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Friendship is the foundation of social relationship. In fact, everybody is linked to someone else through friends or contacts. This concept is the basement of every social media network sites. The goal behind those sites is simple: build social networks/communities to communicate, collaborate or entertain.

We are all part of one or several social media sites. Depending of our goals, we may be developing some type of networks more than others. To do so, we have to add friends or followers. The simple action to add a new friend on your list may be done very mechanically. However, it is essential to understand that social development isn’t something that shall be done mechanically or without any valuable reason. In fact, there are several effets resulting from this action. Being conscious of these seems to me like the starting point of a successful social media network development. Here is a list of these effects:

1. Accessibility to suggested contents.

Depending of the social media site, the suggested contents may vary from posts and articles to pictures and videos. It may even be some kind of live content just like Twitter. Most commonly, friendship is based on sharing experiences, thoughts and recommendations. Content distribution is one of the biggest benefits resulting from social media activity. It is also essential to understand that adding friends is all about creating your own community. Thus, adding friends essentially means to share the interests of every individuals. You community will then be defined as the aggregation of every piece of content.

2. Greater communication facilities.

In several social media sites, befriending someone means to open up the door to more communication facilities. Let’s talk about Twitter with the “Direct Messages” channel or StumbleUpon with the “Send to” functionality. Of course, more communication channels sounds like something positive – and it is – but again it depends of your goals. More channels mean more time and more management.

3. Accessibility to extra data.

Befriending someone also means to open up a door for others to access to some extra data. It could be more data about your profile or any other data like your “Shouts” in Digg. Many social media sites allow configuring your profile to manage your preferred level of privacy, but most of the time befriending means more visibility on who you are, what you do and how to reach you.

4. Expansion of your social network.

Of course, this is precisely the goal for adding friends and this is what you want. However, I think it is interesting to look further than just looking at the first level. This first level is the specifically the friend you want to add. In fact, you may additionally want to look at the second level, which refers to the friends of this particular potential friend (Got it? :grin:). You may understand here that adding someone is, indirectly, adding another social network. Is that network corresponds to what you want? Will it properly serve your goals? Depending of your goals and your strategy, you may take into account this type of information.

5. Potential to increase your blog readership.

Every Internet user is a potential loyal reader, right? Befriending someone seems to me like a great opportunity to introduce your blog or your website. This first contact may be very positive if you don’t just mechanically adding friends. Relationships may be initiated by this type of action. Of course, this will require personalizing each and every addition. However, the benefits may be significant. Remember that true relationships are priceless.

In summary, social network development needs to be well understood and strategically plan to properly serve your goals. Moreover, it is also essential to understand that friendship significance differ from a social media site to another. Thus, your social development strategy may also differ accordingly!

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 7:40 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.