Use to Social Media to Compliment Reality, Not Replace It

Have you ever seen “The Matrix”? There is a scene where futuristic human beings are laid out in pods, stagnant, and living in a virtual environment which is far from reality. While I love this series of movies, I try to steer clear of living this lifestyle, no matter how tempting it may be. Humans are meant to make eye contact, hear each others’ voices, maybe even hug or shake hands. We are wired to be social.

Now putting my own opinion aside, I can tell you from experience that:

1. Putting social media in a vacuum doesn’t work without the help of other marketing channels.

2. Expecting social media to do all the “social work” for you will limit growth.

The point I am trying to make is that social media is used to compliment real relationships, whether you use it for introductions or relationship nurturing. I believe this is true for anyone, no matter what industry you are in. It just so happens that I’ve made it work for ME.

Instead of using the telephone to make introductions, which seems further away from best practice nowadays, you can now use the so called “social telephone”. It’s less obtrusive and gives people a chance to do some investigative work before they respond.

Here’s an example:

You are subscribed to a blog, and you really like the content that one of the authors creates week in and week out. Since, you like the content so much, you take great pride in sharing it with your followers/friends. They really like it too. The author gets exposure, and they appreciate your willingness to share their work. A relationship has been initiated.

For the next few months, you find some commonalities and begin to take the relationship to the next level. Sounds a lot like dating right? It is VERY similar to dating in fact.

Before you know it, you find that you are going to be in the same location as the author, and you decide to set up in-person meet up. The meeting goes really well. The two of you have some laughs and get to know each other on a much deeper level.

Eye contact, hand shaking, viewing each others’ facial expressions, maybe even a hug is icing on the cake when crossing the digital divide.

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