Social media is emotional, like art. You must find your own voice
Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, May 6, 2017
One phrase that is often repeated these days is "it's called social media for a reason". That highlights an often overlooked fact: you've got to communicate with others for it to work. And people being people, much of this will involve emotions.
Not understanding this is perhaps the biggest barrier to success with this method of promotion, in my opinion. Many get into it thinking it's primarily a technical process, or just an advertising method. They use it as such and nothing or very little happens, so they throw their hands up in frustration.
They might get the "people" aspect of it to some degree, and then closely follow some "sure fire" method devised by a self-described "social media guru". Sure, some of these guys do deserve such a label. And if you can find one who does and follow his system then it can be useful. However I do think being so systematic does have big limitations.
If you just replicate exactly what someone else has done, rinsing and repeating as the saying goes, then you just become another of the guru's clones. You don't let your own true character come across in your interactions.
And in the end that's what it's all about. Those people you are interacting with want to get to know you.
It's this uniqueness aspect of social media that makes it much more like an art form than anything else. After all, in the arts emotions are paramount. And artists spend a great deal of time and energy on finding their own unique voice or angle on things. They must learn the craft, master it and then use it to create something that is uniquely their own.
Obviously the craft of social media is basic compared to the vast majority of art forms. It can be learned pretty quickly, even in a day! But the organic process of making it your own, finding your unique voice on each of your favourite platforms will take as long as it takes. You can't force it. You have to let it develop organically.
I think this is worth remembering, especially if you've tried very hard to make it work over a comparatively short time and had no luck. Don't give it up entirely. Just have a break and come back when it feels right. You'll make much more progress then.
Not understanding this is perhaps the biggest barrier to success with this method of promotion, in my opinion. Many get into it thinking it's primarily a technical process, or just an advertising method. They use it as such and nothing or very little happens, so they throw their hands up in frustration.
They might get the "people" aspect of it to some degree, and then closely follow some "sure fire" method devised by a self-described "social media guru". Sure, some of these guys do deserve such a label. And if you can find one who does and follow his system then it can be useful. However I do think being so systematic does have big limitations.
If you just replicate exactly what someone else has done, rinsing and repeating as the saying goes, then you just become another of the guru's clones. You don't let your own true character come across in your interactions.
And in the end that's what it's all about. Those people you are interacting with want to get to know you.
It's this uniqueness aspect of social media that makes it much more like an art form than anything else. After all, in the arts emotions are paramount. And artists spend a great deal of time and energy on finding their own unique voice or angle on things. They must learn the craft, master it and then use it to create something that is uniquely their own.
Obviously the craft of social media is basic compared to the vast majority of art forms. It can be learned pretty quickly, even in a day! But the organic process of making it your own, finding your unique voice on each of your favourite platforms will take as long as it takes. You can't force it. You have to let it develop organically.
I think this is worth remembering, especially if you've tried very hard to make it work over a comparatively short time and had no luck. Don't give it up entirely. Just have a break and come back when it feels right. You'll make much more progress then.
