Why I LIKE to see SHARES

In a world dominated by likes it’s easy to get caught up on a high like count instead of focusing on the more important aspects of Social Media.

Social interactions. You know the thing that makes SOCIAL MEDIA different than media? A like is really not all that different than Nielsen Ratings for a TV show. Sure, it’s nice to see that 8 million people watched my show, but that doesn’t tell me WHY the people are watching or even if they are enjoying watching. How about all those guilty-pleasure shows? I might tell people that I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead, but I’m less inclined to talk about that soft place in my heart for America’s Next Top Model.

Let’s look at that for a second - If I watch a show but don’t tell anyone about it then I might be one of the 8 million people watching it, but I’m not really doing anything to support the show. My watching creates nothing. There really isn’t an advantage to the show itself. However, if I watch a show and tell everyone I know about it, talk it up and invite groups of friends to the house to make sure they see it, then I am actively building the audience for that program. *

Likes are easy. I can like something without worrying about what others think. A like is simply me telling a page that “I” think it’s cool. It’s a nice thing to see, but really it’s just a message between me and the page I’m liking. Maybe someone in my feed will see that I’ve liked something and check it out, but that isn't the point (and in Google+ it's not even possible). It’s like wearing a t-shirt with my favorite band on it. Maybe someone would be interested, but I’m only wearing the shirt because I like it, not to consciously advertise.



A SHARE, however, is not a communication with the page, but rather a communication with your friends (or fanbase) extolling the virtues of a page and making an active suggestion that they participate in that page’s social media circle. I’m actively suggesting to someone that this is something that I think that they should view. It’s like giving them a copy of my favorite band’s CD and telling them they should listen to it.

Social Media operates on the principle of word-of-mouth advertising but in a much larger scale. I can physically tell only a small number of people about a product I like, but if I share it on Facebook, I’m actively telling ALL the people on my friends list which could easily number into the hundreds (or in some cases thousands or more!). That’s a pretty powerful message.

Strive for SHARES over likes. That’s done by providing compelling and important information that will make people want to share it with others. Of course, it also can be done with pictures of cute cats, and if that works for your market, there isn’t anything wrong with that. The fact is that whatever works for your business WORKS FOR YOUR BUSINESS. But remember that your job in Social Media is to grow that business and talking to the people who are already your customers isn’t growing your business, it’s sustaining it.

*Okay, so maybe some of you have spotted the one gaping hole in this argument - it doesn’t make the metaphor less valid, but it should be noted that people watching a show does make a difference as those numbers are used by advertisers to determine where, when and how often they will buy advertising time. So someone benefits from the flat numbers. Now we just have to figure out a way to sell commercials on our Facebook pages...