Know your (social media) audience

One of my biggest mottos of social media is: do not annoy your friends. Or your “Friends.” It’s kind of like do no harm, and I think the fastest way to break the motto is to inundate your followers with the same message. That inlcudes repeating the same tweet nine times in six days, “In case you missed it! Did you miss this? DEAR GOD, PLEASE READ THIS!!” (you know who you are), as well as posting the same message on every one of your 27 social networks.

Granted, some things are probably important enough that you want to make sure everyone knows it, but if it’s not–figure out who would be most interested in your post’s content and put it where those people will see it. It’s just marketing, unfortunately–matching your message to your audience–but I would hazard a guess that your Friends will appreciate it. Especially your super-cool I’M ON EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA EVARRR friends. If you say the same thing on every social network, you’re just encouraging your followers to choose only one network to follow you on and dump you on the rest, and no one wants that. You want all the friends on all the netwerkz, right?

Here’s how I go about it. I’ve already discovered where my Friends overlap, and which networks reach the most people (see fun Venn diagrams and other charts in this post). Now I’ve sort of figured out what kinds of people use each social network the most, and from here I can figure out where to post any given kind of message. How about another Venn diagram??!!>$!

While Facebook is the network where I have the most connections, I rarely post anything due to the wide variety of people who might see it. But if there’s one place I can post something where it will reach the most people, Facebook is it. Whether that’s a question, a plea for help, a link to a new blog post, or photos with a lot of people in them–it’s going on Facebook. And, let’s face it, anything I want my old high school classmates to be impressed by.

Twitter is where most of the action is, for me at least. Anything that has to do with social media goes here, because this is where the really hip social media dudes live, as well as generally funny things found on the Interwebz. Anything design or advertising related gets tweeted to my former colleagues in the industry, as well as local stuff–since there’s a chance it will be picked up by the awesome people @Btown or on other local accounts. Twitter is also the place to talk about anything in real time: a TV show that a lot of people are watching live, the parade downtown, or just sort of stream-of-consciousness thoughts and photos.

Oh Google+, no one understands you. Except for a few nerdy friends, which is why I save posts that would be appreciated by nerds as well as questions about technology for Google+. Also things that are deemed too unkind for Facebook, thanks to the Circles of exclusion. And it’s pretty much a guarantee than any photo of a cat or dog will be a big hit.

ZOMGPinterest! The darling of the social media scene. For ladies, at least. Tasty food item you will probably never make? Pin that shit! Super awesome craft project you don’t have time to try? Pin that shit! Elegant and understated floral arrangement for the wedding you’re planning/you’ve already had/is nowhere in your foreseeable future? PIN THAT SHIT RIGHT AWAY. Love it.

As far as I can tell, no one really uses GetGlue. I first found it during research for a social media recommendations paper, but then I kind of fell in love with it. Now, whenever I have a witty comment about a TV show or movie, I head on over to GetGlue. You could try Twitter, but unless you’re watching a first-run episode live, there’s no guarantee anyone else will know what the hell you’re talking about. Comments in GetGlue are saved to the program you’re currently watching (checked in to). Plus, STICKERSZZ!1!!

And that’s how I see it. A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. Maybe this is a helpful way to think about managing your social media use, maybe it was boring and you’re mad about the minutes you’ve just wasted. That one is kind of on you for reading all the way through.

If you’d like to waste more time on my social media ramblings, see this post about social capital, or this one about social ties.