Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Fine Line of Authenticity

I didn't watch the Super Bowl (thus my tweet stream and Facebook page have no mention of what I'm eating, wearing or thinking about this topic) because I have little interest in professional sports and even littler interest in the teams involved. Basically, I don't have an opinion and commercials that I can view on YouTube later tonight were not a big enough draw.

But I appreciate there were a lot of people interested and thus left the commentary to them. There is a fine line between exhibiting your interest in something via social media and jumping on the proverbial bandwagon in the hopes that you'll win the social media lottery and you'll become famous. Reaching your audience is important; talking about relevant topics is also important and being genuine about both is the foundation for success in either.

Last week, a coworker told me that people who "do" social media are always doing social media. She said they sit on their couch and comment about everything. That's what makes them successful. I disagree. Those of us who "practice" social media for a living are always trying to figure out what makes sense for our audience. We are not running for president; we don't need to tell you our stance on everything. Some opinions can be kept to ourselves or shared with only our closest friends and family. And, when we don't have an opinion on a subject - like me on the Superbowl - why tweet just to be heard?

Tweeting about every trending topic is not necessary or valuable. Yes, trending topics are relevant but your audience/followers want to know more about the authentic you. Ringing in on every topic just adds to the chatter. Followers don't expect you to tweet about everything (unless you are a celebrity. Then the fact you just ate carrots for lunch may actually inspire t-shirt sales).

Your silence amplifies your heart-felt commentary.

If you have an opinion on this post, leave it below. Otherwise, that's fine too.

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