Lately, I’ve been thinking about the theory behind how and what people share on social networks.
Lots of people will say that the best tactic is to create content (preferably on your own site) and then share it everywhere that you are active (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, you name it). The idea is that when you are on so many different networks, you likely have different people following you on each site, so you want to make sure that everyone sees what you’ve posted.
Then, the other day, C.C. Chapman had a post that called out the people that complain about someone sharing “too much.” His contention is that he’s going to share as much as he wants, it’s up to his followers to filter what he shares if they think he’s sharing too much. Or, if they don’t like it, they don’t have to follow him.
Can someone share “too much?”
I agree that the onus is generally on the follower to filter what they want to see and, if they deem it to be too much, stop following. They need to set their threshold for how much they want to see and decide for themselves. I don’t think that people should filter or hold back what they share. If they have content that they want to share, they should share it. C.C.’s right, if you don’t like it, stop following.
The thing that’s been on my mind is how should people think about what they offer/do to their loyal followers?
Lots of times, people will create that piece of content and then promote it everywhere, in the effort to reach whoever may be following them on that site, just in case they’re different than other sites. So, their loyal followers – the people who want to hear from them the most – are exposed to the same message three or four (or more) times. That can get repetitive and overwhelming.
If social media is like “drinking from a fire hose,” this makes it like there’s four or five hoses pointed at you.
What’s the solution?
How do we combat this flood of information? How do we decide what to share where?
It is a real concern that people may follow you on Twitter but not Google+ and it’s certainly in your best interest to make sure that those people see your content. Until there is one “super network” (maybe Google TwitBook?) we will be faced with the problem of deciding what to share, where to share it and how to make sure you don’t overdo it.
Not only is it a challenge to decide where to share what, it’s also a lot of work to make sure you post everything everywhere.
This is one of the benefits that I see of Google+ and its concept of circles to help filter who you share with.
It’s also the benefit of tools like TweetDeck and HootSuite. By seeing all of your networks in one place, it’s much easier to identify the duplicate posts and narrow down those people that tend to post the same thing everywhere. Then, you’re able to choose which network to follow them on.
The real challenge
Until they come up with that super network, it’ll be about picking and choosing. Maybe it’s Facebook for personal and Google+ for business. That’s up to each person to decide for themselves.
It’s up to you to decide how much you want to share and who you want to cater to.
Do you want to make sure you get through to everyone everywhere? Do you want to tailor your sharing to your most loyal fans that follow you everywhere? That’s a decision everyone has to make, but it’s something that I think is becoming more and more important to think through as the number of networks continue to grow.
