45 provocative propositions about Social Media – Social BlaBla

1. People want control. If you give them tools to have more control over their lives, they will pay you back in attention, support, and even money.
2. Empowerment is unconditional. Telling people what they can and cannot do with and on your platform is like an electricity company restricting the distribution of energy to be used.
3. People develop technological work. Think about mindset, language, and skills before tools, features, and screen layouts.
4. Know your limits. Technology can solve information problems, organize communities and behaviors, but they cannot provide food or care for the sick.
5. You can’t learn to fly just by watching the pilot. If you want to understand new technologies you have to start using them. Dive in.
6. Start from the top. Blogging and streaming.
7. Don’t go out of your way for the tool. Be clear about who your target audience is, and what you will give to them. Choosing technology is the last thing you should do.
8. Start small. It is always better to build small than to do something too big. Be careful about using very expensive systems until you are fully familiar with the tools and know how people use them.
9. Planning ahead is difficult. Find cheap, simple, and easy ways to test your ideas with real people in real situations before using too many resources.
10. Wait for the unexpected. Be prepared to develop tactically, as you evolve, and learn to maximize the possibilities that present themselves.
11. Give up the illusion of control. In a networked world, organizations can no longer control what people think or say about their products and services. If you’re worried, get involved.
12. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The more open things are, the lower the risk of damage to your reputation. Restricting access can reduce use and innovation.
13. Keep it messy. Design to support conversations, relationships, and stories, not to organize documents and files. If everything is clean and tidy, it’s because no one is there.
14. In user-centered design, everyone is right. It proposes the evolution of systems and tools based on the people who use them, respecting their complaints and listening to their comments. Let them help you.
15. Never assume, always ask. You can’t know what your community wants without asking and them waiting for you to give them. Be specific, define the issue, problem or idea. Be transparent with the answers, especially those that inform your next steps.
16. Design for real people. Tailor your offering to the true capabilities and characteristics of your users, not how you would like them to be.
17. Keep it simple. Every time you add a feature to your toolset, make sure the functions don’t become more difficult to use.
18. Do not centralize, he adds. Do you really need data centralization? Use different batches of information and tools and then aggregate the content in one central location.
19. Be a pirate. Don’t do things for yourself, make use of what others have already shared.
20. Empty rooms are easier to renovate. Be quick and loose with the evolution of your platform in the early stages, but be cautious about changing things once people start using it.
21. Build and then let it populate. Build relationships, then they will bear fruit.
22. The world is a noisy place. To get people’s attention you have to offer something of value.
23. Go where the people go. Experienced users have plenty of existing spots, and newcomers are hard to find. Go up to them and say hello.
24. Learn to listen before you start speaking. Good conversations require good listening skills more than speaking skills. Learn to say things that people want to hear (without losing authenticity).
25. Be consistent. Remember what you say in public, you are talking to everyone, all the time, everywhere, so stay true to your principles.
26. You can’t force people to volunteer. By contributing content and spreading it you can get volunteers. Learning to create good invitations are opportunities for action.
27. Respect how people choose to communicate. Some write, others take photos or others make videos. Most people just listen and watch, and maybe occasionally make comments.
28. Enthusiasts are more important than experts. Motivation triggers engagement when tools are cheap and easy to use.
29. Be realistic about who will create content. It is the same proportion of those who raise their hands when it is time for questions.
30. Put your energy where their energy is. Support early adopters instead of chasing skeptics. They will become your evangelists.
31. All energy is good energy. If people take the time to criticize you, they are taking the time to criticize you. Don’t waste the opportunity.
32. Take sides. Do it in a fun and sociable way, that’s how you can achieve greater engagement.
33. Be a good host. Make people comfortable and then let them be.
34. Don’t forget the tables and chairs. If you want to communicate or collaborate online, it may also be easier to meet face-to-face.
35. Keep your powder dry. Set aside the most money for design, testing and user copy, as well as marketing and community involvement, and not for software and hardware.
36. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Launching a service is just the beginning, the hard work begins once there is something people can commit to.
37. Content reigns. Providing great content, whether it’s resources, information, connections or conversations means new users will find you. It is also important to give people the means to share that content freely and openly.
38. Eat your own dog food. If you are not using your own services, why do you think someone else will? You can’t influence a community if you’re not in it.
39. Your users are the owners of your platform. If they feel like owners, they will trust it, help support it, find new ways to use it, and improve the tools. If they don’t take ownership, no amount of pushing will help.
40. It allows people to solve their own problems. When the volume of work grows, so does the number of workers.
41. Someone has to pay. Although many online tools are free, everything has its costs in time, if not money. If possible, make sure the money is used for the core purpose of the project.
42. Money should not be confused with value. Look at the other assets you have in your community, such as skills, volunteers, participation and goodwill, and put them to use in maintaining it.
43. Nobody knows anything. The only thing worth seeing is what your users are doing.
44. Failing is useful. If you want to know what works, see what doesn’t. If you fail, do it in a useful way.
45. Thank you, in public. People don’t need to hold something on letterhead in their hands to feel recognized. Use your tools to recognize the people who helped you and do it in a visible way.

Via: Social Reporter