Today is my birthday and I was amazed when I opened my email account to find several happy birthday wishes. Not from people, but from social media sites that I belong to. I started scouring my social media sites to find out who else has this personalize feature.
Not surprisingly, Facebook had a nice banner on my home page wishing me a Happy Birthday. There were also four friends who posted fond wishes as well including one friend who I’ve never met and actually only know through Facebook.
Next came a couple of mom blogger groups I belong to. This was really cool to me since moms are typically incredibly busy and for a site devoted to these busy women, this was especially touching.
A NASCAR site that I signed up on a long time ago for some sports-related research sent me a note as did a Quilting forum I belong to and participate in regularly.
Now, I just got an email from Borders wishing me well and sending me a 25% coupon (you better believe I’m going to spend it today, too).
Why am I bringing this up on blog? Because Web 2.0 is all about being personal. It’s all about relationships. Connecting and getting to know people is at the heart of social media. Regardless of what your motivation is for using any type of social media, users today want to be heard. And they appreciate those who share the same passion.
So often, I have seen companies and big businesses start a blog or a social network or set up a facebook page because it’s the “next thing to do” without taking into consideration that the people who are most likely to engage in this type of activity want to be heard and want to know that their opinion matters, even if you disagree. Setting up anything that encouarages users to generate content will draw attention, certainly. But without the right mindset about how to manage it, forget it. You’re not going to get far at all.
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