3 Ways Quality Trumps Quantity in Social Networking
We're now hearing more and more social media "gurus" express their satisfaction (ahem, bragging) with how many Twitter followers and Facebook Friends/Fans they have. My reaction to all this chest-thumping has been unpleasant and I have had the occasional fantasy of Twitter and Facebook freezing their accounts.
It raises the question, do the numbers really matter? Most people tend to think so, but one could argue they think that way because the experts are telling them to.
In truth, this technology is about networking and "connecting" with your friends/followers, with connecting being the key word. Are you really connecting with thousands of followers and friends or merely collecting?
In addition to the "gurus" telling you to get thousands of followers and friends, ironically, they're also strongly advocating for you to be transparent in your efforts. FYI - transparency is not letting people know what you had for lunch.
Social networking is successful when you focus on quality not quantity and here's how quality trumps quantity in 3 ways:
1) Time. For social networking, you want to respond to comments of others and show interest in their posts. Obviously, this technique is less appealing to what everyone is writing. Focus on quality relationships and you'll find yourself with more time to utilize social networking.
2) Fostering relationships. This builds off of point #1. In the offline world, networking works when you take time to meet with people and learn more about them. Why would it be any different online?
3) Trust. Despite the communication happening online, we're still humans. Nothing will happen in your e-relationship unless you have some form of trust.
There's a fine line between trust and authority in the online world. Many internet marketers preach the importance of authority, which means to be the trusted expert or resource in your topic.
It makes sense and is important but social networking works differently. Similar to a word-of-mouth referral in the offline world, you need the earned trust of your followers or friends online. When you have earned trust, you'll see better results with your recommendations and the links you refer people to.
Before taking the quantity approach in social networking, ask yourself how you'll connect with others. Stay focused on connecting and developing trust with your followers/friends and you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results and opportunities they create.
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