May 29, 2012
[This blog is a continuing exploration of the public relations efforts, particularly via social media, of Palm Springs Toastmasters. It aims to be a discussion about what to do, and what to avoid. We hope that it will serve as a tutorial for anyone contemplating public relations on behalf of a local organization such as our club.]
One theory of how social media works is this: it’s all about making friends. And I emphasize all. To get anything out of social media, for it to benefit you in any measurable manner, you need to make friends. At first blush, that seems an extremely tedious way to go about things. Making friends takes time. And it takes energy as well: taking note, showing concern, getting to know someone. Who would want to make friends with someone in order for them to [fill in the blank—buy your product, contribute to your cause, hire your services, join your club].
But is not everything accomplished in that same way? The fan of a musician, the person joining an organization, the purchaser with brand loyalty all feel some degree of personal connection.
What are the channels that lead to that connection, that (at some level) friendship? A musician can make sounds that give a listener pleasure. Someone with a cause can demonstrate that she shares the same concerns as a potential donor. In order to ‘get a benefit’ we always have to ‘make a friend.’ Social media are nothing more nor less than a different channel for making friends. At the same time, we make friends the same way we always do.
Therefore, it’s all about making friends. So goes the theory. It seems plausible to me.
What theories do you favor?
And if I were trying to make friends with you, or you with me, how should we go about it?
Conversely, a consideration of what actions might keep us distant might prove instructive. When someone ignores my greetings, questions or comments, that makes me feel distant. So does someone’s incessant talk about a single topic. If you want to become friends with me, avoid these behaviors.
Do the opposite and we stand a good chance of becoming friends. Pay attention to me, show interest. Respect me. Demonstrate your humanity. Offer help when I need it. Do those things, and there’s a good chance that when you have a concern or invite me to do something, I’ll at least pay attention.
How about you? What are your suggestions?
Statistics
- Tweets: 1793
- Followers: 434
- Following: 732
- Google search for “Palm Springs Toastmasters”: positions #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 18, 19
- Google search for “Palm Springs Public Speaking: #1, 7
- Bing search for “Palm Springs Toastmasters”: #2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16
- Bing search for “Palm Springs Public Speaking”: #6, 7, 12
- Yahoo Search for “Palm Springs Toastmasters”: #1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
- Yahoo Search for “Palm Springs Public Speaking”: #6, 7, 24
plmsprtoastmasters 
I’d agree with you, with the caveat that Social Media is about freedom of expression and freedom to receive more expressions that we have found enjoyable. Non-social media friendships often arise between people whom we are or have been in contact, typically after relatively random meetings and from our locality. Social Media is less random, as it gives each user the opportunity to seek out folks we have met, as well as people whom we have not met, but like their particular expression.
For instance, perhaps we appreciated what someone has on their page and Retweet it or indicate we liked it. The author/artist may then see our liking and exchange further contacts. This may continue and result in a regular exchange via social media, possibly even friendship or associations beyond the web world.
Thus, on Twitter, we can follow someone, or on Facebook, we can friend someone, thus regularly receiving their messages and artistry, some we like and some we might not enjoy. To me, that’s a strong indication of a social compact between the people, when they put up with a few not so great messages, because overall they enjoy many others from that person (or company).
Social media allows us to be less random, because we can pick out people expression we want to see, based on what we have already seen. Not so, in the outside world, in which you may not know the persons at all, other than a limited, irregular contact. Even folks whom we may know from work, we may know something of their work and know nothing of them personally, and we can learn about them from social media and decide whether or not we’d like to associate outside of work, because of their media postings.
Good thoughts, Robert. Do you think that it is through ‘becoming friendly’ with people that we obtain our desired objectives? It seems to me that this is exactly how things often work, whether in the digital world or IRL (in real life).
Let’s consider getting visitors to our club meetings. If you stop a random person on the street and invite them to visit our club, chances are pretty small that they would heed your invitation. However, someone you know well would be much more likely to consider visiting. If we merely “announce” our meeting invitations, via fliers, advertisements, or on social media, response is likely to be negligible. Perhaps it is only by “becoming friends” that we can effectively increase our meeting attendance. Perhaps social media is yet another venue for “becoming friends.”
My recent experience with my friend Calvin Taplay (@CalvinTaplay) comes to mind. He became interested in Toastmasters upon seeing some tweet exchanges between me and Stephanie Scott (@wildfireeffect). That was only because he knows us.
On the other hand, some folks seek us out through online searches, or simply see an event listing in the paper. While our social media activity makes us more prominent in online searches, there may have been no friendship building involved.
Social media may be a valuable tool for making and developing personal connections. Or maybe it is just too much work. But then, developing personal relationships is always work, through any platform.
Thus we seek ways for improving.