How important is social influence and why should we care?
Those two questions have been buzzing around my head like maddening bees for days now as I prepare a discussion for a Social Media for PR class at RIT.
With the seeming boom in social influence measuring tools (Klout, PeerIndex, Empire Avenue, TwentyFeet, to name a few) in the end what do all of these scores mean if you are a marketer or a public relations professional?
So to find out what the world thinks I’m simply going to ask three questions and see who responds.
For this unscientific survey I will ask people active in social media and perhaps not-so-active in social media to give short answers (by Twitter DM or "@" message to @mikefixs if necessary).
The three questions:
1. Why does social influence matter to a brand, business or organization?
2. How or does social influence determine who you interact with?
3. Has social influence on your end or the customer/client’s end played a role in a successful or better outcome?
Please use the Comments area below to answer.
Any help you can give in spreading this request to others in social media would be greatly appreciated.
Symbolism has a role in social media in ways not a lot of people seem to understand. Whether it’s your avatar picture or your social media account name it’s hard to deny that each individually and collectively carries some symbolism for those who see them.
And in this Super Bowl Weekend if you want to understand the importance of thinking ahead when choosing symbols you need look no further than how the National Football League (NFL) uses numbers for each Super Bowl.
You likely have noticed that this year’s NFL championship is Super Bowl XLVI. That would be the Roman numerals where "XL" equals the modern numeral 40 and "VI" equals the numeral 6. Hence this is the 46th Super Bowl.
But, I wonder, has the NFL looked ahead four years to 2016 when the 50th Super Bowl will take place? That event will have the possibly unfortunate title of "Super Bowl L."
That’s right the letter "L" is the Roman numeral that means the number 50. And, depending on where in the world you’re living, the letter "L" can also mean "loser" or "learner."
Either way, I have to think that sweatshirts, T-shirts, caps and all of the other branded paraphernalia that gets sold around the Super Bowl will not be quite as popular that year.
Which brings me back to the point of symbolism: I’m sure that when the NFL decided to start using Roman numerals to designate Super Bowls in 1971 when the fifth championship was played that the 50th playing of the game seemed a long way off. But now, only four years away from a big "L" of a championship game let’s hope someone at the NFL is thinking about this.
In the meantime have you looked at all your social media presences in terms of the symbolism they may be projecting? Maybe this Super Bowl Weekend is a good time to think about this.
What do you think? Is symbolism part of what establishes your social identity?
As Linkedin continues to grow (now close to 150 million members) it seems more and more people may be rushing to get their profiles published there.
In their rush to be live on Linkedin (or maybe through a lack of thought earlier) they may be doing things that will make them look bad on this social network, specifically, and in social media generally.
So if you’d like to deliberately waste your effort on the world’s leading social network for professionals, here are the 5 Ways to Undermine Your Linkedin Profile:
1. Use a bad profile picture: By "bad" I mean any image that makes you look like someone I would not want to work with, collaborate with or in any other way connect with. For example, you may look like you’re in a police lineup or you’ve decided to use an image from your webcam that makes you look serious. But, your picture is there to help people remember you or identify you quickly from all the others with the same or a similar name. Best practice: Have a picture that’s a tightly cropped image of your face and shows you at your best. And, this should be obvious, smile!
2. Write a poor Professional Headline: In the area of your profile right under your name is the opportunity to have a “headline” on your profile. Simply saying "student" or "engineer" is a great way to keep people guessing. But when someone is searching on Linkedin they will usually just see this shortened version of your profile. Best practice: Use this headline as a "King of Elevator Pitches." In other words, in as few words as possible say what you do professionally and why people might want to connect with you. For example: "Children’s book author and teacher" or "Marketing and sales professional" or "Deep thinker and inventor of the widget."
3. Have an ineffective Summary: Just saying something about who you are and what you want is all that matters right? Wrong! This is the space where you need to sum up your professional experience, how you like to contribute to others’ success and how people can connect with you beyond the URLs Linkedin allows you to post. Best practice: Write your summary in short paragraphs as though a reader might drift away at any moment – they will. Start with a short paragraph that sums you up – your Professional Headline explained, if you will. The next paragraph talks about a current position and how it fits into who you are professionally. Take what journalists call the “Inverted Pyramid” approach (newsiest item first, second-newsiest second and so on) to these paragraphs. Round it out with you contact points such as where you can be found on other social networks and a phone number.
4. Ignore how your Public Profile looks: If you think that just "being on" Linkedin is far more important that "doing anything" with your Linkedin profile then just walk away now. But if you want Linkedin to act as an online resume or CV then spend the time (just an hour or so) to make it the best it can be. Best practice: In the "Edit Profile" view of your Linkedin Page you’ll see a nicely boxed area that contains all the information that appears at the top of you profile when it’s displayed. The last item in this box is call "Public Profile" and to the right of that is the URL for your page and a link to "edit" this. Click on the "edit" button. The page you arrive at will show your profile as it appears publicly and over on the right side allow you to control what others see. Make sure that as much as possible you are displaying everything about your work history and expertise. Also take a minute to personalize your URL so that it has your name in it rather than the alphabet soup URL that Linkedin provides.
5. Make your Connections open: By leaving your Connections open to the public anyone can "creep" on your profile and find other people to connect with. If you know them well that’s fine, but, lets be real, do we want all our connections to be open to everyone we connect with? Best practice: Under Privacy Controls click on "Select who can see your connections" and select "Only you. " Then take a short paragraph at the end of your Summary to explain that your Connections are kept closed to assure privacy, but that you’re willing to open them at an agreed upon time to people you know and trust.
These are only the most basic mistakes – there are plenty of others. Perhaps that’s fodder for a future post.
What do you think? Are people being sloppy with their Linkedin profiles? Are they looking bad in social media because of it?
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the fourth in a series about Facebook.
If you have followed this series then you’re ready to double-check that you’re done.
A Final Checklist
• Changed Facebook to Timeline Yes No
• Checked each month and each year’s postings to hide anything inappropriate Yes No
• Checked my Privacy Settings Yes No
• Sorted my Friends into the appropriate Lists Yes No
• Took a look at my Profile as others see it Yes No
No? If you want to do this visit your profile and go to "View As …" at the top.
Those with Timeline should first click the wheel next to "Activity Log." Enter the name of a close friend, a co-worker or a random acquaintance to make sure no one is seeing too much. Click "public" to see how everyone else sees it.
A Final Warning
Facebook makes changes … a lot! In the past it has added functions and reset privacy settings without making any kind of announcement. So maybe it’s time to set up a regular reminder – monthly, quarterly or, at the very least, annually – to go through this kind of checkup.
As is true on all social media you should use these networks with a "buyer beware attitude." If you’re uncomfortable about something you have three choices, ignore it, turn it off or abandon that social network.
Yes, that last choice is one I’ve made with several social networks in recent years and one I have come very close to making with Facebook. Good luck.
Was this post helpful? Will you check your Facebook settings more regularly in the future?
Those two questions have been buzzing around my head like maddening bees for days now as I prepare a discussion for a Social Media for PR class at RIT.
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