Blogs Bond; Facebook Isolates: Part II – Confiding in our Tribal Space

Are you leading engagement with your tribes?

Lots of interesting Q & A during last week’s webinar about blogging our way to increased constituent engagement. Particularly around the relative merits of blogging vs. engaging on Facebook and other social media.  Our constituents’ agenda is often a quest for meaningful social interaction; a tribal connection. At the same time, folks are looking for specific benefits — what’s in it for them? Our own agenda is dealing with time/resource constraints. Folks are strapped for time, and want to know where to get the biggest bang for their buck.

So, which media are best for promoting true connectivity and loyalty?  I embarked on this multi-part post to explore the subject. Response to Part I was mixed. Still, on balance, it falls down on the side of blogging. One commenter gave the edge to blogs, still noting that it’s not an either/or; we can’t afford to ignore“the largest social media platform out there.”Another opined that “Facebook locks you into their platform and their options for accessing and syndicating content, whereas a blog is not blocked by login requirements and can be shared via link to any service.” Several folks noted that “blogs give you more control; you own your site, your content and your subscribers.”  In other words, Facebook may not be around forever.  It’s big now, but there are oodles of internet companies that are no longer with us who were pretty darn big 15 years ago.  Finally, in terms of building loyalty, with blogs constituents don’t just ‘like’ you; they really want to hear from you. Let’s investigate why.

One of the things we all miss most these days is confidants. From the recent Is Facebook Making Us Lonely? in the Atlantic:

            In one survey, the mean size of networks of personal confidants decreased from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 in 2004. Similarly, in 1985, only 10 percent of Americans said they had no one with whom to discuss important matters, and 15 percent said they had only one such good friend. By 2004, 25 percent had nobody to talk to, and 20 percent had only one confidant.

I find people confide a lot in blogs and blog comments.  For some reason, blogs seem to bring out less narcissism and more self-reflection and genuine sharing. It’s less “Yo, dude, look at me at this kegger!” and more “I confess, I don’t know much about beer, but I recently found one that knocked my socks off and wondered if others know about it.” Maybe it’s because people have no one to bounce things off of in person.  I don’t know why, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Yes, I think blogs are the best social platform out there.  I do.

Of course, reasonable people can disagree as to the best platforms to engender connectivity.  But let’s look at a couple of recent demonstrations of who is using what ‘sharing’ platform out there. As you read, think about how the demographics of groups on various platforms compare with the demographics of your target audiences.

There are so many social platforms it can become dizzying, including a host of other networks not even addressed in this infographic – e.g., Pinterest(which has recently surpassed Twitter in size); You Tube (great for sharing videos); Instagram, and Foursquare.We want to find those media that will engender the greatest loyalty.

Let’s look at this infographic from peak sales with some good fundamental tips in getting people to like you in social media.  

(1) Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
(2) Give honest and sincere appreciation.
        (3) Arouse in the other person an eager want.

All the tips provided, in my humble opinion, are much easier to implement in a blog format than on Facebook.  Why?  Because blog commenters tend to reveal a lot of information about themselves. So it’s easier to respond personally, sincerely and with relevant content. And the infographic also gives the nod to the importance of persuasive content.  Blogs enable this, because they’re more rich and conversational. We learn here that 70% of all internet users – regardless of what other platforms they use — read a blog.  I’ll wager that’s a lot more than you thought!

People crave engaging with tribes. Best-selling author and blogger, Seth Godin, notes: “A crowd is a tribe without a leader.” Blogs have leaders; Facebook is a crowd.