Social media strategy when you're not there to make friends

I'm intrigued by the idea of social media strategy that's not based on making friends. It doesn't mean it has to be fake or manipulative. I think it speaks to an important distinction between the keywords that are rendered almost meaningless by repetition in the discourse around social media. People toss around keywords like "community," "relationships" and "friend" like we all know what they mean. People complain about a lack of real interaction on the Internet and in the next breath talk about the amazing ability to "connect" with people on the other side of the world.

Maria Diaz is giving a talk this Saturday called "You're not here to make friends: Social Media Strategy for Authors." Diaz is a social media manager with SocialChorus, a company 99 percent of the country will never hear of, but probably close to that number will be influenced by. SocialChorus creates and manages influencer campaigns for Fortune 500 companies.

For example, let's say Target wants to get the word out on the web about their new summer clothing line. They do ads and talk it up at the store, sure, but they also want some chatter on the web. SocialChorus figures out who they should talk to, how to talk to them, what to say and what the results should be, how they look and what impact they have. Pretty awesome.

I'm really excited to hear what she has to say about how that approach applies to authors with books. I make the distinction between online and offline friends to help guide my decisions between regular, personal social media interaction on the web and what it means to create authentic, meaningful online relationships with readers as an author:

Friends vs. Followers:

On Twitter and Facebook your connections are called "Friends" and "Followers." Of the two, I think Twitter's term "Followers" is more appropriate. A "friend" to me is someone I know and have some history with. With any online social media, even if it's happening in real time, I'm following what that person or entity is doing- even if I'm interacting with them on that platform.

I think it's good to understand that distinction with readers on any social media platform. They are interested in what you are up to, the story of your books and your life as an author, not necessarily in the stuff you talk about with your offline friends. That helps me understand what to talk about on my social media.

Rather than thinking, "I'll share something personal to offset something business," I think, "What is interesting that I have to share that furthers my story as an author?" That ends up sometimes being personal and sometimes business, and oftentimes what someone else is doing. It's authentic and on-brand at the same time. Wait, did I just sound like a social media consultant…?

What about you? How do you distinguish between offline friends and followers online and what does it mean for what you share on the web?

Image courtesy of Photos by Mavis via flickr