How Often Do You Mingle Socially?

I recently took part in a community game on Facebook  it was a group event whereby participants were set tasks and liked and interacted with other group members and their Facebook  Business Pages. Initially I could not see any advantage of this other than boosting the number of overall likes per page. And it’s not all about the magic number of likes. However, I decided I would take part and observe.

The Players Were Buzzing

What amazed me was the amount of social interaction and buzz this game generated. Participants  didn’t  just like pages for the sake of it, they took the time to add comments, joined in with discussions, shared tips and were genuinely interested in supporting others and giving feedback. I gained knowledge, connected with others and saw some great Facebook pages that I genuinely liked.

There is another local community group that I joined on Facebook last month, in a very short space of time this group has grown to 500 members and again I am amazed at the amount of social interaction. People join in and help out. If someone needs a decorator, five people respond and if someone wants to share an event the others help spread the word to their friends and connections.

I believe these are just two examples of real social online networks at their finest and what being social is all about. Not just turning up and spreading your own messages, but also talking and listening to others.

Time to Mingle!

I am a fan of 60+ Facebook pages, this means an abundance of  posts and updates in my news stream. By joining and participating within these groups it reminded me of the importance of mingling.

Taking time out to mingle does make a difference especially for smaller businesses and aids their exposure on Facebook.  With the changes to Facebook and more business pages being created, life can be tricky for administrators, as when you post up-dates it can be a shot in the dark, you never really know who has seen or read posts within their  news feed.

People Are Talking About This

The new Facebook feature for pages “People Are Talking About This” highlights how many people are actually interacting and engaging with the page and it isn’t just likes that deems overall success. Social networks and groups need people to engage to continue to thrive and rely on others to join in.

We all want our own Facebook pages to grow and buzz with activity but how often do you make time to help others out and join in instead of lurk?

From Lurker to Mingler

All it takes is a few people to comment, conversations spark and social activity really ramps up like a domino effect.  So if you sit on the sidelines and are what’s known as a frequent lurker, try mingling when you get an opportunity. It not only raises your social visibility you never quite know where the conversation will take you.

Scarletta Definitions

1. The Lurker – Silently observes, reads what is being said but doesn’t comment or engage
2. The Mingler – Joins in with the conversation and expresses views
3. The Chatterbox – Always has something to say and likes everything