Social media plays a huge role in how we communicate with others, but I’ve often said that it’s impossible to commit to every single social media site. We have to set limits, and spend our time wisely. Otherwise, we would never have time to do anything else. I tend to spend a majority of my time on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Those are the sites that I get the most value from, and where I have the most genuine connections with others.
With that said, while I don’t allocate much time for other social networks, I do believe that it is important to have a presence on as many social networks as possible, even if my accounts, for the most part, sit dormant. In this article, I will explain why I think it’s important to at least have a presence on every social media site, even if you’re not very active.
1. It Gives People a Way to Cite You
If you are an artist or content creator, it is important to give other people as many ways as possible to share your work with others, and give you appropriate credit. While you might not see much value in a particular social network, there may be others that do. Social media users like to be able to cite other users, and it can be frustrating when people either don’t have an account, or don’t advertise its existence.
Set up an account on some of the popular social networks outside of the ones that you frequent. Place a link to it on your website, and just see what happens. You may find that other users or blogs might start engaging with you there.
2. Have a Backup Plan
Social networks fail all the time. The first social network I joined was Myspace. We all know what happened to Myspace. They failed to innovate, and people migrated to Facebook. Facebook has been around for 10 years now. Will it continue to survive? Or will another new innovative social site develop? Either way, it’s important to have a back up plan. You never know when a social site will fail, and you don’t want to be left wondering what happened to all your connections.
3. You Might Get a Surprise Following
I admit it, I was a bit late to adopt Instagram into my daily routine. I didn’t start taking Instagram seriously until I began to take my photography more seriously. With that said, I did create an account early on, it just sat idle for a while before I began using it. The smartest thing I did, at the time, was to also link that account with my Twitter and Facebook accounts. So when my Facebook and Twitter friends started to join Instagram, they were able to find me easily. So when I finally did start to adopt Instagram into my daily routine, I wasn’t starting from scratch, and was a bit surprised how many followers I already had.
Conclusion
While social media can be a time-consuming task, it has become an essential tool for creatives to share their work, and communicate with others. Like I said earlier, while you don’t have to commit to each and every social media site, it is important to at least have a presence, even though you might not have the time to manage each account appropriately.
What do you think? Do you have accounts on every social site? Or do you prefer to only set up accounts on sites you actually use? Feel free to chime in and let me know what you think.
I agree with what you say, 100%. The dilemma that I have is that I am finding it hard to gain worthy followers to te content that I am pushing. I am not sure if it is due to just how much is put out there or if I am not distributing it in the right manners. You make valid points.
If you are publishing really good content, the followers will come. It takes time though, and a lot of commitment. There aren’t any shortcuts though. Just be patient 🙂