Kevin v Duuglas-Ittu
Here is a list of Social Media Principles I have been working with and thinking theoretically about for sometime. A very sharp friend is starting up her own company and I thought I'd put them down again to see if they've developed. The list is meant as deep thought advice about Social Media works and how to succeed, a work-sheet for the imagination.
Social Media operates largely through Gift Economy. This means that the Giver - of information, experiences, knowledge, status, opportunity, voice, connection - gains status within communities, creating "positive debt" that binds persons to the Giver. Producing positive debt through giving creates loyalties that establish the value of the relationship over either of the participants.
Perhaps more important than even content itself, the regularity and tempo of action, reaction and interaction is a powerful cue and regulator. Through tempo the energy of the "room" is established and expectations are set. Tempo creates habit and trust. It is the proof behind content often.
Once you have a Network, a Network of any kind, go about empowering individuals and groups in that Network to be capable of doing or producing more. Teach others "how". Not only is there Gift Economy benefits, it makes the Network itself capable of more than any agent might imagine. Help combine elements in your Network, become the facilitator with no specific end in mind.
Do not think in Dyads, think in Threes. This Triangulation has Two Parts:
There is always an invisible 3rd in any Social Media interaction, that is what makes it "social". You are always talking to unseen others when you are talking to one. Use this to symbolize yourself and your community. Act so your actions will be like productive tones or structures to be replicated by others.
Always work to connect not so much yourself to another (Dyad) but others to each other (Threes). This triangulation of two others is itself a primary replicating action that grows ethical Networks into communities.
Social Media is not a place for logos or product names. They can be used there of course, but their effectiveness is truly minimized. Often it's the case because platforms are facialized digital environments where people in fast seconds scan faces over and over and make instantaneous identification valuations. Do I trust? Do I like? Do I know? The faces of your company should come forward to represent it.
When growing your Network there is a basic rule of reciprocity that allows mutual though asymmetrical connection. If you would like someone or something to be connected to you, connect to them or it and be a facilitator. Beyond any reciprocity directly achieved, connect to those or that which is already connected, invest in the community.
Social Media is a dream space. There a brand can dream what it can be. What you post, share and elevate is not just what you offer, but also the value ambitions that both you and your followers-users-consumers dream of. Let others dream through you and participate in your path.
In your digital spaces be aware that you are not just presenting something. You are opening up portals and vistas. A portal is something a user can pass through - beyond your property - encouraging them to return for other pass-throughs. A vista is something someone can see from your property, but which also encourages them to stay and to associate the experience. A good digital house or mansion has both doors and windows.
There is a Rule in all electronic communication by which the length of comment indicates the energy investment in the relationship itself. This means it might not matter so much what you say as how long you take to say it. Respond to negative behaviors briefly, and/or slowly. Use length or quick response for behaviors you want to nourish. As a rule match length if you want to match investment - being super positive but brief does not suffice. We are always indicating our investments through length and time.
Let people experience you and your digital space as a connection to a variety of other people and spaces. If you are just a cul-de-sac destination only those with focused interest and time will come to you. Instead let others experience your very connectivity to the world they value.
Spend the extra time to publicly recognize those you interact with (first names help in many circumstances). Even a strict content question is not just a question requiring an answer. Elevate question asking itself by elevating the person and seeing this as the beginning of a relationship of some kind. Broadcast the value of others to others. This becomes a new standard others will repeat, and thus germinates community.
Realize that in digital spaces brands are exposed to potential versions of themselves in every consumer/user interaction. What happens in those spaces is that brands come in touch with the desires of consumers and users, and they in turn come in touch with the desire of the brand. As each affects the other in best settings BOTH begin to evolve. A brand changes in the atmosphere of consumer expectation, and consumers are changed by their closeness to the brand as they to some degree participate in it. Both are learning something.
