It's a tough world out there, and you, as a regular user of social media and social networks, have the chance, every day, to make a difference in someone's life. Here are just five suggestions for how to do that:
- Leave a comment on a friend's blog. Commenter identity systems have made this a little harder than it used to be, but it still takes less than five minutes. Just take the time to read your friend's blog post and offer a relevant comment or reaction. And it's the gift that gives back, because generally you can leave a link back to your own blog or web site.
- Like or comment on a Facebook status update, RT a tweet on Twitter, Digg or Stumble a blog post. There are over 200 million people on Twitter. How many have never had an RT? How many bloggers have ever had more than five Diggs? It's a very inexpensive holiday gift.
- Respond back to an @ on Twitter. Often I ask a question on Twitter for a piece I am writing, or because I need help with a client, and I get a handful of replies. I'll sometimes engage people and other times not. I believe in interaction on Twitter but not chit chat. Because of my work, I want my timeline to be free of tweets that are of no use to others. Tweets like "thank you," "lol," "for sure," and "I agree" are meaningless to anyone who wasn't in the original conversation. One solution is to say "I agree with you, there are certainly some companies who should not be on Twitter," so you are responsive to an individual and you express your opinion in a tweet that stands by itself. Another solution is to say "Screw it. I'll just be nice to someone without considering how it makes me look." It's nice to let people know they matter, and that you appreciate their contributions.
- Give credit when linking. If you refer to someone else via your blog or Facebook (or anywhere else character count isn't an issue), link to them and identify them by name. Link to their blog, or their Twitter I.D. Name them. Extol and praise them. Instead of writing "according to one blogger" write, "according to Kevin Minott's excellent Komverse blog."
- Praise publicly and freely. Correct privately. If you feel someone deserves a compliment, give it openly. If you see a typo or fact error in a post, and you genuinely think it matters to the person who posted it, send a DM, IM or email kindly pointing it out. This is considered helpful. To do so publicly is rude.
So there are a handful of ideas on how you can make the online world a better place. Do you have any suggestions? I'd appreciate your comments. And please link to your blog or Twitter ID.