What is the difference between social and personal seems to be one of the biggest questions newbies (and even some pros) are asking today. I still get that eye roll from audiences and prospects when they say “I don’t care what anyone else ate for breakfast and am not going to share what I had!” I hear you and want to make this easy and clear, once and for all.
You are right, it isn’t about what you ate for breakfast, UNLESS, you are going to share an incredible recipe for a delicious frittata, a scrumptious bread pudding, or a wholesome granola. What makes it social is the sharing and that means it has to have value and interest. A recipe for knock out oatmeal sprinkled with raisins, toasted almonds, brown sugar and more is social, just saying you had a bowl of oatmeal, is not.
On this same note, imagine you have lunch with someone fascinating. Could be a colleague, an expert in your field, a celebrity, an industry giant. That is interesting and we want to glean some take aways from that lunch. C’mon dish us the gold nuggets you got (or not.) But don’t just tell us who you had lunch with, that isn’t interesting or social. Give us something we can reply to and engage with.
Where you are eating can also hold the key to being social. Imagine you are dining at some new hot place to see and be seen. Share it and be sure to dish the details on what the ambiance is like, the decor, and of course, the who’s who that you are seeing. On the flip side it may be a little whole in the wall, but the food is out of this world, and you love the laid back atmosphere. Those are social details.
My point is simply that there is a fine line between personal and social and social is all about making it engaging and something that others can comment on easily. A tweet proclaiming you had bacon and eggs for breakfast kind of gets that eye roll and “oh puhleeze, why do I need to know that.” But a tweet or FB update giving the skinny on how you had lunch at that hot new sushi house with the marketing legend Seth Godin, is way more interesting and we’ll want to know what gold nuggets Godin imparted.
Talk to me! Tell me how you use social media and what types of content you both like to share as well as to read.
Have you had a TMI moment on the networks? C’mon you can tell me. Now you know!
Yes, social vs. personal is a tough one. With respect to “marketing” your business, people need to KNOW you are a real person. You can’t hold back on the “personal” stuff too much when trying to get people to accept who you are and what you offer.
Yes, it is just tricky when you come from the generation that is used to having a professional side that is separate from a personal side and not all mixed together!
Hugs, Melissa
On social media I prefer to be 80% social ( business oriented ) and 20% personal, but I’ve noticed that more and more people don’t make the difference between social and personal and broadcast everything that happens in their life on their profiles.
Mihai,
I know what you mean, I am actually 80% social and 20% business with the rare blip of inside personal. There is a fine line between social and personal and building social means business will come.
Hugs, Melissa
Melissa – One quick suggestion. Install the plugin subscribe to comments so each time someone replies to a comment the other people get an email and can follow the discussion. It will help if you want to build a community based on comments plus makes the conversation easier to follow.
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