Have you noticed that once again the landscape of Social Media is changing? It might just be my perspective, but its seems that Social Media has become A LOT less social!
With all of the amazing scheduling tools available to bloggers these days (Buffer, Hootsuite, CoSchedule, etc), it seems Social Media has shifted away from real time updates and status changes to scheduled self promotion. I have to admit that I’m not innocent with it comes to “over scheduling”, I’m just a guilty as the next blogger. These tools make life Wayyyyyyy easier, but I think they have also sucked a lot of the personal side out of Social Media.
Twitter seems to be a never ending stream of self promoting tweets. What happened to having a healthy “twitter ratio”? The very first Bloggy Bootcamp I ever attended taught me that twitter should be 80% interaction/promoting others and only 20% self promotion. Has that gotten thrown out the window? Even when I DO post a question or attempt a conversation, all I seem to get is crickets….
Facebook – – Dare I go there? Seems like most bloggers have given up on getting interaction on their pages. I know there are days I think about deleting the thing entirely. With the constant changes to Facebook’s algorithms, just when you find something that works a little… they change it up again. The only thing that REALLY seems to work is paid promotion… but who’s got time (or even money) for that???
Google +… do most people even use G+? I try and add my posts for the “google juice” that you supposedly get… but do people even see it? I have no idea! With everything that I have to do on a daily basis around here, I don’t have time to spend scrolling through another social media channel. Some people have told me G+ is the new facebook… I suppose I should get more on board… them maybe I’ll see the draw? What are your thoughts on G+??
Instagram is currently my favorite social media! It seems to be the last hold out on a scheduling app… and thank goodness! While I sometimes think it would be awesome and super convenient to be able to schedule some posts, I think it would completely change the feel of this awesome app. Instagram is all about real life, as it happens, I think thats why I like it some much. I like getting to “see” into peoples lives and letting them peek at mine 🙂 Dear Instagram, I hope you never change!
So what can possibly be done about putting the SOCIAL back in Social Media?
Well… I think taking our interactions off “auto pilot” is a major step in the right direction. Its absolutely ok to schedule things – especially if you’re in a particularly busy period – but don’t schedule EVERYTHING. Make a point to hop on twitter or facebook or G+ and post in real time. But above all engage your followers, answer their questions and connect with them… and in a timely manner! Readers and followers always appreciate a quick response, especially if they’re looking to you for help with something. And the rest of your readers/followers will *hopefully* see your response and look to you as someone that they can actually connect with and get help from.
After all… isn’t that the point?
What are your favorite Social Media’s? Do you think that Social Media has become less social?
I don't have an Instagram account; I think I'm the lone holdout. But, you're right that social media has become mostly about promotion.
Scheduling helps me not be on social media obsessively, but I do try to share some "off the cuff" tidbits throughout the day, too. Lots to think about, Jennifer!
I love scheduling, but try not to schedule more than one per day on FB. I schedule for the PM and try to post live in the AM when I usually have a little more time to interact, share things, and read. As for Twitter… I rarely schedule there, and find more interaction there. Not a lot, but more than FB some days.
Love this post it's so true that we forget to add our self to things these days.
Yes, I agree. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in getting no feedback from followers. IG is definitely my favorite!
I find twitter to be pretty social. I get a lot of shares and comments on there. I use it for blogging and personal use and that helps. Facebook.. well, only the loyal followers who have our page on "notifications" lol. But that's because of the algorithm garble. My personal page is fine, but that is for real life friends and not blogging stuff. I haven't figured out G+ and I don't really see it being used all that much. Instagram, well, I don't use it all that much for blogging purposes, more for personal. Pinterest has become fun to use, though it isn't as interactive other than sharing and resharing. I would definitely like to see more interaction on social media, but for now I prefer interaction in blog comments 🙂
I do think it's easy to get caught up in that. But I think it evens out after awhile. I remember when a friend was starting out a small business she had to constantly, constantly promote. But once she was established with regular clients, it wasn't so much like that anymore. I have had twitter for years and years and I am finally beginning to get the hang of it. But I only had maybe a tweet or two to my name for many years!
Honestly I think part of it is the obsession with promoting blog posts. Every blog post does not need to be promoted on every social media channel. Different channels work for different kinds of content, and honestly some blog posts really don't need to be broadcast on social media at all.
When people feel like they have to promote everything everywhere, the scheduling takes over, and then the way it's shared in social media feels impersonal because of the tools being used. I'm constantly seeing auto-tweets of people's posts where from the text and link, I have NO idea what the post is about outside of the context of their blog. They use an RSS>Tweet tool instead of slowing down and taking the time to write a comprehensible Tweet which could still be scheduled, but would feel more personal.
Then with favor trading between bloggers, people are RTing, repinning, etc. all kinds of content to the point where I have no idea who they are and what they really like – as Emily said above, it's not about their "self" anymore. Which is what I'm looking for in social media. I've only recently started using Instagram and I am being very picky about who I follow, because I don't need another avalanche of cross-promoted content that's on Instagram just because the person has an Instagram account.
I'm starting to see signs that G+ isn't going to last. And good riddance, the interface is horrible.
(This whole comment makes me sound like the old lady on her front porch yelling "git off mah lawn!")
I mostly see self-promotion on twitter and facebook; getting likes or followers — when I do post a response I almost never get a reply–it's all about the brand recognition, even for bloggers.