Why we share online [Social Media Week]

Why we share online

Tom Mason

Tom Mason took to the stage at social media week to talk about why we share online. By understanding user behaviour online (what and why people share) we can use this to boost our visibility on social media.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the talk.

We create social media identities that portray an idealistic version of ourselves. Think back to your end of year video generate by facebook of your “best moments”. Your overall social media presence is probably something like this – the best bits of your life, your highlights. We use social media as an opportunity to create our own narrative (our own story). However, 57% of social media updates are either faked or exaggerated. Our social media feed and social identity are cultivated by what we share online. People are cultivating what they would like to be seen as.

There are a number of factors motivating us to share online. By understanding these we can create social media campaigns and content which encourage engagement.

01. Social Currency

We share things on social media as a form of social currency.  The things we post affect how other people see us and therefore we share things that will help us make good to other people. We share when we do ‘interesting things’

when we go on holiday. when we get the perfect shot of our pet looking straight at the camera.

Examples of how brands and businesses have used this include:

• Yorkshire tea encouraging customers to tweet on the train with their product – giving customers a nudge to share that they are traveling/going somewhere interesting.
• Running app encouraging customers to share how far they are running – giving customers a nudge to share that they are being healthy, training to meet a goal etc.
• London pride encouraging customers to tweet their empty pint taking advantage of their customers being social with their friends.

02. Emotion

We share things that we care about on social media. When we care about the content we share it. However, it is worth bearing in mind that we don’t share everything, however, if the content provokes a reaction and signals out identity to others we are more likely to share.

Sometimes it can be intentional. Other times it will not be.

WeN need to think about what emotion we are trying to provoke. A passive reaction is unlikely to get shared, however a proactive one will (e,g, where we are angry or sad or find the content funny etc).  If we can directly relate to the situation we are also more likely to empathise and consequently share. Therefore it should be targeted towards your customer persona.

03. Belonging

We are social creatures. Therefore, we naturally want to be social, we want to be part of something, part of a community. Success can be found by building a community – examples include this mum runs and true start coffee. Therefore we should always be on the lookout for opportunities.

Summary

• Find opportunities for social currency that will boost your brand
• What emotions can your content trigger?
• How can you make users feel like they belong in a community?