Welcome to My World

When I joined the world of Facebook a little over two years ago, it was because I thought I needed to do some networking to boost my business.  Then my “real” friends started to find me.  High-school friends, college friends, neighbors, ex-coworkers came out of the woodwork and suddenly we were not only back in touch, but I knew what they were excited about, interested in, and sometimes what they were eating.

Next my parents “friended” me.  That was admittedly a little weird.

But now I look forward to checking in to see what everyone in my little corner of the world is up to.  There is a whole different level of pseudo-intimacy in the seemingly insignificant blips on the daily radar that my friends and family share.  The pictures of school plays and graduations, the videos of silly pet tricks, the random links to news stories and blogs and recipes all serve to create an aura of community.

Into this community, I have also willingly invited the participation of advertisers.  Every time I say that I “like” a company, product, or publication, I invite them to join my world and talk directly to me as part of my circle of friends.

A year ago, if you suggested that I would do something like that, I would have said you were insane.  Why on earth would I ASK for advertising to be thrown into my conversations with my friends?

When I first started to offer myself up as a “fan” of the businesses I support, my intention was completely self-serving.  In some weird exhibitionist way I wanted to share with the world that I run on Dunkin’, I am obsessed with Sephora and I watch Mad Men with a fervor that I don’t even fully understand.  It didn’t feel like opting in for advertising messages, it just felt like being myself.

And as messages from these companies began to creep their way into my news feed, many of them helped to solidify the feeling that these organizations really get me.

Target isn’t advertising to me, so much as they are letting me know what they have in the store so I know what to look for next time I am there.  Isn’t that thoughtful?

Family Fun Magazine isn’t pushing subscriptions, they are sharing ideas (and, oh by the way, there would be more of those ideas in the magazine, should I want to subscribe).

Mad Men actually told me that the next season is available On Demand.  I was waiting for that!

The key to success here is for these organizations to talk to me as if I was actually a friend.  Blending into the friendscape is the only way that a company is going to survive and be invited to stay in my social circle.  Anyone who gets rude or pushy or overly talkative is going to be asked to leave, just as a “real” friend would be asked to leave a party if she got out of hand.

But as long as my non-human friends behave themselves and continue to add to the conversation, I am happy to have them around.

How do you feel about your interactions with companies in social media?