Fast Food Social Media

Ok so I started off this blog with the title "Tweetdeck is your enemy", though as I continued to write I realized there was much more to it. I also realized I might hurt the feelings of my many friends who use the application themselves. So yeah this blog is not so much about Tweetdeck but more about the trap many social media users slip into. Myself included. The trap of treating every single social network as if they were the same thing. Though the reality is that every social network is different. Facebook is not the same as Twitter, which is also not the same as LinkedIn which is most definitely not the same as Pinterest. So why then do we use tools like Tweetdeck to post the exact same posts on each of these social networks? From my personal experience I, and many others, have done it out of pure laziness. Who wants to rewrite a post 5 different times for 5 different social networks? That's not very efficient is it? No not really.

Though since when did the most efficient form of completing a task become the very best? This is so common across all areas of our lives. We think the fastest way of doing something is the best. I liken it to the fast food industry, thus my clever title ;) We have created super fast systems to produce and sell food to the masses. The Tweetdeck of food. Though not many of us would argue that a McDonalds cheeseburger is the best cheeseburger you have ever had. Or how about coffee? Who really chooses an instant coffee over a freshly ground espresso? It took me a good 5-10 minutes this morning to make my wife & I coffees. Though the result was an infinitely better coffee. No argument.


So back to social networking. More and more people are being drawn to authenticity. People want to be connected to something real and people are using social networks to do their connecting. Ultimately I see face to face connection as what is really needed for authentic connection. Though to stay on topic people will reject what they see as being unauthentic and cheap on their online social networks. They won't read your blog and they won't buy your product. Remember that social networking is about 'networking', it is about connecting with real people, by real people. The best way to do that is by taking that extra time to write a post that suits your social network. The post that connects best with that specific social network. And if you don't have time to do that on every profile you own then maybe just stick to posting on a few. Leave that latest blog out of your LinkedIn profile or latest photo off of Pinterest. Stick to quality over quantity. This is what I see as a true road to success on social media. It may not give you the most Likes or Followers in the quickest amount of time but it will give you a quality of connection that will give you the best result. That freshly ground caramel latte.