Many of us hold different accounts in various social networks, but do we use these networks effectively? When we enter different social networks, we must remember that we are entering live communities made up of individuals much like ourselves. These communities serve as platforms for us to share details about our own lives and meet other people who interest us professionally or socially. Therefore what we must do is embrace these communities and become real, genuine members of them.

When you start creating your profile page on each network, don’t be afraid to let people know who you are. Let them know your interests, your hobbies, your favorite links, movies, and books. Fill your page with content.

Upload photos of yourself so that people can see you and know who they are connecting with – this is very important. People don’t connect with text. They connect with people. Once someone has a visual image of you in their head, it is much easier for him or her to become your friend.

Upload videos of yourself if you have any – this is also a great way for your online friends who haven’t met you in person to see what you’re like in real life.

Write some blog posts on your profile or if you have a blog that you update regularly, add your RSS feed to those networks that allow you to do so, such as Ning. On those communities that don’t have this feature, you can copy/paste your blog posts from your regular blog. Some people may not be webaholics like you and I and will not be exposed to your posts unless you place them there. These posts will let people know a lot more about who you are and what interests you.

If the community allows it, integrate profiles from other networks that you’re a member of. Facebook for instance allows you to update your Twitter right from its own site. It also allows you to add your Flickr pics, your recent Digg and Delicious bookmarks right to your page. Mybloglog also allows you to show your Twitter updates, and Yedda which is a knowledge sharing community allows you to show your activity on its site right on your Twitter page. Displaying your activities in each of these sites will greatly enhance your profiles.

In each community you’d also like to get to meet as many interesting people as you can. Search through other users’ pages, read about them and add them as contacts. Many communities such as StumbleUpon for instance will let you find friends that match your particular interests. It’s important to get to know your community and make connections with people who have similar interests to yours. Don’t just add friends randomly. Just like in real life, you want to meet people who you can have long, lasting relationships with.

Whatever you do, be genuine and don’t be afraid to show the community who you really are. Just like in real life, some people may literally digg your personality and others may not. But that’s life.

Now some of you may ask: What’s the best way of making online connections? Is it through blogging? Thru Social networks? And my answer is, through both.

I have written about this topic previously and some bloggers disagreed with me saying that visitors who enter your blog and read your posts make more of an effort to get to know you. However I believe that the reason people think this way is because too often we see that members of social networks have grown somewhat accustomed to just adding contacts randomly without really making an effort of getting to know these people. I believe that if you invest as much time in your networks as you do on blogging, you will find that you can make great friends in your communities. Write your contacts messages, comment on their profiles, show some interest in them and I promise you that you will gain many friendships.

I think that a great problem many social networks are facing today is an over-saturation of social networks that are very much the same. People feel a constant need to get on every network possible, without even filling in all their details, and this is just wrong.

What we end up with here is a bunch of online communities filled with people, but no good content or interaction. This is why I believe that those networks that will be the most unique and do the best job in encouraging their users to really get more active and involved, will outlast the others. Facebook for example makes it so easy for you to get active and create a rich profile because you can so easily integrate many applications onto your page.

Now if you are a company and not an individual, you should still follow the same rules that I’ve pointed out. Chris Heuer asked a very interesting question a while ago on LinkedIn:

“Which companies are really authentically engaged in the conversation? What are the characteristics of an authentic company/brand?”

Many of those who answered the question said that they rarely see businesses reveal anything other than what they feel is in their own best interests, and this is true for most brands.

Therefore if you are a company and are planning to market your business using social media tools, make sure that you are honest with your community. People prefer the brutal truth over deceit. Don’t make false promises and if you’ve made mistakes, admit them. People appreciate that. In addition, have the ability to laugh at yourself. Create a funny video promoting your brand and post it on YouTube. Interact with other members of the community and make sure you reply to each and every question you receive as personally as possible. The more personable you make your profiles, the more people will relate to them. Put in as many pictures as possible of employees in the company, company events, and so forth. Get socially active by joining different groups and causes. People like companies with good, consistent values who don’t only say that they support good causes, but are actually active in helping to make a difference. Also, adding rich media to your profiles, such as podcasts will allow you to emphasize your message even more.

Finally, I want to discuss the topic of private vs. public identities, which I have written about in the past. Due to the whole premise behind Web 2.0, the borders between our personal and professional lives online are slowly disintegrating and to my belief, this is a good thing. When I upload pictures to my Flickr page, I upload professional pictures, but I also upload pictures of me, just hanging out with my friends, or traveling to interesting locations.  When I update my status on Twitter, I may update regarding the latest post I just wrote on my blog but I may also twitter about an interesting article I just read or the latest movie I just saw.

I know that some people try to keep a certain professional façade online because they are afraid of what other professionals may think. So they don’t post personal pictures of themselves from their daily lives or add too much detail to their profiles and I think these individuals are only putting themselves at a disadvantage.

People like to connect with other people who are open and genuine. The more you allow people into your world, the more people will allow you into their own. By creating a rich profile you are only showing others that you are an active member of the community and that you have a multi-dimensional and unique personality of your own.

Thanks to Polle for the pic.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 8:16 pm and is filed under Branding, Social Networks, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.