Social media builds relationships in all the ways – both small and significant. LeeAundra tells us why. ~joey
Every week or so, I read a tweet that bemoans the trivial nature of other tweets. Usually, it implores Twitterers to stop telling us what they had for dinner and instead share important, profound, useful musings on life and the world around us.
But the simple fact is I like knowing what my friends and colleagues are doing. And the more I think about it, “real world” conversations aren’t all discussions about weighty matters. Most of our daily interaction with people consists of casual chit chat – what we did last night, what movies we watched, and yes, what we had for dinner. Twitter simply mimics that exchange (in 140 characters or less.)
And why is this a good thing? We build relationships by learning about a person on a very personal level. Even the most mundane details give us valuable clues to the make up of that person and help us decide if we like them, do we want them as a friend. In fact, those personal, often trivial, details are often the most compelling elements in our selection process.
This is a crucial element of persuasion and influence. To have credibility you must have expertise AND a relationship with whoever you want to influence. To put it bluntly, most of us, most of the time, have to like someone on a personal level if we are going to listen to them. Seemingly trivial tweets allow us to create relationships with others, hence they allow us to ultimately influence.
At its most elemental, Twitter is base information transmittal. But in practice, Twitter is whatever you want it to be: a form of self expression, a useful marketing tool, the ultimate editing challenge. What is most interesting especially to communication fans is that at the core of all of these things, Twitter is about connecting people. In an increasingly fragmented society, these are the tools that are helping us maintain a sense of community. This is not to be sniffed at.
That’s why I want to know what you’re having for dinner. You can tell me @leeaundra
My friend and colleague, LeeAundra Temescu, is an award-winning executive communications coach. Her excellence lies not just in her experience training her clients in public speaking, but her strategy in helping them understand their goals, their next choices, and how to achieve them through positioning and presentation in public. Find her at http://www.thecontrarypublicspeaker.com .
