A Call to Social Networkers: Transcend the Snark, Ignite a Spark!

Today's topic is one that's been top of mind for me for some time now. Happily, the stars have aligned, my brave little blog post has made its pilgrimage from brain to desktop to world-wide web, and my bout of blogger's block has ended. For this I have to give credit and thanks to:

1) The free block of time on today's calendar.

2) David Michel Davies (@dmdlikes), ex. director of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS), and founder of the Webby Awards for his presentation at the "Webby Talks" DC stop at the National Press Club.

3) And to industry friend and colleague, Tom McMahon, for inviting me to said Webby Talks event.

To bring us completely up to speed, the Webby Talks presentation highlighted some of the most innovative work that's happening on the Internet today, and provided Webby's view of the ever-changing landscape of Internet and social media use. Twitter came up a lot, Twitter is one powerful communications platform. Still, I was disappointed, though not surprised, to see that the majority of consumer-related Tweets are negative - and often irrationally severe. In his presentation, Mr. Davies provided real-life examples of great companies taking critical situations from bad to worse on a very public platform. He also elevated solid examples of when praise - exalted over Twitter - has done more to raise a company's brand loyalty and bottom line than even the priciest, funniest Superbowl ad the world has ever seen. The kicker is, the praise didn't come from a celebrity endorsement.

Instead, the praise was the sincere result of modest social media interactions packing major karmic clout. Interactions that sparked from companies looking for and finding real opportunities to connect with their followers on a personal level, offer them a gesture of support or solidarity (whether its a product, tip or word of encouragement) and thus transform them into an enthusiastic and credible brand ambassador for life.

How bout some more of that?! Lets see what happens when social media marketers, strategists, personalities, networkers and consumers get 'strategic' about creating some glowing, golden, warm, fuzzy, chocolate-flavored social media karma.

Our slogan could be:

Transcend the snark, ignite the spark!  

Catchy, right? (If Karma is not your thing, you can also call it the 'Golden Rule').

How should you apply the golden rule to your social media strategy?

Simple: Approach your content and followers from an attitude of generosity, respect and gratitude.

New age pep putting you off?

Consider the following:

Whether you are building an online presence for yourself or on behalf of your company (or both), you probably started with one of a few goals in mind: Get your name out there, find a cost-effective way to stay connected with your customers/constituents and catch the attention of influential people in your sphere. Fair assumption?

Now, if I were trying to do this in the real world, I could go stand in front of Tysons Galleria handing out fliers, but that probably wouldn't be very effective. (Reminds me of comedian Mitch Hedburg's classic joke "Whenever I walk, people try to hand me out flyers. And when someone tries to hand me out a flyer, it’s kinda like they’re saying, 'Here—you throw this away.'")

Same thing goes for spam mail and email. So, lets build on the wisdom of the ages and try not to repeat the mistake over again in the social media world.

Its a good rule of thumb that if you want someone to do something for you, you should do something nice for them. In the real world, successful people and successful companies get that way by treating the people that help them (customers, employees, partners, media) really well. Why not leverage social media that way?

Take time to discover the personal interests, motivations and goals of the people in your network.  Share content, links or commonalities that you know will mean something to them. Use your influence to promote their events, causes and success with enthusiasm, and give generous and specific praise for companies, products and individuals who have delivered great service or experiences. I bet it will trickle down from the social media sphere into everyday life - everything will be just a little bit better. When it comes to good PR, thought leadership is important, but it isn't everything - a personal touch and a little extra effort go a long way.

I'll be keeping an eye out for great examples of stellar social media karma to elevate in my blogs, and I'd love to share examples of things you've seen and done! Email me: lchristian@aboutsage.com