Media in the New Millennium

posted by Doyle

Each year for my birthday, I spend part of the day riding one mile for every year old I am that year. Yesterday was my annual birthday ride, and since I’m getting older (or, maybe just old!) I had to go a ways: forty-seven miles, to be exact, to hit my goal (yes, I made it!).

During my ride I found myself in the middle of a large charity ride, which included a longish (3-4 mile) climb to a small town near Boulder. Sadly, it was obvious many of the participants were not adequately prepared. I was reminded that cycling is not easy. I ride an average of 125 miles weekly in the summer to prepare for long rides.

Most things require work and preparation. It occurred to me that social media is no different. That is, there are no easy ways to build a community, no short-cuts, and it’s not something you can just dive into and be successful. It’s hard work and requires preparation in order to be successful and attention over the long term to grow what you’ve built.

I cringe whenever I see programs that will “get you followers while you sleep” or “double your Facebook friends tomorrow” or any other variation of snake oil. Can you get a bunch of new Twitter followers with some programs? Of course. But, much like many of the people I saw on Sunday trying to climb a hill with the wrong equipment and too little preparation, you won’t know what to do with this new-found “wealth.” You might even find yourself suffering a little. Or a lot.

Think about Community Access Television. Just about anyone could get time, but if the program was unwatchable drivel, it was like shouting in the wilderness. Social media gives us all easy access to a myriad of large networks, much like Community Access Television. Same idea here. Let’s say you get 10,000 Twitter followers through a short-cut of some kind… now what? What are you going to talk about? What does your “community” want to hear about and, better yet, have a conversation about? If you don’t know that first–and build a community based on that, not on auto-follows and other tricks–you’ll find yourself shouting in the wilderness, and your 10,000 followers will soon by 9,000, then 8,000, and so on.

The act of buying a bicycle alone does not prepare you for a four-mile climb, just as having 10,000 Twitter followers is not all it takes to build and maintain a community.

Every day I get a handful of follow requests from small businesses who simply seem to want followers. I’m sure your bakery in Cleveland is lovely (I made that up so as not to call anyone out!) I might really like it. But I don’t have any plans to be in Cleveland in the foreseeable future, so daily (or more) snippets of news from you doesn’t sound all that interesting. If you found me because I mentioned the Cleveland Browns when talking about football, you’re misusing a short cut and you’re wasting your time and mine.

Before you dive in to any social media network, ask yourself: what are my goals? What value will I try to provide? What can I offer to those who follow me? How can I find those who will appreciate what I have to say, and will want to have a conversation with me? And if you want to use a tool that helps you find people who might have an interest in a bakery in Cleveland, connect all the dots and use the tool correctly. The smart pilots only use the auto-pilot programs when it’s appropriate.

A username and a password does not mean you’re ready, just like buying a bike doesn’t mean the Tour de France is in your future. It just means you’ve taken the first step, and there are no shortcuts.

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