Facebook users just want to belong.

With more than 800 million registered users, that’s a lot of us that want belong to something.

Maybe, just maybe, your organization can help them belong to something of value, something cool and hip, something that promotes life-meaning and purpose, or something that helps them professionally.

People Use Facebook For Two Primary Reasons

Boston University Professors Ashwini Nadkarni and Stefan G. Hofmann published a study, Why Do People Use Facebook in November, 2011 in the Personality and Individual Differences Journal. Their findings show that Facebook use is motivated by two primary social needs:

1. The Need To Belong
2. The Need For Self-Presentation

The Need To Belong

Humans are highly social creatures. We have an intrinsic drive to associate with others and gain social acceptance. Our very human nature craves being with others.

We like to believe that we can be Lone Rangers able to do anything and be anything on our own. Introverts especially like to claim that they don’t need anyone else. The truth is that we are highly dependent on the social support of others (Baumeister & Leary, 1995.)

Actually, our self-esteem, sense of belonging, emotional well-being, self-efficacy, self-worth, sense of life-meaning, purpose and most importantly, health are negatively impacted if we are ostracized from social support and the social group. Yes, that’s right; research has shown that the connections we build in Facebook actually have a positive impact on our health and mental wellness. (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Baumeister & Tice, 1990; Stillman, Baumeister & Lambert et al., 2009; Zadro, Boland & Richardson, 2006).

How Organizations Can Influence The Need To Belong

Most nonprofit organizations started with a need to create a community where like-minded individuals could gather and share.

Facebook provides a great opportunity for organizations to help gather their tribe online and strengthen their connections. It’s a place to allow individuals to ask for help, voice their opinions and “like” or discuss each other’s insights. Acting as a conduit of connections and catalysts of conversations can help people feel accepted and a sense of belonging. This is also why posting pictures of members in action is so compelling and attractive to Facebook users.

Nadkarni and Hofmann’s study showed that online Facebook use fostered and strengthened offline connections (Lou, 2010). Even further, Facebook use benefited socialization in face-to-face community experiences and improved social learning outcomes (Yu and colleagues 2010). Facebook actually helped with skill-based learning.

The Need For Self Presentation

Facebook users communicate their real personality rather than promoting an idealized version of themselves (Back et al., 2010). Studies show that their online self-representation accurately reflects their offline behavior and personality traits. So users’ self-disclosures have a positive influence on their credibility. (Mazer, Murphy & Simonds 2009)

When teachers use Facebook to self-disclose personal pictures, messages from friends and family, and opinions, their students perceive similarities between themselves and the teacher. This has a positive influence on the students’ participation and positively affects their learning. (Mazer, Murphy & Simonds, 2009).

How Organizations Can Influence The Need For Self Presentation

It’s critical that organizations highlight and allow customers and potential customers to see Facebook profiles of their leaders and staff. The impressions formed from personal Facebook profiles provide viewers with positive information about their likeability in the offline world.

The more the organization can showcase its humanity and people, the more it’s likely to attract and influence others. The more friends a leader has, the more viewers assume they have positive offline social connections as well.

Organizations should encourage leaders and staff to share their profiles with others. The research shows that most viewers perceive that use of Facebook positively (Mazer, Murphy & Simonds, 2009).

How can organizations use Facebook features–friends list, wall, status updates, events, photos, videos messages, chat and like to influence others? What does an organization’s ban of Facebook use say about the culture of that organization?

Ever been in a small business or restaurant that has a small bell sitting on the front counter?

Next to the bell is a sign with the words “Ring for service.”

In my opinion, many of today’s social media networks are the equivalent of that little bell with the words “Tweet or post for service.”

The challenge for most organizations is whether they are listening for that social media bell to ring.

Responding To The Digital Bell As A Concierge

Many organizations are looking for an edge over their competitors. They are willing to do anything that would prompt potential customers to do business with them.

Some have prompted customer service departments to create a Twitter account and Facebook page. The goal is to create an online concierge service for their customers.

These organizations start by identifying online keyword searches for the products and services they offer. Then they use Google Alerts and a Twitter app such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to monitor when those words are used.

While monitoring posts that contain those keywords, they look for mentions that imply a decision is being considered. Customer service then responds to mentions that blatantly ask for advice. They aim to assist and gently influence the person toward a mutually beneficial choice. Then they facilitate a transaction, hopefully with their business.

Dealing With Negative Complaints

Sometimes customers just want to vent and argue. Digital customer service is not the place to have a battle with angry customers. Don’t try to win online. In fact, don’t even engage in the fight.

Remember the customer service golden rule: The customer is always right. Social media doesn’t negate this rule. It’s just the opposite. Having an online battle with a customer will generate a tremendous number of witnesses. A snarky or derogatory comment from an agent can lead to many more comments, updates and blog posts.

Here are several principles to consider for digital conflict resolution.

1. The customer is always right. (Even when he or she isn’t.)

2. Treat all customers with dignity and respect, regardless of their behavior.

Maintain dignity and remind yourself that customers are not personally mad at you. They are angry with the situation.

3. Irate customers are not the enemy.

Avoid becoming emotionally hijacked.

4. A calm, generous demeanor is the most effective weapon against an irate customer.

Avoid getting sucked into an argument with a customer online. The customer can’t see your face or hear your soothing voice. Relax and take your time responding.

5. Politeness is the most effective weapon against a rude customer.

6. Recruit your customer into helping you craft a solution.

Ask, “How can I help?” Rephrase the sentence into, “What can I do right now to fix the problem?” Your goal is to get them to shift from complaining to solving.

7. Apologize, even if you don’t have a reason to express regret.

“I’m sorry that your experience has not been good with us.” Remember, everyone is watching.

8. If the customer’s request is unreasonable, apologize and offer an alternative.

If the customer doesn’t really want your help, excuse yourself from the conversation. Respond with, “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to help you.” You can always ask to take the conversation offline. Just know that many people following the conversation want to see how it’s resolved.

For more information, read Olivier Blanchard’s Social Media ROI and the chapter on Real Time Digital Support.

What are some other tips dealing with online irritated customers? Why are many organizations refusing to listen to the online digital bell when it rings?

Facebook. Say that name and people either nod in agreement or shriek with fear.

Facebook’s jargon, processes and activity are part of mainstream society today.

We judge relationships based on a person’s Facebook relationship status. We see if someone has current photos in their albums. We check their work history and their timeline. We review what they’ve “liked” recently.

Facebook is an extremely powerful social technology tool that our organizations should embrace and use–even if we don’t like it.

Think of your organization’s Facebook page as a place where your customers and potential customers can hang out with you and share. Now it’s your job to keep the conversation going. It’s your dinner party and you’ve invited them there, so have some fun conversing!

Here are five ways to increase your organization’s Facebook presence so that others will get more involved with your brand.

1. Post Daily.

As the admin for your organization’s Facebook page, you should post something daily. The worst thing you can do is setup your organization’s Facebook page and let it set their like a stagnant pond without any activity. Then it just stinks!

It doesn’t take that long to post something, so do it. Mix it up. Post an interesting article. Post a link to a video. Post some photos from your last event. Ask an open ended question. Show your personal side.

By all means, post something!

2. Manually Post Links To Your Organization’s Blog

Many blog platforms have a widget that will automatically post a link of the recent blog post to a Facebook page. Don’t do it. Why? Manually posting a link provides a personal touch and is less sterile.

When you manually post a link on your Facebook Page, you can add a personal message and customize how the update looks in other’s newsfeed. You also have the ability to change the title and description.

Likewise, you can change the image with your manual update. Choose one that will grab the attention of readers.

3. Create A Fill In The Blank

I’ve been playing with my personal Facebook page for the past six months seeing what will get people to respond. I’ve noticed that creative “fill in the blank” updates grab people’s attention. It’s the equivalent of a phone ringing and people want to answer it.

Keep your fill in the blank short so that it doesn’t take a lot of time to respond.

4. Ask For Help

If you or a coworker is traveling to a specific city, ask your followers for advice for favorite restaurants or sites to see. Or if you’re struggling with a software program, ask for assistance. It’s ok to ask for things that don’t have anything to do with your organization. It’s about building relationships.

Most people love to help and are willing to assist where they can. Use the wisdom of your networks!

5. Respond Back

One of the most important things you should do is follow-up to those that post on your Facebook page. “Like” their comment. Post a reply. By all means, don’t just nod your head in agreement and smile when you read it. Show that body language by responding back to them.

What makes you respond to a Facebook page update? What type of updates grabs your attention?

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This is a long infographic and full of social media data from November 2011. Compiled by Sarah Evans and published in AdAge.

If no one tweets about your event, did it really happen?

While you may think this question is absurd, research shows that we’ve moved from the “experience economy” to the “social economy.” Now, it’s not good enough to simply attend an event. We have to tell others about that event while it’s happening, or the event was worthless.

In other words: Pics or it didn’t happen. Tweets or it didn’t happen. Facebook posts or it didn’t happen.

If your event is hot—as in Twitter-hot, or tweet-worthy—people will be sharing their experiences while it’s occurring.

It’s The Social Economy Stupid

In the late 1990s, authors James Gilmore and Joe Pine released the book Welcome to the Experience Economy. Their position was that in economies of mass affluence, people are more interested in paying for an experience than paying to own something. The memory of the experience becomes the product.

Their book had a profound impact on events. Event designers started focusing on creating memorable experiences.

Research shows that today’s economy has moved into a new phase in which people define themselves not only by what they own or do, but primarily by their ability to connect, share, and broadcast that experience. The term social economy doesn’t imply that the experience economy has disappeared—it suggests that the experience economy needs to be viewed through the lens of sharing.

Technology Is The Fifth Sense

When given a list of options, more than 50% of young people (16-30 years old, McCann Worldgroup Research) would be willing to give up their sense of smell if it meant they could keep their personal technology (smartphone, tablet or laptop). Their willingness to sacrifice one of their senses in exchange for social technology shows how important it has become.

Why? Technology represents all of the friends you could ever want, all the entertainment you could desire and all the information you’ll ever need. For young people technology is really the fifth sense.

In the Social Economy, your event attendees carry their friends in their pockets. They are always sharing their experiences with those friends.

Create a boring event and they will text all of their friends about it. Create an amazing, unusual experience and they will post pictures, tweets and videos of that experience. Even better, if they have friends attending the event, they will post pictures and tag their friends at that event.

Community Is Core

Young people today rate communing Read more.

This post originally appeared in BizBash’s Best of 2011 on December 14, 2011.

How can we make our conference experiences more shareable? What are some tips to encourage people to post their conference experience in their social networks?

Infographic by- GO-Gulf.com Web Design Company

This is the follow-up infograhic to Every 60 Seconds These 21 Things Happen On The Internet.

Did You Know?

Did you know that these things happen within 60 seconds?

1. 710 computers are sold worldwide and 555 of these computers are sold with Intel processors
2. 1,820 TB of data is created; that’s enough data to fill up 2.6 million CDs
3. 232 computers around the world get infected by malware
4. 450 Windows 7 Cds are sold worldwide
5. 925 iPhone 4s and 85 iPads are sold worldwide
6. 11 Xbox 360 consoles are sold worldwide
7. 18 Amazon’s Kindle Fire are sold worldwide
8. 38 tons E-waste is generated worldwide
9. 4,000 USB devices are sold worldwide
10. 2,500 ink cartridges are sold worldwide
11. 2,100 checkins happen on location-based social networking website foursquare
12. $75,000 is added to Google’s revenue
13. 2 Million Internet users watch Porn Online
14. 1.1 million conversations take place via instant messengers
15. 103 Blackberries are sold worldwide
16. 1,100 acres of land farmed in Farmville application
17. PayPal processes transactions worth $219,000; out of these, $10,000 is transacted via PayPal mobile
18. Around 950 purchases are done on eBay, out of which 180 purchases are done using eBay Mobile
19. 12 websites get hacked and 416 attempts are made to compromise various Facebook accounts
20. 1,400 movie discs are rented from the online movie rental service Redbox

Which of these stats surprised you? How has your Internet use changed in the past year as compared to previous years?

It’s important to build your network before you need it!

Building a network of organization supporters who can do a variety of things at a moment’s notice is imperative in today’s socially networked world.

Transactions Versus Relationships

Unfortunately, many organizations struggle with relationship building. Instead, they are masters of the transaction. Their emphasis on transactions is often at the expense of cultivating relationships.

Successful organizations are integrating relationship building with their traditional transactional processes. They understand that cultivating strong online relationships leads to customer loyalty.

Tips For Building Online Relationships

It takes constancy and practice to cultivate an online relationship. Ultimately, organizations want to build relationships to help others move from awareness to action.

Here are several tips to help foster online relationships.

1. Go Ahead And Lose Control!

Yes, losing control is more important than trying to obtain it. Did you ever really have the control?

In the digital world, the power has shifted from organizations to people. That’s a good thing, especially for organizations that want to connect as many people possible to their mission and cause.

Here’s the reality. Spending time trying to control what other people do and say is counterproductive. People in social networks will continue to march to their own drum.

2. Invest In Karma Banking

CauseWired author Tom Watson coined the phrase karma banking. Karma banking is sending and sharing good things with others without expecting an immediate return. It’s fostering long term social capital and building relationships.

By its very nature, social media pulls news, conversations and activity away from organizations and into networks. This is the exact opposite of what many organizations try to do by being the sole source of information.

The highest compliment an organization can receive is “You’re a great sharer.” That’s better than you’re a hoarder of information.

Watson says that karma banking has a boomerang effect. When an organization needs support in the future, they can turn to their storehouse of trusted online relationships.

3. Wear Rose Colored Glasses For Your Relationships

The foundation for cultivating strong online relationships is the belief that people are good, sincere and trustworthy. At their very core, people want to help.

Organizational leadership needs to adopt an attitude that people are naturally good and helpful. Showing some humility and being able to ask their networks for help actually strengthens their relationships.

4. Don’t Fondle The Hammer, Foster The Friendship

Social media tools cannot start a relationship. Only people can.

Don’t get enamored with the social technology tools at the expense of the relationship. The tools are devices that can support communications and connections.

A one-size-fits-all friendship doesn’t work. Long term friends have a different level of connectedness than a new Facebook friend. Yet both have value.

Don’t judge your online relationships by their time involved with your organization. If their personal circumstances don’t allow them to engage, let them know you’ll be there when their ready.

Building Trust

Many social networks have their own rhythms and ebb and flow. It’s not something an organization can control, dictate or manipulate.

Sometimes those networks have a low level of activity. Sometimes they require more nurturing.

The important thing to remember is that while the organization is engaging in networking, it is also building trust and rapport.

How does your organization recognize influencers on social media spaces who care about your organization and its issues? What are some ways your organization communicates in social media?

Arrrr! Ahoy Mateys.

We be here to take over th’ seven seas. We want ye gold. We want ye social media engagement. ‘Tis better to do ‘n ask fer forgiveness than wait fer ye approval.

Translation:

Hello social media friends, followers and connections! We don’t care about unspoken, traditional, bureaucratic practices and procedures. We are here to engage with you in social media. We believe it’s better to engage with you and ask for forgiveness than wait for corporate approval to use social media.

Pirates Run Amok Or Acting As Fire Starters?

Pirates go against the grain. They focus on the goal. They could care less about organizational bureaucracy and unspoken policies. They are passionate about conquering the world.

And they just might be running your current social media program!

Chris Brogan talked about pirates running social media in 2008. As we head to the close of one year and the start of another, I’m surprised to find some organizations still ignoring social media.

Recently I was at a conference for meeting professionals. Shockingly, some participants’ employers would not allow them to use social media to market or engage with prospects and customers.

These meeting professionals were acting like renegade pirates on a mission for good. They were using social media without approval.

Social Media Pirate Ninjas

Chris Penn responded to Brogan’s social media pirates post stating that organizations actually need social media ninja pirates. Penn says that ninja battles focus on influence, being proactive (stopping problems before they became problems), stealth, espionage (intelligence gathering), pragmatism and persuasion using multipliers.

He believes that organizations need social media ninja pirates because the world is changing too fast. If you wait to use social media until you create a policy and get it approved by a board or committee, your competition will run over you. Eventually, you’ll lose because you wavered trying to follow outdated decision making models.

So what’s an organization to do? Shut down the pirates and throw them behind bars? Or observe and learn from them?

Dealing With Social Media Pirates And Ninjas

Pirates and ninja pirates know what they are doing. They already know more than their employers because they’ve been sailing the social media seas.

Employers, if you react with panic to your pirates, you’re sure to set your pirate ship ablaze. Your fear will unnerve the pirate gang. It will interrupt the way the pirates have been communicating to your customers. Your horror will create calamity as the tension and resentment rises when none previously existed.

These pirates answer the phone and respond to email without your micromanagement. Let them respond in social media as well.

Ultimately, you want to respect the social media ninja pirates and invite them to the table. Ask them to report on the intelligence they’ve gathered and how they can help you win more customers. Think about funding the pirates and set them out on new missions aligned with your business strategy. Get them to help you build your fleet and create a ninja pirate playbook on what works.

Employers, you can waste your time fighting the pirates or partner with them as you sail new seas.

What are some other positive ways that employees using social media are like ninjas and pirates? Should organizations have centralized or decentralized social media programs?

Image by L.e.e. http://www.flickr.com/photos/l-e-e/2919561589/in/photostream/

Engagement: It’s been the buzzword de jour.

So what exactly is engagement in social media and why is it important?

Parta Dialogue’s white paper Engagement Is Efficiency explains the importance of engagement to social media ROI in Google and Facebook.

What Is Engagement?

According to a 2007 Forrester marketing report, “Engagement is the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy and influence an individual has with a brand over time.”

In social media, engagement is active individual participation and multi-user interaction around content and content-creation.

Engagement goes beyond reach and frequency to measure people’s real feelings about organizations and brands. It starts as a person deepens their relationship with the organization through online interactions and purchases (involvement and interaction). It then moves to affinity and championing (intimacy and influence), assuming the relationship continues favorably.

As an organization, fostering and measuring engagement is critical to understanding a customer’s intent as well as the organization’s rank in Google and Facebook.

Google Rewards Engagement

Google’s PageRank is powered by engagement.

PageRank, Google’s link analysis algorithm, assigns a weight to pages online with the purpose of measuring its importance to the community and the World Wide Web.

A link to your page counts as a vote of support. The PageRank value of the incoming link depends itself on its own PageRank. A web page with many incoming links that have high PageRank receives a high rank itself. A page with no incoming links will have a low PageRank.

Why should your organization care about your PageRank? The higher the PageRank, the higher your page will appear in searches. The highest PageRank will result in the highest reach for its content.

Facebook Rewards Engagement

In Facebook, engagement is the driver that determines which content followers receive and the reach of each piece of content that you post.

EdgeRank is the algorithm that manages Facebook’s NewsFeed. The NewsFeed presents each user with a customized feed of content from other users and pages. The NewsFeed is different each time a user logs on Facebook or refreshes.

Based on the EdgeRank of each of your friends’ or pages’ updates, NewsFeed arranges the order and prominence of items to each viewer.

So how does EdgeRank algorithm work?

1. Every item that appears in your NewsFeed is treated as an object (status update, post, like).

2. Whenever anyone interacts (tags, likes, comments, etc.) with an object you create, they have given that object an “Edge.”

3. Each Edge has three components important to the algorithm

• Affinity Score
  The score between the viewer and the creator. If you send a friend a lot of Facebook messages and check their profile often, that user has a higher affinity score in your network than an acquaintance you rarely communicate with.
• Weight
  Each Edge is assigned a weight. A comment has more weight than a like.
• Time
  The older the Edge, the less important it becomes.

The take-away: If you want your posts to show up prominently in the NewsFeed of other users, you must ensure that people engage with your content.

Engagement Is Route To Social Media ROI

Google and Facebook reward engagement by giving relevant and attractive content a boost in reach because it gives better value to their users. Ultimately, the more others engage with your posts, the more reach you have for less dollars.

What are some practical ways you can try to increase engagement in social media? What can you do as a customer to help some organizations increase their engagement?

Have you noticed an emerging trend of Twitter and Facebook integrating with TV?

Smartphones and tablets are now on coffee tables beside the TV remote.

Nielsen says that 40% of television watchers are multiscreening everyday. These couch potatoes have a TV remote in one hand and their mobile device in the other!

Why?

One-third of those multitaskers are using their mobile devices to review something related to the television show that they are currently watching. Some are texting, tweeting and posting directly to the producers or actors during the show. Some are chatting online with others about what they are watching. TV shows now frequently trend in Twitter topics as thousands of us share are opinions.

The result? TV is no longer just a passive, one-way experience. People want to participate with it. We are watching how social media is socializing TV.

The Online Socialization Of Conferences

Blogger Jeff Bullas recently wrote about how Twitter is socializing TV. That got me thinking about how Twitter is socializing conferences.

Much has been written about how to use Twitter for a conference. Social media conferences were some of the first to experience the backchannel, online chatter about the conference experience.

So much of the traditional conference experience is passive, one-way just like television shows. Today, conference attendees are socializing conferences in their own ways online, especially when the experience doesn’t give them an opportunity to participate onsite.

5 Ways Twitter Is Socializing Conferences

Here are five ways Twitter is socializing conferences.

1. Speakers tweet before, during and after the conference.

Savvy speakers start their presentation conversations before the conference begins. They use Twitter to help market their presentation as well as research what potential attendees want to hear. During the event, they ask someone to follow the conversation and share questions or comments with them. They continue those conversations after the event as well.

2. Emcees or hosts live tweet the experience.

Some give followers a behind the scenes peek into what is happening in the green room and back stage. Some alert followers to upcoming surprises that the rest of the crowd doesn’t know.

3. Hashtags are the new conference water cooler.

Conference attendees tune their Twitter applications to the appropriate hashtag (number sign # followed by an abbreviation used for the event) to join the conversation. Like a radio or TV station, the hashtag helps followers filter the noise and tune to the right frequency.

4. Everyone is a reporter.

When we watch TV, most of us are critics or reporters. We talk to the characters and news anchors out loud, playing armchair quarterback. Conferences are not any different. We used to just talk in the hallways or write notes to those sitting near us about the experience. Now we tweet about it. Savvy conference organizers follow those tweets and make changes as needed on site.

5. Call to action.

Some conference organizers are using Twitter to let conference attendees know about schedule and room changes. They tweet reminders to them about upcoming conference events. Some provide links to evaluations or other calls to action.

What are some ways you’ve used Twitter at your conference or tradeshow? What tips do you have for those using Twitter at an event?