We hear a lot about why marketers and businesses get involved in social media, but in our digital world we need to remember it’s not about us. It’s about the consumer, the individual user. I often find it very instructive, and a great reminder, to step back and look at the reasons why individual users love and use various social media platforms. I like to examine why I joined various social media platforms in the first place. This can actually be very instructive for any of us who got involved with social media as individuals before we started using these platforms for our businesses. In fact, I believe that those who are most successful at using social media for business are those who were using it for their own personal reasons first. This is why I think it’s important for all social media marketers to maintain their own active, personal profiles alongside their business accounts….
One criticism of the digital age is that we are sitting in front of our computer screens, isolated from the world. Even if this is true, social media allows us various levels of social interaction, even from the comforts of our own home. We can meet and interact with people from all over the world, and yes, even build friendships. Many of my strongest friendships are with people I originally met through social networks. Julie Clawson wrote an excellent blog about this over at Sojourners, titled Why N.T.Wright is Wrong About Social Media. The previously mentioned studies from Pew also indicate that:
Source: Business 2 Community | Ken Mueller