Carlos Madden is manager of client services at SocialSphere, a leading social media analytics and research company based in Cambridge, Mass. He was formerly a Staff Sergeant General in the United States Army, and is a veteran of the Iraq War. SocialSphere can be reached at @SocialSphere, or socialsphere.com
I keep reminding myself not long ago I’d be watching TV and wonder why every program kept scrolling that pound sign from my mother’s old rotary phone across the screen attached to some phrase about the shows subject or host. #WalkingDead. #Conan. #OReillyFactor. When I was a kid I always wondered what that “#” was on the rotary phone because no one used it. Now here I was as an adult wondering why everyone was using it. Did I miss something?
I spent nearly a decade in the military, got out and found myself in a temp job at a boat yard working on yachts among buckets of bottom paint and barnacle crusted boat slips. At no point along the way did I ever use or see the value of social media. As one can imagine there isn’t a whole lot of time for Twitter sitting in a Humvee or varnishing a multimillion-dollar boat cabin. I never saw the need for social media as a tool so I never used it.
Leveraging my past experience, I was offered a position at a growing social media analytics company in Harvard Square. Over the past year, I have received quite the crash course and learned some basic principles along the way. Those “pound signs” – called hashtags – are some of the most simple and effective communication tools of our time. They instantaneously link thoughts, subjects, markets and ideas to everyone across the globe.
I got value out of Twitter immediately after I started an account. I began by following people with useful information, and posted things I found interesting. It’s just that simple. And by doing this, I was unknowingly engaging with and becoming part of the fabric of evolving online communities that suited my needs and fascinations. I was helping to shape these communities and thus what information is shared in the future.
I tell people that by the time you hear something on the evening news, it is already old news. Depending on the hour, information and those privy to that information, are constantly changing. It’s no wonder TV channels have expanded their news segments just to remain relevant.
When the Boston Marathon Bombings happened in April, I didn’t look to the news for answers, myself and millions of others looked to Twitter. In about five minutes I knew where the bombs went off, that they were likely bombs and not accidental explosions, the marathon had been halted a half mile away, and knew that people were being taken to local hospitals with life threatening injuries.
In that amount of time the news hadn’t even interrupted their broadcasts yet. Remember, the main story on Fox News might be the 2016 Presidential race but the latest Shark Week segment that debuted an hour ago is trending on Twitter. People aren’t talking about Hillary Clinton; they’re talking about seal populations in Cape Cod. Understanding what people are actually talking about globally (regardless of how significant it may be) is revolutionary.
Ready to take the plunge? Everyone should ask themselves a few questions first:
1) What is going to be your “thing”? Maybe it’s sharing breaking news in the NCAA lacrosse scouting world or perhaps tips for growing vegetables in the Florida Panhandle. Whatever it is, run with it.
2) What are your goals? Sometimes its better to gain the most followers to reach the most people. Other times it’s best to be a leading voice in a subject and only be concerned with reaching the right people.
3) Who is your audience? Like anything else, understand whom you are speaking to, how they communicate, and what they want to hear.
4) What’s your platform? There are many different social media platforms available and they are all good at different things. Try them all and see which ones suit your needs.
5) What is unique about what you have to say? Think about why people may want to listen to you and what information you have that no one else does. Maybe you go to every local government meeting and find that no knows what’s going on until it hits the paper. Try tweeting or blogging about it – you’ll be surprised how many people want to listen.
