“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” The tune of that traditional children’s song kept running through my head as I worked on this week’s column. If you use Facebook or other social media to promote your business, you need to understand why people connect with you — and why someone might sever that connection.
Last week, I posted this question onLinkedIn.com: “Why would you un-like, un-follow or un-friend a business on Facebook or Twitter?”
The two most common answers were “spam” and “offensive content.” Not surprising. No one appreciates frequent sales pitches or unsolicited political or religious rants.
Mentioned later in the article is 2010-2011 Reynolds Fellow Joy Mayer:
For further insight, I turned to Joy Mayer, associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism and fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Mayer is doing research on community engagement in journalism.
Mayer asserts that “authenticity” is key to a successful presence on Facebook and other social media. “Think about what you’re trying to accomplish. The trick is to understand the platform and the culture; to interact in a way that’s authentic to that platform. Facebook is not built to support one-way conversation; building actual connections implies listening as well as talking.”
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