Building Community: A new kind of relationship?

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7 year(s) ago
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3 mins, 28 secs read

“I don’t need social media…

I’m not interested, it’s a waste of time, it’s not for me, I’m not selling anything.”

Take your pick as to which answer you’ve heard before. I find that this conversation comes up repeatedly (maybe I’m giving away my age here).

People seem to forget that they have a choice as to how much, when, how and why to engage. There are great reasons to be on social media and the first step is to decide why we’re on it in the first place.

I do see the irony of writing about this on social media to a group of people who are already on and probably happily active but maybe you know someone…

We have a pretty clear view of our relationship maps, right? From family to close friends, other friends, work colleagues, direct reports, bosses, acquaintances etc. There are many categories and broadly speaking they’re defined by who we see and who we are in contact with at varying levels of frequency, to create our community.

But now, we have a new category of relationship: the virtual relationship.

These include people that we’ve never interacted with, spoken to or met. Yet we’re connected to them on various social media platforms. We follow their threads, read the content they post and feel like we know them a little, because we enjoy what they share. And vice versa.

These relationships have formed an important part of our network and community.

Today this is a big part of how communities are created and built.

As a business owner, I understand the need to be visible and known. I’m active on social media so that people can get to know me, what I think about and how I like to contribute in my world. Through this process, a level of trust may begin to develop (even though we still haven’t met) and that is how we build virtual friendships, ever important and valued.

What about leaders, managers and employees in organisations? Do they need to be active on social media? Is it important for you to build a community?

As a leader in an organisation you may think that you don’t need to use social media because you’re not selling anything. However, this works for you in the same way as it does for a business owner. No matter your role, you’re the face of the company (and brand) you work for. If people begin to know you, decide if they like what you stand for and then trust you then they can make decisions about the business that you’re in too.

The same applies for the people you work with. It is helpful to build a community who gets to know you a little better. Through social media, the people around you get a glimpse into your life, your thoughts, what you value and how you engage. This means that they will be more likely to go the extra mile for you and help out when you need it.

And when you’re ready to change jobs or try a new career? It would certainly benefit you to have a broad community then and how much better off will you be if you already have one?

Think about your personal brand.

Think about why you want to build a community around you, what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Creating virtual connections gets your message out into the world and helps you build trust with a community that holds potential for now and for the future.

 

Where to begin?

  1. Update your profile today.
  2. Invite people to connect.
  3. Build virtual friendships.

And… See what happens.

 

Remember you always have a choice as to your level of engagement.

The more you put in, the more you get out but first get clear on why you’re there.

I’ll take this opportunity to be grateful to my community – both real-time and virtual. I love sharing my worldview and hearing back how you’ve been impacted.

Thank you and keep connecting!