Is social media losing its social?

I always hold the perspective of the user, and sometimes that user is me. So when I got fed up with the increasing numbers of commercials with slim or non-existing relevance and the un-authentic personal branding on social media, I decided to research whether or not I was the only one. I was not! The majority of the people I asked had the same paradoxical feeling as me; social media was becoming an anti-social social necessity.

The anti-social social media

Even though some companies are using social media to be social, the vast majority of companies seem to have forgotten that social media is essentially interest based networked communication and are just distributing boring like-bait campaigns on trending topics with no brand relevance.

Maybe I was blunt, but I didn’t see it coming. Never, not even in my wildest imagination, did I expect that social media would transform organizational (and personal) communication into being push messages once again. And I can’t help wondering why so many companies would give up on this great opportunity to get to know their customers as well as their prospect customers through authentic “real time” conversations and connections?

Sure you can measure clicks, likes, retweets, shares etc. and you can measure conversions, and you might think you can measure image, preferences etc. but remember people are selling themselves too. Big time. What I share or like, might not be a reflection of what my true preferences are but merely a reflection of my personal brand building.

My personal top 3 of anti-social organizational communication on social media:

Delivering no or low value in the content & ads

Yes, ads create brand awareness, but if I’m already a follower or maybe even a customer I need more! I want some extra value of some sort; Backstage knowledge, engagement or relevant news & stories. Give your audience a reason to follow.

Spamming me with trending content that has nothing to do with the brand

Please create your own content. Show me your value. I really don’t want the latest trending YouTube video or funny cartoon from a brand about something completely irrelevant when I’ve already seen it from my friends a thousand times before.

Automating posts/replies

If you’re not going to engage in conversation with your customers, why be on social media in the first place? There’s nothing more disappointing than being ignored or getting an auto reply when showing your interest in a company. Anyway, how are you supposed to further develop your product line or your customer care if you don’t engage in dialogue with your customers (even when it comes down to critique)?

It seems to me that a lot of companies (and people) building their personal brands are missing the point of social media. They are no longer social but have become like hunters; creating mindless and boring clickbait campaigns. In order to get as many likes as possible they have become followers and thereby set aside their own culture and values.

So why is social media anti-social and what can we do about it?

This question is what prompted me to take on social media as a communication professional. I felt a need to join the conversation about how we are using (or misusing) the possibilities we have with social media. Today many businesses use social media as just another advertising channel, which I believe is undermining the entire concept of social. In my opinion it is possible to sell your product (or yourself) and still be transparent, authentic and genuine.

People don’t trust advertising, hell, they don’t even like it. People trust people! People trust their connections; they trust companies that dare to be themselves, flaws and all. Most companies on social media today don’t really say anything because they just say the exact same thing everybody else is saying.

Unfortunately social media became this anti-social time killer as soon as people realized that there was easy money to make. Before we would log on to connect and share. Now we mainly log on to sell. We sell our business, our hobbies and our dinners. Heck we’d even sell our own mother if we thought it could help our business (or personal) brand building. The paradoxical thing about it is that even though we are all doing it, we all seem to dislike it at the same time. I do it myself, I try not to, but I still do it. So why do we do it? Of course this is meant as a provocative question. But think about it. How many of your ten year old shallow friendships still exist today and what would you say about those friends if you were asked to recommend them?

I’m pretty sure that once we stop chasing the sales and start caring about what unique value we have to offer our customers, success will follow. Build your social community on interests, values and culture.,