Since the beginning of online social networking there has been a divide in who and how the online feed of information is used. The divide has to do with the different purposes for using social networks. There are the people who use their Facebook account to show off baby pictures and to keep in touch with family..Facebook is great for that purpose. Then there are the vast oceans of people who populate Facebook..and yes, Twitter, for only professional reasons. Unfortunately the two sides of social networking are rubbing each other raw.
What is now developing in the social networking arena is pressure being put on everyone to be connected to everyone through the use of the internet. If you are not online you are left out of everything from the announcement of family dinner at mom’s to where the best sushi is available. With the advancement of technology now great-grandmothers can keep in touch with their great-grand children on a daily bases. This is a trend that is growing in epic proportions each month.
However, the other side of the divide, the business only group, is growing in great strides as well. More and more businesses and business people are moving like a migrating herd of caribou towards these social spaces to …well, you know..take up a lot of space with mostly unwanted promotions. Fortunately, this migration is helping the economy world wide with more businesses being started but the crowdedness of the social space by so many business is starting to get uncomfortable for many business questionable of social media’s worthiness.
There is a third group growing in the social networking culture which lies along the fault line of the two giant masses of the social networks. These are the Social Mediaist; The hard working men and women who know how to use social media as an interface between the two sides of the social network global divide. These people provide tremendous value to both to the business world and the personal side of social network. They are the translators between the two worlds. But, they are human beings and react like a human being which also can place them on either side of the divide. Fortunately, those social mediaist who are well trained keep the balance between the divides of social networks.
Lets take a look at each group and why they are not receptive to each other’s reason’s for being online.
Family Only
The online social space that is growing quickly is the Family Only sector. These are the people who post their dog or some other family member in their Facebook avatar and change it nearly daily to anything other than a photo of themselves. They usual have jobs, or are students. Sometimes they are housewives or retirees who have no interest in promoting themselves. Usually they came online at the request of another family member so they can keep in touch and share experiences.
Most of the time they post in their Facebook updates of personal information that only a son or daughter would understand. These people in the Family Only sector usually stay in line of only socializing in their Family sector. Their updates are usually abundant but isolated mostly to being posted to their networks whenever they are at home. However, with the advent of the Smartphone more mommy’s are able to post their kids soccer game to their Facebook page….allllll dayyyyy Saturday.
The Family only side of the social network are not tolerant at all to any type of business promotions. They stay true to their intentions to only be online to socialize with family members. They are not interested in ads or pitches from anyone. The constant prodding of the professional only sector to get into the Family sector market to pitch their products is causing the family sector to get upset.
People in the Family Only sector find it easy to pick up and leave the social arena if there is something irritating them. In fact this is happening more than the social networks are wanting the general public to know since the family only sector is the main reason the business only sector is buying advertising from the social network. So the stakes are high in keep the family sector happy, but this is proving to be a tough job.
Professional Only
In the Professional Only sector are the migrating herd of marketers and businesses who see their market shares drying up in the traditional marketplace. They come to the online social space to lay claim to the same amount of real estate online as their huge corporate offices cover on the surface of the earth. They bring with them their huge staffs of marketing people and recruit even more frontline people to go online to generate the exposure to their business. The Professional Only sector of the social network post only..and I mean strictly to the line…promotions about their business. And they post them by the hundreds.
Most of the professional only sector consist of post to the social network from mystery people. They attempt to be personable but visually appear as a logo or brand. This sterile image of logos and product brands may have worked on TV or billboards, but not online. The professional only sector is viewed by the weary consumer as a possible scam.
Unfortunately, the businesses are now finding out that the extremes on the other side of the social networking divide are not reading, acknowledging or not buying anything as a result of their links they post. This causes many of the business people who are not comfortable with social media to throw their hands up in frustration.
Eventually, those businesses who are not willing to adapt to social media will leave the social networks sighting their experience online as a waste of time and money.
In The Middle is the Problem
The people along the middle line of the great divide are usually the social mediaist. Social Mediaist are also people as well. They have human reactions like everyone. They have a personal life as well as a professional life which draws them into posting things more related to one side or the other. This is another problem that is growing in the social networking arena.
Many people holding positions with as social media coordinator for businesses almost always have a personal profile set up someplace. Unfortunately, as these people set up their efforts to be a social mediaist they sometimes forget if they are on their personal profile or their professional profile.
In some cases many of the social mediaist working for companies also had a Facebook account for family only purposes. The mistake they make is trying to use the personal Facebook account as their social media platform. Confusion sets in for the consumers they are socializing with.
What takes place with many is they post their professional message with people they have drawn in to be a Friend or Follow…then follow that post with a photo of their youngest daughter at their cheerleader try out. This causes confusion amongst their followers in the person’s intent and purpose online. The equivalent of this offline would be a home keeper going to a business networking event to show off her baby shower photos.
What runs through the viewer’s mind when they see one of these crossover posts is commonly referred to with…’WTF’.
The reaction a viewer gets when encountering someone they Friended for professional reasons who then starts posting personal messages is to think like…’OH, I am intruding in their private life. I think I will disconnect from them as a Friend so I am not stepping into their private space’.
On the other side where a viewer ‘Friends’ or ‘Follows’ someone because they are a personal friend or family member and that person posts a promotion to someone’s product the reaction is summed up with..”Whoa! I am not here to be Spammed. I thought they were my friend. Guess I better disconnect them since I am only here to keep in touch with my family.”
BAM..these people are gone and that person who goes back and forth across the lines of the divide loses a solid connection to the rest of the world. There clearly is no defined rules of how to go about crossing the fence set up for some social networks. Staying in the middle and not floating back and forth is really hard to do, but is necessary if someone is taking on the role of a Social Mediaist.
What is a Social Mediaist
(Recently I defined in another blog post the definition of a Social Mediaist. Here is more information)
Fortunately, there are ways of using Social Media to stay in the middle of the social networking arena. The purpose is to provide interesting information to those who are in the social arena for Family reasons and those who are in the social networks to market. In case you are lost at what a Social Mediaist is and why someone in business should adapt to this style of socializing here is a reminder.
A Social Mediaist is someone out to socialize with real people as a real person. The mission for a Social Mediaist is to draw the people they socialize with into being interested enough to look beyond their socializing to find out more about who they are and who they represent. This is the New Style of Marketing that is showing an 80% better result than traditional marketing.
Here are a few tips to help keep your social mediaist status:
- Never get involved in or post anything concerning Politics or Religion. Neither will win or make friends.
- Keep the posts in a Conversational form. Posting quotes from someone is not having a conversation.
- Keep to a minimum the posting of Links to interesting articles.
- Use persuasive statements to get people to check your site.
- Press the LIKE Button (Or RT Button) less and make more actual Comments.
- Respond to everyone who takes the time to respond to or comment to your posts. Yes, even if it takes a week..it is what you have to do to be a social mediaist.
Stay in the Middle at All Costs
There are a lot of problems developing in the social networks that is driven by poor global economy. The push to make a Buck before Making a Friend is tempting to many who are not with the program or who refuse to make the change to the new ways of marketing. There are also problems with the many who accept social mediaist as friends into their Family circle but are not willing to be poked for a promotion. Both of these extremes of socializing are causing the newbies and by-standers of the social arena to leave before gaining an understanding of what they are seeing are extremes from the two different cultures that are online.
Combining the two problems associated with social networking is causing a feeling of uncertainty to both sides of the social network. The family only members are tiring at attempts the professional only make to get to them as a patsy to a business scheme and the profit from this capture market are rubbing each other raw. The result is obvious. People and businesses are leaving the social arena.
What is keeping the balance between the two sides of social networking are the social mediaist of the world. They understand clearly what is at stake and how volatile the environments are to collapse. They also know how to socialize which enhances even further their value to businesses and the family only people who could gain from being associated with them.
The message is clear..if you are in the middle stay there. Drop your family only and your professional only image and develop a neutral image. Be conscious of your image as a translator and use your position in the middle to pass information back and forth using a social manor or method.
There are a lot of problems developing as more business people and family people come online. There is room for all and all an get along as long as they know how to communicate with each other. Use the middle people to your advantage. They usually do a good job of socializing.
Let me know how I can help.
