Deconstructing Social (Again)

Only this time, with charts!

I know what you're thinking. Who is 30k Feet to tell me how to conduct my life in social media?

Granted, there is no 'golden rule' for how and who you choose to connect with on the web.

The way I see it, there are two types of people using social media.

1. Those that annoy their followers.
2. Those that get annoyed by their followers.

If the first would stop, the second would cease to exist.
But if we're being totally honest with ourselves, we're probably each guilty of instigating annoyance from time to time.

Let's talk about what we can do to fix that.

Too many choices!

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare.

Blogger vs. Wordpress vs. Tumbler.

Oh, and what about Instagram, Path and Pinterest?

Whether you’re on all of these (and then some), or only a few, here’s how I try to think of each major platform holistically:

Customer Segmentation?

Exactly! It's Marketing 101. You have different things to share with each audience. When you think about it in these terms, you’re really engaging in (social media) target marketing.

Now let's take it a step further and discuss when you should and should not content across platforms.

Sensory overload, but fairly self-explanatory.

Something to remember about photos:

Disclaimer: I’m a HUGE fan of Instagram (especially as of late). Please forgive and take no offense at my passion-filled rant.

Instagram photos and mobile uploads to Twitter or Facebook are two very different things.

As broached in the first slide, 

Instagram IS visually stunning art and snapshots of everyday life. It's capturing moments spent with family and friends, nature's unyielding beauty, and the dramatic detail of architecture.

Instagram IS NOT you capturing a guy’s ass crack hanging out at the bar. It’s NOT the jewel case to the latest Resident Evil game for your XBOX. These are mobile uploads for Twitter or Facebook.

(And in BOTH cases, ALWAYS include a caption explaining why the hell you thought the image was worthy of sharing in the first place.)

The Two 'Nevers:'

Foursquare to Facebook

We discussed this a bit in our Facebook Resolutions post last year, but it bears repeating.

Nobody wins when you sync the two. If we want to know where you are, we’ll follow you on foursquare. If we’re already following you on foursquare, we don’t need to see your check-in on Facebook as well.

Fundamentally, foursquare is a game. People check in for points and to alert friends where they are. No one wants to see you bounce from point A to point B on Facebook with no further elaboration. It’s infuriating! 

Twitter to Facebook 

Why build a following on both just to be redundant?

New approach: Picture the various Social Media applications as different ticket packages to the same event – your (social media) life.

Twitter is front-row, exclusive/all access. These are your diehard fans; they can’t get enough of you.

Facebook is nose-bleed with obstructed view. These seats don’t get to see it all; they are adequate for followers with only a modest interest in you.

The people that sit in each of these sections expect very different experiences.

So give Facebook friends less and Twitter followers more; feeding only the BIGGEST of news to both.