Oh no! It’s not again!
In high school, being popular was the key to survival and thriving. As young adults, this concept of peer acceptance was all we had to live with. We looked for ways to fit in with groups that would accept us. We were a bit eccentric, made jokes, joined the volleyball club, and even tried out things that we knew weren’t good.
We can always try another if one thing doesn’t work. It seemed that no matter where we were, there was always another “better” group. There were always those small cliques that didn’t seem to need to do anything to be popular. It just happened. You might have wondered, day after day, “What’s it about them that makes them so beloved?” It wasn’t there, but it was evident to everyone else.
We look back at those moments as adults and laugh. It’s a great moment to discover that Mr. Popularity: Bob QuaterbackSmith, a former employee at his father’s hardware store, or Mary TeachersPet is still employed at the library. He made it to the position of assistant librarian at the local community library. How could we be so stupid? Isn’t that silly to worry about all of this? Right?
We are back. Social Media (also known as. clique) Media! All-time favorite popularity contests for grownups – with the largest popularity clique EVER Facebook has you ever felt the “nobody likes” blues? Your invitation to friendship was “denial!” Ouch! There are no re-tweets on your Twitter. Crickets – From Linkedin How does one get 39,458 followers or friends? All I can do is welcome back Mr. Cotter
What should you do? Please don’t show your desperation by inviting them to Farmville or making bad jokes just for the sake of being saying something. Those jokes didn’t work back then. Learn from the master clique masters. It’s obvious that Mr. 39.458 of his friends has discovered something you don’t. It’s not likely their physique or looks, as you can’t tell from social media. What is the problem?
Was there a secret to their success back then? These are the same people who were popular back then? Yes, they are. But we all now play on the same playing field. Social media doesn’t care about cuteness, fashion status or athleticism. Their secret was, and is still, connecting. Giving their connections what they want, which was acceptance, value and relating to their friends, was their secret. The successful social media personalities are like the high-profile kids from high school. They reach their audience with the right dialogue for their clique. You didn’t hear jocks discussing books in high school. In theatre groups, the ending of plays was rarely celebrated with headbutts. Your messages should be targeted to the people you want to attract.
Casual social media users should remember to be themselves and not worry about how many followers they have. Enjoy the experience and don’t fret about how many people you have following. You will meet new friends every once in awhile. It will be a good feeling to know that you are comfortable speaking with the people you communicate with. Do not force it. It is unnecessary and may even make people feel uncomfortable. It’s not okay to say something, but merely offering a thumbs up or retweet might be helpful. If you have something to say, please share it with pride
Social media is a great way to promote your business. How do you intend to attract the right people? What would you say that would attract them? A social media audience won’t appreciate your daily jokes if you sell legal services or heart stints. Posting some things about yourself WOULD be appropriate, as people like to get to know real people and not brands. A winning combination would be to mix industry news, personal information and valuable articles about your product or service. It’s a great idea to contribute to other conversations and to be a giver by sharing links or tweeting good information out.
It seems that in the age of social media, we have regressed back to old clique behaviors. Winning groupies is still a testimony to our popularity. Ironically, despite all our best efforts to get over the painful times of being excluded or the joy of being included, these social media clique groups have been formed despite our best efforts. Do not feel left out! Take a look at yourself and see how it fits into your target audience. Get your social media clique started! Our profile photos are as good as any other guy/gal, and we are now smarter. Get your tweets started by choosing your clique group. It’s much easier to be brave and bold online.
Social Media Cliques
The Cool Kids These social media pundits don’t pretend to be trying to make friends, but they do get them. That is their secret. They really do try. They just act like they aren’t. These are the social media contributors who post with authority. These people present themselves as experts in their field. If they’re at fancy restaurants, skydiving or some other activity, they don’t post any personal information. They post information that is similar to what every guy posts, even if it’s not important.
The cheerleaders These are the social media users who post encouraging comments. Like “You can do it!” You can do it! They make their fans feel better about reading their posts, as it will help them and help them. They are positive and optimistic! Stuff like “We love to share positive news. So we are so excited that our MarthaDoodle dresses have arrived. Everyone is in love with it! (pic)”
The Wasteoids These social media experts present material in a way that suggests you have to be cool or very hip to appreciate the product or service. These posts are not for everyone. They choose their audience carefully and only shout out to their wasteoids friends. They use a lot of words such as organic, special, rare, and selective in their posts. They are similar to our high school wasteoids. Their popularity was based on the exclusivity of their group. We are dying to get to know them.
The Nerds These social media users “wow” us with their techno talk. It’s easy to add some social media buzzwords to posts, and make them feel really tech-savvy. They combine their posts with something very useful, then maintain their mojo by writing an article about something that most people don’t know, such as open source development techniques or web server distribution issues. We are always eager to understand what they have posted.
The Outcasts These social media people reach out to an audience through touching our fellow outcast emotions. These posts “relate.” These posts “relate.” They want to make you better at this or slimmer so you can finally fit in.
