Follow, Share , Click, Scroll, Like,Comment, the new Social Network
Years ago, after a very popular song went viral, persons I deemed very close associates, including friends, apparently used the lyrics ostensibly to troll me on Social Media (SM).
To be clear, I literally know next to nothing about our local lyrics. I may, in fact, love the beat or even the song but be the last person to catch up on the lyrics. My favourite engagement has been and remains books. Those who are my real friends know that about me.
Yesterday, a friend told me a similar story. Her SM friend said she found out that some shades on SM that she had unwittingly commented on, were actually directed towards her because of something she might have been presumed to have said or impliedly done.
My dear friends,
SM is a powerful tool, the most phenomenal invention yet, especially for our modern society, and to my mind, it is still the best thing to happen to me in the 21st century. The advantages for me are limitless:
1. Easy dissemination of information in real time.
2. Keeping up with my around the world business,friends, colleagues and family.
3. For work, especially with my international business partners and associates and to keep up with developments in my industry.
4. In terms of marketing my political party and Candidate John Mahama, SM has been phenomenal.
5. For setting countless records right.
6. Correcting erroneous information and false statements and misleading information and facts.
7. Whipping up public sentiment especially when there has been a significant development or a grave injustice, and many other issues of concern. SM indeed gets results.
Have we or have I suffered the ugly consequences of this free speech app and its negative effects and sometimes social interaction that breeds all sorts of bad energy? Oh yes!
Have we, in some cases, mistaken our friendship here? Of course, yes!
SM breeds some extreme familiarity and so naturally leads to all sorts of wrong conclusions.
In government, years ago, a colleague and friend was upset about my seeming familiarity on this app. He had some strong reservations about it but I wasn’t perturbed by the tacit criticism. It was important to engage as a way of encouraging others to engage.
Years later, that particular colleague has been one of the testaments to why SM is such a great communication tool.
You see in SM,communication has the ricochet effect. As you ‘like’ and comment and create smart content, engagements and exchanges that generate conversations or interactions between people, you also build trust, confidence and mutual connections.
John Mahama, I must say, greatly changed our approach to SM as a key political actor, using SM media as a platform to connect. By the time he became Communications Minister and subsequently Vice President, he was the page to follow for regular updates, modern communication trends, and for news and information about his constituency and campaign.
So my dear friend, there is so much good to gain from this app:
Social Network
Social currency
Social connections
Social branding
Social followers,
and serious social capital among others.
Like it or not: you really don’t need to boost posts if you are using SM effectively and impact-fully.
I took my SM education from the best and developed a good community. If you take it personally and too seriously or use it to settle scores, you may be clutching at straws. This is because chances are that most people will not notice or pay attention, especially when they actually appreciate and respect your content.
John Mahama has a huge organic following on SM and is still my best experience of how we can each use SM as the most effective platform for the cross fertilization of all kinds of ideas, depending on content, context etc.
Use it to recalibrate and brand for social currency. Become a thought leader, the key actors in the world of CSO’s do that effectively.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.com
