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Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on March 23, 2023

Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?

Hype? Hope? Now, this subject has probably been done to death but, here I will do it all over again. Perhaps (hopefully!) my perspective will be fresh and/or of some value.

First of all, this post is inspired by The ABA Journal’s take on Social Media. As in the online magazine for lawyers. And they went on about Social Media, much like I have and others have, as well.

Hype Feeds Itself

And I can’t help feeling that that, in and of itself, is feeding the ole hype machine. Is Social Media hyped? Well, let’s put out an article about just that, and we’ll rev up the hype machine and get the word out and and and …. Suddenly, there’s hype about the hype.

Ai chihuahua.

However, there is, perhaps less of a hype issue than there is one of unrealistic expectations. I suspect that most people, if they give Social Media more than a passing glance (and, in particular, if they need to touch on it for business), take one look at it and think: free. Ooh, goody!

This marvelous free thing will supplement (and perhaps eventually supplant) all of the things I have to actually pay good money for! My wealth will increase, in an incredible and exponential manner, because I can put my advertising and marketing dollars elsewhere, outside of traditional (read: expensive) channels, and instead shove it all into some investment that catches my eye. Llama ranching, perhaps.

Traditional vs. Social Media Marketing

Okay. Let’s back up. The real thing is, Social Media marketing isn’t really an apples to apples comparison with traditional marketing. It’s more like holding a town hall meeting and seeing what people have to say about your product. Or like doing community outreach (e. g. having your company send people to work at a soup kitchen or build a house).

It’s like a million networking events. In short, it’s that dreaded, over-used term: relationship building.

And creating relationships is hard. And messy. Plus it’s not necessarily terribly free, at all.

Hype and A Sense of Entitlement

Because I have seen, in many instances, when software on a website changes. And in particular with community forums, people tend to freak out. They have a mislaid proprietary interest in a whole lotta sameness. Or they want the site to be the same from day to day, because that’s familiar to them.

Hence moving the post button from the left to the right, or changing its color, is akin to moving their cheese. So it tears at them.

But, ultimately, they figure it out. And they give it a chance and come back, and pretty soon, so far as they’re concerned things have always been the new way, and were never the old way. Because for them, it’s not about the tools; it’s about the people.

And the same thing should be true for you – and that should knock the hype right out, and for good. It’s not about the tools. It’s not about Twitter, or Facebook, or TikTok, or Groupon, or Yelp, or AirBnB, or MySpace (back in the day), or LinkedIn or StumbleUpon or Snapchat or a billion others. Instead, it’s about the people.

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media in Our Society

† Social Media Continues its Relentless Pace
• Social Media’s Seduction AKA Oops, Did I Do That?
† Social Media Background Check Being Used For Jury Selection
• Social Media: Hope, Hype or What?
† Social Media Balance
• How Social Media Can Ruin Your Life
† Happy Holidays, Social Media Style

Reviews of Books on Social Media

• Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
† Book Review – Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

Working with Social Media

† A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer
• Five Ways for Charities to use Social Media
† Four Important Social Media Stats
• Social Networking/Social Media Tips
† The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts and More
• Jell-O on the Wall: Social Media Perfection is Fleeting
† When NOT to Post on Social Media Platforms

Social Media for Writers

• The Power of Social Media (Neurotic Writers’ Edition)
† Social Media and Writing
• Social Media and Writing Part 2
† Social Media and Writing Part 3
• Are You Promoting Your Writing With Social Media?

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Community Management Tidbits – Analytics

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 18, 2022

Community Management in the Context of Analytics

So, the truth is, analytics are a term that scares a lot of people. But do not panic.

Start by backing up for just a second, all right?

You’ve got an online community. And you are working hard on it. It is growing. But you have no idea whether what you are doing is having any sort of an impact whatsoever. This is where analytics comes in.

Now, do not panic if you are missing a data analysis background. It is not strictly necessary. What you do need, though, are (a) a means of measurement (preferably you should have a few of these) and (b) the willingness to measure. Really, it is that easy. You do not need a degree in Advanced Statistics.

Google Analytics 4 (replacing Universal Analytics)

First of all, the primary measurement stick you want is Google Analytics. And it is free and very easy to use. It is also a rather robust measurement system, capable of showing trends in Clicks, Impressions, Clickthru Rate, and more.

In addition, it shows, among other things, where your traffic is coming from, where your users land, and where they departed your site from. It also shows Bounce Rate, which is defined by Measurement Guru Avinash Kaushik as, “I came, I saw, I puked.” In other words, the visitor only visited one page of the site.

Keep in mind, though, that it is entirely possible your visitor loved your site but got everything they needed in just one page. So, while they may have bounced right out of there, it might not have been due to any fault or failing on your part.

So, try not to take it personally, okay?

AHRefs

Thank God for the website AHRefs. While free website measurement tools have come and gone (apart from Google Analytics), AHRefs will review whatever is out there.

So, one thing to keep in mind is that as this post is updated, I keep finding new yardsticks. And then they go away after a while. At least AHRefs is still hanging in there. Whew.

Also, consider SEMRush and Ubersuggest. More measuring is often better.

Analytics From More Yardsticks

Furthermore, there are also measuring websites specifically designed to help you comprehend how you’re doing on Twitter and elsewhere, namely:

• HootSuite – count the number of clicks you receive on shortened URLs, to supplement your Google Analytics click counts
† Analytic giant HubSpot – measure how influential you are (with a hugely helpful diagnostic) and
• Good ole Tweepsmap – analytics and info on who unfollowed or followed you on Twitter/X.

Facebook also has its own metrics, which you can see if you have a page.

Using Your Findings

So what do you do with all of this information once you’ve amassed it? Why, you act upon it! Does one page on your site have a far higher Bounce Rate than the others? Check it and see if the links on it are all leading users away from your site.

If that is not the culprit, perhaps its content just plain is not compelling enough.

Got a series of links you have tweeted that have consistently gotten you the most clicks? Then check to see what they all have in common, and offer similar links in the future. And maybe even build some onsite content around those subjects.

Has your HubSpot grade tanked in the past week? That might be due to external factors beyond your control, but check to see if any of it is within your purview. Perhaps your server was down.

Finally, small fluctuations over short time periods are perfectly normal and are no cause for concern. However, much larger hikes and drops, or trends over longer time periods, are more of an issue.

But you will never know about any of these things unless you start to take measurements, and read and use them.

Click to buy Untrustworthy on Amazon

Want More About Community Management?

If my experiences with community management resonate with you, then check out my other blog posts about how online communities work.

Here are some posts about my years in community management, and what I have learned.

• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager
† Going From a Collection of Users to a True Community
• Are Off Topic Posts Ever Okay?

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