Social Sharing: Reduce Rants When You Actually Read!
I just got an email, from a “sad” marketer, sharing their sorrow after the accusations and not-so-nice comments they received upon sharing an article that didn’t actually convey their opinions and beliefs.
My initial thought? That happens.
Then, as I continued to read the tale of woe, I realized the “sad” marketer hadn’t actually read the article. She chose to share it based on the title and the image, then unplugged for the weekend. She came back to a shit storm in her comments.
My second thought? Sounds like she got what she deserved!
When You Share By Rote, You Get Rants!
There’s a reason that click bait has become a buzzword. Titles tempt us. They also, far too often, fail to deliver on the idea once you get past the title and into the meat of the read.
To suss this out, though, one must ACTUALLY read the article.
I think we need to coin a new buzzword, or buzz activity might be a more correct moniker … share bait. It’s the title and feature image that screams, SHARE ME.
When social sharing becomes a compulsion to share for the sake of sharing, rather than the careful selection of suitable reads for your peers and prospects, you’ve got a problem!
Can You Back Up The Share?
Consider this. Some of those who see what you share in your feed are going to take action. They might give you a favorite or like (also not a smart thing to do without ACTUALLY reading that “favorite” content), they might share it too, and they might comment!
Here’s where things can get sticky. If you get called out for the share and you haven’t actually read the article, you’ll get egg (or something worse) on your face my friend.
Being prepared to back up what you share on social media is a topic that should be discussed more openly and often. It goes along with the trust and transparency that have long been lauded as crucial to the social experience.
How long do you think your audience will trust you if you fail to vet and verify the value of the information you’re sharing?
Unsure Share? Don’t Unplug!
The scenario I shared detailing the woes of the “sad” marketer was only made more untenable when she shared a dodgy read and then unplugged for the weekend.
If you read and can relate, before you share, you’ll probably not have any issue. But you might still share a “hot button” article that gets your following a little hot under the collar.
If you’ve taken the time to read and can smartly formulate a response that allows you and your readers to agree to disagree on the specific issue. No read, no real way to get away without admitting you screwed up!
You can’t wander away and leave a potentially hot topic on your social space. You wouldn’t leave candles burning and then leave the house for a three day weekend. You’d worry about fire. Why would you leave a shared article to ignite on your unmonitored social platforms?
Read, Relate & Reap Benefits … Not Rants
Don’t bust out the tired, but tempting, excuse that you’re just TOO BUSY to take the time to read what you share.
It takes minutes to read an article. There’s no measuring the amount of time it will take you to regain the trust of an audience you alienate with a stupid share.
Ever faced the fire after a poorly perceived share? How did you handle the blowback?
Hehe, one of my favourite topics, miss.
You can probably take it back to the likes of Triberr and Twitterfeed, etc, where an RSS just gets dropped in and it’s easy to simply mass click and to hell with what’s actually being shared.
I recall getting Jason Falls having a dig at me on Twitter, for calling Robert Scoble and asshole (oh, look at me name-dropping names that mean squat in the bigger picture!). Anyhoo…
The post Falls was referring to was entitled “Lessons from an Asshole”, and he’d read the first part, where it shared Scoble being an asshole. Falls came on Twitter and berated me, saying stuff like, “You don’t know the man”, “do you know all the good he does”, “cheap shot at someone just to get clicks”, etc.
Here’s the thing – the post was referencing a very public Google+ post, where Scoble admitted he acts liked an asshole about something, and he needed to do better, and he’d learned a very valuable lesson.
I asked Falls if he’d read the whole piece, to which he replied, “No, I read the start and skimmed.”
My silence (I think) said it all. 😉
By all means, get righteous and indignant – but holy crap, people, make sure you know what the hell you’re getting righteous and indignant about. Otherwise, you look dumber than a dumb thing from Dumbland flying in on the dumbcopter.
PS – “share bait”, I like it. 🙂
Sometimes silence is absolutely golden, Danny.
I agree with you. As we embrace more and more tools that allow us to automate and schedule, we start to automate and schedule with no real purpose except automating and scheduling in mind. Stop being a flipping robot and out in the time, effort and research that will actually allow you to share articles and ideas that are in line with your brand AND your audience.
Guess I need to get busy and “take ownership” of #sharebait, too.
Fancy meeting you here, Danny! 😉
More seriously, I agree. There are tons of people who share in a Triberr-centric fashion, just because their friends post. So, it must be automatically awesome.
There is also an important factor to take into consideration: People want to be recognized for sharing something first. They want to be at the top of the chain. You know, because virality? lol
The sad thing is, they could get much better recognition and “virality” if they shared qualitatively…
Hey ho.
Indeed! It should be a no brainer.
This banana skin is all too common and I love the expression “share-bait”. So apposite! Actually there is nothing worse than false engagement and not reading what you pass on is kind of phoney. But time poverty is the miscreant that creates this . A word to the wise is enough. Thanks for the post.
[image: photo] *Mallie Hart* Marketing Director, Go Creative Go!
p:404.590.2094 | e:mallie@gocreativego.com | w:http://gocreativego.com | a:Atlanta, GA My latest
Thanks so much for commenting. It’s a pretty sorry state for social marketers, when they can’t even take the few minutes to read before sharing. It adds to the spreading of misinformation and/or outdated information and just makes us look lazy.