. He said that his company is not so interested
in what people click on or “like” as it is interested in what people share with
their friends. Most likely that is
because the power of word-of-mouth has long been known to be more effective
than advertising or any other kind of information distribution. Indeed, in this world of increasing
advertising, we the information consumers seem to be more and more likely
to appreciate, listen to and consider the advice, opinion and recommendation of
a friend or colleague over what an advertisement is trying to convey. We apparently will change our position on
whether or not to see a movie based on the favorable or unfavorable opinion of
a friend even if we long ago decided not to see it. We can change other people's opinions!
Understanding Your Power
For this reason, it is important to know the difference
between “liking” something and “sharing” something in the world of social media
if you want to understand the power you personally have to raise and redirect attention. I heard someone comparing “liking” a post on
Facebook as being similar to giving a “thumbs up” gesture of approval, which is
as good as it is for as long as people are noticing you did it. Whereas, sharing something is more like
repeating the information in the style of “have you heard about….,” effectively
increasing the shelf life of the news you are sharing.
One Small Weekly Investment of Your Time
I encourage users of Social Media who want to make a
beneficial contribution to an organization in the form of raising awareness of
its programs and services to do one small action a week: choose something from
that organization’s website or Facebook page and share it. In other words, copy the url of the item from
the organizations webpage and paste it on your own timeline with a
comment. Or, click the “share” button on
the Facebook post you are interested in helping, and you will have the option
to share it on your own personal timeline with a comment. That such a small investment in time and
energy can produce such an increase in awareness is a wonderful thing to me and
helps me remember not to take for granted what power is in the hands of the end
users. That’s us!
'Tis the Season, After All
It is after all the season for sharing, so get to it! Share share share, and in so doing shape the awareness
of your world.
Oh, do be careful though, there is such a thing as being an
oversharer. And as with many other
things in life, too much of a good thing can have the opposite effect. Persistent sharing of information in social
media or anywhere else has the tendency to turn your e-voice into something
irritating and people will likely listen to it less and less.
Happy Return of The Light Time
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