Goal #1: Put the Social Back into Social Media

Time really does fly; I still remember 2013 as if it was yesterday. All of us are now in the second week of January, hopefully still keeping up with our New Year Resolutions. I personally have set my own “resolutions” this year as they pertain to social media.

Recently, I have been quite hesitant to use the term resolution. For one reason or another, I view the word resolution as being more short-term in nature. On the other hand, the word “goal” seems to me like something that is never ending, something that you don’t just merely check off.

My first goal is to put the social back into social media. As a millennial, who was born with Twitter in one hand and Facebook in the other, I still remember the days that I used social media to converse with my friends, both close and far, and my loved ones. Today’s digital world is different

from what it was before; it is constantly evolving. Through my own observation, I have personally seen my friends comment even less than they have several years ago. Who needs to comment when you can merely press the like button?

I feel the big culprit behind the lack of sociability on these networks, is partly due to content marketing. It seems to be a constant battle among brands and individuals to see who can tweak, modify, and use their content to propel them forward on Google’s search results. Even though it is a lofty goal to be number one on Google’s search results, it shouldn’t be the primary one. Content is king, it should always come first.

I must admit that I have had this faulty thinking for the majority of 2013. I was posting content merely to just post content. I followed people hoping they would return the follow, I liked pages hoping they would like mine back etc., you get the point. I came to the conclusion that 2014 was my time to put the social back into social media. As stressful as my life can be at times, I have decided to keep my social media clear from anything that is automatic. In other words, I tend to avoid tools that auto publish my posts, tweets, etc. I want to personally engage with my followers and not have a robot send out one way communication all the time.

When posting content, consider the following:

• Is my content original? Original, creative content helps build your brand more than curated content will. Share your opinion with the world.
• Why am I posting this content? Am I posting it just to post it, or do I want to engage a deep and engaging conversation around it?
• When was the last time I posted something? Was it just a minute or so go? Avoid over posting.

It doesn’t surprise me that Oxford Dictionaries’ 2013 Word of the Year was “selfie.” Let’s change that this year. I personally hope that 2014, for lack of a better word, but dubbed the “Year of the Groupie.”

What are you doing to put the social back into social media?