I spend a few hours every week at work updating Community Post, the social-media channel of PalmBeachPost.com that I created last spring. It’s a small part of the website that most people in the newsroom pay little attention to, and it’s been a struggle to get it promoted on our homepage and in print.
But our readers seem to love it, and that’s what keeps me going. Every week I connect with local people who are thrilled to have a place on PalmBeachPost.com to share their stories and read about their neighbors. Every week, I am reminded that people in the community like and respect The Palm Beach Post brand.
And the fact that someone at The Palm Beach Post is listening to them, interacting with them and publishing their stories, I am convinced, makes them feel more connected to their hometown paper.
To me, that’s what social media is all about – much more so than things like being the first to switch to Facebook’s new Timeline. (The modern profession of “social media” is filled with people so obsessed with being seen as the first to be in the know and the first to use the latest tools that they often forget about the audience they’re supposed to be connected with.)
Anyway, part of the Community Post channel is a reader-generated blog, moderated and edited by me. I get several dozen submissions a month, many of which turn into print stories, listings on our entertainment website, or guest blog posts. The latest submission made my day.
It’s from an 80-year-old woman who’s been married 61 years “to the love of my life,” designs websites on the side, and is writing and self-publishing her first book.
“I feel rather bold writing to you but I thought perhaps you’d be interested,” she emailed me, then outlined the plot of her novella and signed off by expressing worry she appeared “egotistical” for writing.
We exchanged a few emails, and I asked her to keep in touch when her book was published and available to purchase online. She agreed and added: “Writing a book was something I always said I’d do ‘someday.’ When I reached 80 I figured, “If not now, when?” I try to encourage people, especially in my age group, to try new things and keep learning.”
Such an inspiring woman! I already feel uplifted by her, and I know our readers will, too.
Thanks Paul!
Building a following is important, of course, and it’s worthwhile to spend some time doing that. But it’s so easy for doing social media – like anything else – to become ego-driven. It’s also really easy to slip into the mindset that you have to keep rehashing the same tired fads – like tweetups – just because “everyone else” is still doing them. One needs to have the courage to break away from the groupthink.
I think it’s really easy to drift into the mindset of “I have to increase followers/Likes/interactions/etc.,” but it’s good to note, from time to time, that word of mouth about your brand is a million times more valuable than being able to brag about volume. It’s kind of like McDonalds’ “billions and billions served” slogan — it’s great, but when was the last time McDonalds was mentioned in an argument about the world’s best burgers?
Glad to see you posting again. I love this blog.