Are You a Social Media Butterfly?

Photo courtesy of Amit Gupta

You know people in your real life when faced with the prospect of attending a social gathering will arrive and immediately flit about from one conversation to the next, never taking any conversation deeper than is absolutely necessary to impress upon the other participants their mere presence. We call them social butterflies.

Social butterflies are popular people. Everyone likes them. But they don’t have very many deep, meaningful relationships –  if any at all.

Now is the time to ask if you might be seen as a social media butterfly. Do you move about from one social media conversation to another without getting too deep into the discussion? Or do you run from one social media website to another without sticking around long enough to build relationships with the other participants? If so, then you are doing yourself and your audience a huge disservice.

Being successful with social media is about building relationships. It’s about engaging with your audience. It’s about conversations. Sometimes those conversations aren’t very deep, but they always have the potential to be.

If you want to make the most of your social media efforts, especially for business, consider whether you are being a social media butterfly. Take the time to develop meaningful relationships with others on your favorite sites. In fact, if you have to, specialize in just one or two social media venues to force yourself to stick to those conversations and make them meaningful.

Social media channels are great for getting the word out, but they become even more meaningful as you begin to build conversations, engage with your audience and really connect while sharing your message.  Focus on one or two social media sites and really go deep – you’ll see the results in the relationships and word of mouth you build, and you’ll be glad you did.

Published on: August 30, 2013