I logged onto Klout for the first time in a while this afternoon while doing some social media work for the Dean I work for full-time. The social media rating tool, which attempts to score your social media abilities and provides you analytics about your usage, is now allowing users to answer questions on the site to help boost their score.
I let myself procrastinate for a minute and decided to answer one. I had 300 characters to answer the following question: “What are the three most important pieces of advice you can give to someone who is new to social media?” Only 300 characters for that loaded question? I could write a book on that subject! (Maybe I should…someday…when I have time.)
1) Be honest. It’ll keep you engaged longer and make it easier to be on social media.
2) Don’t be afraid to be silent. If you’re real, there are times where you honestly have nothing to share.
3) “Don’t let comparison ruin your joy.” Don’t compare yourself to other users – you’re you.
My answer was very stream of consciousness, so it is not necessarily refined. I think this advice has kept me engaged in social media for as long as I have, and it keeps me going when I have the opposite of those Saturday Night Live Stuart Smalley affirmation moments (“I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, and gosh darn it, people don’t like me.” And I do realize that breaking out an early-1990s SNL reference is probably why people don’t like me.)
What are your thoughts? What advice would you give? Am I completely off base?