Webster defines “social” in this manner:

Main Entry: ¹so·cial

1 : involving allies or confederates <the SocialWar between the Athenians and their allies>
2 a : marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with one’s friends or associates<leads a very full social life> b : sociable c : of, relating to, or designed for sociability <a social club>
3 : of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society <social institutions>
4 a : tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others of one’s kind : gregarious b : living and breeding in more or less organized communities <social insects> c of a plant : tending to grow in groups or masses so as to form a pure stand
5 a : of, relating to, or based on rank or status in a particular society <a member of our social set> b : of, relating to, or characteristic of the upper classes c :formal
6 : being such in social situations <a social drinker>

In every single definition of the word, more than one person is involved.  So when it comes to your social networking, is there more than one person involved?

Yes, you may have more than one person in your network, but are you interacting with them?

Are you engaging them in conversation?

Are you reaching out to them to get to know them?

Moreover, do you even know who the majority of your followers are or do you follow every one you can with the hopes that they will follow you back?  And do you follow every one who follows you?

I ask these questions of you, because you should be asking them of yourself.  Social networking should not be a billboard for you to simply talk about yourself, your product, or your business.

Can you do these things? Absolutely!  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t.  But it’s not the only thing that you should be talking about.

I get slightly hot under the collar when I see someone who has 52,000 followers, yet only follows 121 people.

It annoys me to look at their stream and see links to their business and products, but no interaction with other people.

The reality of it is, engaging people, whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media outlet is about getting involved.

I know that social media takes time to manage.  Even with just 300+ followers, I have to find ways to make it all work.  But, my goal is to respond to everyone who reaches out to me.  I attempt to learn more about each of my new followers.  I also retweet and share comments from others to help them spread the word.

If you’re not interacting with your followers, please consider doing so.  You’ll find that your true network will grow, true relationships will form, and your business will flourish much faster.

With the increase of communication via the internet, more and more people are putting it all out there on sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, personal blogs, etc.  Some take advantage of the privacy options offered, either protecting all of their Facebook page, protecting their Twitter updates, or password protecting their blog, but what about the people you HAVE invited into your space?

I am saddened many times with the Tweets that I see during the day, ones complaining about a client, a boss, a husband.

Often times, I don’t think we realize how far a tweet can go…or how long a comment can be indexed.  It’s something that I remind the teens in my youth group on regularly.

These bright, young people will soon be faced with the task of applying to colleges and eventually jobs.  Their internet history will follow them if they aren’t careful.

That same advice should be given to adults as well.

But take it off line.

The person you hung up on because you sensed it was another telemarketer…could they be a potential client?

Yes.

The parent sitting next to you at your child’s tee-ball game that you made an inappropriate comment to… could they be a potential customer?

Yes.

The world is smaller than we think.

A few weeks ago, I called a company to set up an appointment.  Before I could even get out my name, the lady hung up on me.  I won’t be referring that company to anyone.  I only refer people to companies where I know they will get treated like a person.

Later on in the week, I showed up at an appointment only to realize that the man I was meeting with coached my son in football a few years ago.  Do you think I did a quick rewind of the history to make sure that I might never offended him?

I did and fortunately, I was pretty sure that there wasn’t anything I needed to be worried about.

Word travels fast.

Make sure the message you’re sending is a positive one; one that reflects who you are, the type of business you conduct, and a reason for someone to tell the world about you.

I attend a meeting weekly (or almost weekly if there are so school delays or sick kids) in which we talk about the various uses of social networking.  Many of the members of the group are currently using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc but some of the people who come are there so that they can learn about these mediums and how they can use them to better market their business.

My first response to anyone is “don’t just use it to market your business.  Use it to build relationships.”  And I’ll stand by that until the day that I die.

However, there are certain people who I feel are excluded from the advice that I give and they are the News Media outlets.  Yes, I would LOVE if the local paper or tv stations would engage in conversation, but the reality of it is, very few do.

And that’s okay.  I follow them because I don’t have time to sit down and watch the news, but I want to know what’s going on in the area that I live.  With Twitter, I’m able to scan the headline and see if it’s something that affects me.  If it is, I can read it.  If not, I simply ignore it.

So while they don’t follow the “rules” of why these types of sites were created, I do believe that they have every right, and there is a demand for them.

However, I don’t feel they are get the most out of them and feel that they are failing their followers, and losing out on the potential that they could have.  In other words?  They’re missing the boat.  And they’re missing out on potential viewers, which in turn means their missing out on potential ratings points.

And in the TV world?  Rating points equals profit.

We all know that tv stations are most notable known for their news.  Weather is the umbrella.  Most people chose their news station based on who they feel does a better job in the weather arena.  Ok, fine.  That’s just how it is, for the most part.

However, there is more to a TV station than just news.

In looking at the three local ABS, CBS, and NBC stations… all of which I follow, only tweet their top headlines.  All are done through TwitterFeed or API.  They are working off of the set it and forget it mode.

Ok, fine.

But you’re missing something,

As someone who doesn’t watch much TV (as I’m sure many of you can relate), I don’t know new programs that are coming out.  I don’t know the dates and times that they premiere.  I’m not up to snuff on the dates that the holiday kids specials air.

Last night was a perfect example.

Did you know that Charlie Brown’s Valentine was on?  I didn’t.  And I’m sure many of you didn’t either.  (Not sure how many of you cared, but I did.  Those are things that my family enjoys.)  Promoting shows on the TV is great, if people are watching already.  We aren’t.

But on a much larger scale, if I don’t currently watch any shows on CBS, how am I to know that the Heros vs Villans starts tonight?

As a former TV gal, one whose job it was to make the ratings look good, the best way to get people to know about something new is to promote it.  Running a promo in the news?  That costs money.

Tweeting it out to your followers?  That’s free.

This morning, WDRL, a local television station not associated with the top 4 networks, posted the lunch time programming that they were airing.  Because the kids were out of school, I passed the information on to them.

It’s not uncommon for WDRL to post the sporting events or special programming that they are airing.  It’s not uncommon for WDRL to retweet something or to personalize their message.

But I also know that the “twit” behind @WDRL24?  He’s personally responsible for every tweet that is sent, and 99.9% of the time, it’s from his cell phone.

To me, that’s impressive.  He’s reaching out to a larger audience.  And the chances of him gaining a new viewer, unfamiliar with the programming on WDRL, has increased.

He gets it.

So TV program directors?  I’m challenging you.  Get involved in the tweeting.  Tell your potential viewers what you have to offer!  Engage in a conversation with your followers so that you can see what they think of your programming.

In a hypenated, diary market, such as the Roanoke-Lynchburg DMA, you can’t always rely on Nielsen to tell the truth.

But you can depend on the vocal residents that are literally, right at your fingertips.

Just some food for thought…

Until next time…