Remember back in the early days of social networking when it was nothing but giddy fun? Myspace hit the local teen scene while I was a youth pastor at a local church, and it took the kids by storm! Why? Because that’s where connections happened. Some genuine, others superficial, but the opportunity was the remarkable nonetheless. Now time has passed, and the magic is gone. We are over its novelty, and have now grown to become concerned for our social media image. Better yet we want to have an army of followers. We must now attempt to stay relevant, authentic, and entertaining. A tall order to say the least. So how do you maintain Twitter authenticity? How can you best represent yourself in only 140 characters? Basically, how do I get more followers?
Know thy Digital Self!
Quick! Describe yourself in one snappy line! Sadly, we have become a people of brevity. My High School English teacher said it best, “say more using less words.” My vocabulary was forced to improve, and I became a more efficient communicator. What do you represent yourself to be in the simplest terms possible? Are you authentic or are you a good window dresser? Do you wax poetic or are succinct?
What do you offer?
Many people come to social networks or new media WANTING rather then PROVIDING a service. I am a huge proponent that both new and social media will not grow beyond its current infancy unless we nurture and feed it. How do we do this? We help each other out. At its core any market consists of its people therein. So…what do you offer to your audiences? Do you offer substance, and quality? Are you only here to attract attention to yourself, your brand, or your cause?
What do you want?
What are you hoping to achieve? Being the coolest kid on the block, and having the most friends just for the sake of being surrounded seemed to work in the early days, but now we are putting greater emphasis on the quality of the connection, not the amount. Personally, I desire to meaningfully connect with other new media professionals. Basically I want to make friends. I like people. I like to talk. I love what I do. So…there really are no wrong connections for me.
Conclusion
These are only a few questions that should be asked frequently to constantly be improving your twitter image. I find it very intersting that it is so much more difficult to accurately represent yourself online then it is in person. In person you have a first impression which is a lingering affect, but other then that your personal image is fluid and dynamic, yet our online personas tend to be distant and impersonal. Odd…Thoughts?
