How are you using social media with regards to your relationships? Do you use the power of social media to connect with more people or to build better relationships? Is it both, and if so, at what point does that become unscalable?
My Facebook account (which I’ve all but abandoned) shows that I have 185 friends. Facebook’s statistics say that the average user has 130 friends, but I bet most people would find that to be a low number. In fact, a random calculation of 15 of my friends’ Facebook accounts showed an average of 293. The sad thing to me is that I can’t write down 25% of the people that I’m “friends” with. I’d have a much better chance of remembering all 50 states and capitals, an ability that vanished almost immediately after a grade school test that required it.
Facebook has turned into a tool of more, not a tool of better.
But Social Media is More Than Facebook…
Thank God for that. Take this blog for example, it has allowed me to connect with people passionate about customer experience. I have been able to start and build some great relationships that would never have materialized without it. That makes this blog a tool of more and better relationships, but how far can that go? At some point, the scalability breaks down. At some point, the number of meaningful friendships and strong relationships we try to maintain becomes overwhelming.
What About Your Business?
Are you using social media in your business? Is it to reach new customers or to build better relationships with your existing customers? Do different channels serve different purposes?
Do you want more customers or better customers?
I think it’s an important question to ask when you start thinking about your social media strategy. Lots of questions here, so let me know your thoughts.
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bert thomas on 
Bravo, Tim, I couldn’t agree more. You described perfectly my concerns with this undeniably popular medium.
In the interest of full disclosure, the business I manage is a police department and not a traditional retail or service outlet so I have a little more latitude in choosing to avoid what I consider to be (in most cases) a colossal waste of time. I firmly believe that we will all come to regret the day the human race decided to retreat even further from each other in our relationships and to put every miniscule and vain thought on the Web for everyone to see–forever.
That being said, although I can choose to avoid it personally and on behalf of my agency, I realize that there are many who have to at least have a token presence on things like Facebook to survive in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Several months ago a new candidate to the US House of Representatives told me that he had recently asked someone to create a Facebook account for his campaign, presumably to compete with his competition and to reach the younger voters. Although he and I have similar concerns about what social media is doing to our society I had to agree with him that to avoid this communication method would spell certain doom for his candidacy, as it would for many traditional businesses.
I fully realize the positives associated with social media; for every concern I can bring up someone else can say, “Yeah but I use it to…” or, “Yeah but it did this for me…” Even here in my agency, a little over a year ago a frightened store clerk chose to alert my on-duty dispatcher (via their personal Facebook accounts) that there was currently a suspicious person in her store, someone she didn’t want to alert with a verbal 911 call to our dispatch center. That one worked well, I have to admit, but like they say, “Even a broken watch is right twice a day.”
I believe that your view that we can only (I’m paraphrasing) “work” so many real relationships at one time, at least to the level of effort that truly rises to the term “friend,” is spot on. I (like most people if they are honest) have a handful of what really count as friends. Yes, we do communicate via modern methods like email and texts, but we also don’t go long without a real live person-to-person telephone call, an in-person meeting over food, or a Christmas card (real ones made out of paper).
How’s that for stepping out on a limb for my first post on your site??
Lance Crowe,
Chief of Police, Travelers Rest, SC
This is a question that I’ve never really heard anyone ask before, yet it’s incredibly important. You’ve got me thinking, Tim. Well done, as always.
Wow. Actually, I want content, thought, and depth, and if I can’t get it, I’m out. Now, is any of that here, or have blog posts also got to the point where one can take 2 minutes and post virtually nothing? Just wondering. In all seriousness, this kind of post is such a turn-off, I’d never hire or work with someone doing this kind of post. Not something you probably want to hear, but something that I thought should be said.
Thanks for the great comment Lance.
I think there’s a lot of value in the various social media tools, but it’s interesting that a lot of them are gravitating towards just another method of mass (megaphone) media instead of one that actually strengthens relationships.
Thanks Nate, I think it’s an important question to ask too. A lot of us were initially attracted to social media because of its ability to easily “stay connected” to those we already had relationships with. I don’t think that’s why we’re still here though. Seems like the quantity of friends/followers/subscribers/fans/etc is the emphasis instead of the quality of our relationship with them.
Thanks for your thoughts Robert. Sorry you didn’t get more out of it. The aim wasn’t to do your thinking for you, but rather to evoke some thought on why we’re here and whether the strategy has changed.
In regards to your “never hire or work with someone doing this kind of post” comment, I just find it funny. Making an abrupt judgment based on one blog post and expressing it in that manner is beyond juvenile.
Hey Tim,
Stirring things up again, I see! In a conversation about social media a couple days ago, I shared that sometimes it feels like its 1999 all over again. Back then it was about e-commerce: so many leaders invested boatloads of time and money because everybody else was (or some version of that). “It changes EVERYTHING” is what we often heard.
I appreciate that you’re asking us why. Why would we personally, or as leaders in a business use social media? In my business, if social media helps me get my organization even inches closer to the target, or ideal experience we know our customers want (and will therefore drive our performance), then we engage. When it doesn’t get us closer to that defined ideal experience, we don’t go there.
Thanks Tim.
Signed, someone else with a dusty Facebook account