Getting Social

Still squeamish about Facebook? Terrified of Twitter? Here’s how social media really works.

As the Internet evolves, the ways in which it is used as a communication medium keep expanding. Remember the excitement when websites first appeared, a new publication medium come to life? Then blogging became the topic of the day, built on tools providing individuals with a way to offer their own news, syndicating their content with little fuss and allowing their readers to comment back on it. Blogging was the first form of social media, where technology enabled the sharing of content as a conversation.

By connecting people to people, social networking takes that relationship a step further, refreshing the sense of community that too often has been lost in our busy lives.

Social networking invites you to hold ongoing conversations, often in real time, by using a variety of social media tools. It enables you to opt into a broad spectrum of relationships not just with your friends, family, and peers, but with groups rallying around causes, corporations looking for satisfied customers, and small businesses, authors and celebrities who’d like to know that you’re a fan. It enables you to build your own virtual communities around common interests and to connect to friends of friends, reducing those degrees of separation to potential business associates or clients.

Successful relationships in social networks rely on the same ground rules that you use – and probably don’t even think about – when interacting with people in everyday life. These elements form the fundamentals of social networking.

Trust
By entering into a social relationship, you trust that person to be honest in their interactions with you, and they expect the same from you.

Disclosure
Most social networking websites encourage you to share information about yourself in a user profile, including a photo of yourself; some notes about who you are and what you do; and more personal information like your hobbies, favorites books and movies, and the like. Disclosure of personal information helps build those bonds of trust, especially when you replace the network’s default icon with your own smiling face.

Respect
Social networking interactions should be carried out with respect. Just because an editor of a major magazine agreed to be part of your social network doesn’t mean you should then instant message her with queries. Continue to use the same decorum you would for everyday interactions; save the virtual snowball fights and e-cards for your close friends and family.

Sharing
Networking is about sharing. It’s not about tooting your own horn 24/7. People enter into social networking to share their observations on life, be it about the babysitter or a great blog post they just read on the elements of web design. Comment on your friend’s articles, respond to their requests for help, and share your good news and personal observations too. What you share builds trust, discloses more about yourself as a well-rounded person, and adds to your colleague’s respect for you.
Just like in real life, first impressions matter when you join a new social network or invite people to connect to your existing network. If you ask someone to join your network, include a short note to say hi and why. If someone opts in to your network and you value that relationship, welcome them. In both cases, these simple gestures help break the ice for the start of your new relationship. No need to do so in public, either—to say “thank you,” use the tools that let you communicate with them privately, which cultivates trust and a sense of intimate conversation.

To make a good first impression, put your best face forward on your profile photo and in the content you share. If you’re on a social network where you can share photos, set up a few galleries pertinent to how you want people to think about you. Guidebook authors can showcase their book covers and some images from the road. Convention and Visitor Bureaus should share destination photos. Not only does it help build your brand, but it builds interest for newcomers in what you do.

With how easy it is to sign up for social networks these days, most people plunge in without considering the impact of that crucial first impression or interactions make and break relationships. Know how and why you want to use social networking before you Join Now!

First published in the SATW Traveler,  Spring 2009