When many people think of social media, they think of Facebook. When they think of Facebook, many people also think of a platform to put your ideas or products into the world. Social Media is so much more than this…it’s social.
Social media is designed to be a two-way conversation. It’s designed to be social. Many people like to think of it as old school one-way communication, where one person talks and the others listen. Advertising was built with this mindset. So was radio. So was television. But social media is different. Social media is built on a framework that everyone has a voice in the conversation. The trick parts of this conversation is making the right message to be heard by others and being able to listen to others to hear theirs. Advertisers have worked for decades to make the right message cut through the noise and be heard, in some way, this is the easy part. The hard part is the listening.
Let’s put it this way, if everyone is trying to put their message out and no one is listening, then who are we really talking to?
We must listen to be social in social media. This is no different than any other conversation in the real world. No one wants to hear someone talk all of the time, they do want to be heard. Even if others disagree, we all want to be heard. So take time to listen to the social media world around you. You don’t have to listen to trolls or bullies. But you can start by listening to your friends. And the way to get more friends is to listen to more people.
Simply, be social.
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