Finding the Perfect Home In The Virtual Neighborhood

“Location, Location, Location” is the number one rule of physical real estate but in virtual neighborhoods a better motto is “Connections, Connections, Connections.”

What Is Social Media?

Let’s step back a moment. Some of you may not be familiar with virtual real estate.

Simply put, social media is an internet tool used to allow two-way or “social” communication.  The communities created by these tools are called virtual neighborhoods.

Les Giblin, in his book How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing With People, believes “the one common denominator to all success and happiness is other people.”

We should not be surprised then, that the top 3 internet social media sites as of January 2012,  Facebook, Twitter and Linked In receive over 1 billion unique visits per month. Wikipedia lists over 200 social media sites for sharing. Topics range from general sharing, like Facebook and include very specific sites such as Ravelry.com for the “guerrilla artist” end of the knitting and crocheting community.

Other names you might be familiar with are My Space, Google+, CafeMom, Ning and Meetup.

This article will focus on Facebook the world’s largest social network, with more than 800 million active users around the world, and roughly 200 million in the United States, or two-thirds of the population.

We obviously are people seeking . . .but why? What motivates the 2 billion of us who are connected to the web, to be and stay there?

Why Are We Choosing CyberHomes?

Physical home ownership can be a full time job so why are we creating and managing virtual homes too?

Scientific research indicates a model suggesting that Facebook use is motivated by two primary needs: (1) the need to belong and (2) the need for self-presentation. The study defines social networking sites (SNSs) as “Internet-based services that give individuals three major capabilities:

• The ability to construct a public or semi-private profile,
• identify a list of other users with whom a connection is shared,
• and view and track connections made by individuals and others.

I agree with the research but as a social media coordinator and community builder my experience with social media users demonstrates one key component missing from this report; service to others. The internet has created a way for us to reach people and information in real time that the average person could not have touched just 15 years ago.  I recently explained it to a client as being able to extend a virtual hand to increase our social impact.

What Do People Do On FACEBOOK?

Be Social. FACEBOOK is used for keeping in touch. It is used for discussions. It can even be used for revolutions! (Look at Egypt). People play games and give opinions. People share their talents and their knowledge. Friends can send invitations and cards of encouragement. Families separated by miles are sharing pictures and watching each other grow in videos. FACEBOOK is even being used as a memorial for those that have passed on.

Who Is Using Facebook?

One of the most effective ways to present information on the internet is through a picture called an Infographic. Of a total global audience of 794,925,380 the United States represents 65.80%or 157,418,920 accounts. Women are leading the charge at 55% which is up 7% since May of 2011. 18 to 34 year olds represent almost half of all the users in the USA.

Realtors describe 4 types of home buyers; highly motivated, serious searchers, bargain hunters, and casual lookers. Interestingly we find similar personality traits as people select their virtual homes.

The Vacation Home : Highly Motivated

They will deck out their home with all the amenities (called “apps”). They will invite you over for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They will tell you and show you pictures of their kids, grandkids, vacations and the zits on their nose. They will ask you to read and comment on their status (when you comment it is called leaving your “status”), their poetry, and blogs and ask you to edit their life story. They will send you requests to play games and join every activity they love. But they will also be the first to comment on your status, remember your birthday with an e-card (electronic greeting card), encourage with inspiring quotes and sending private messages of concern.

The Office: Serious Searcher

They created their personal Facebook for one thing; Marketing, Marketing, Marketing. Let me correct that FREE Marketing. Yes, I said Facebook is free. From a business standpoint it is a VERY tempting environment to try and tap in to. Even though Facebook was originally set up for personal use, it has quickly grown as the new face of internet business ownership. Any business owner will tell you that word of mouth advertising provides the most loyal clients and there are a lot of mouths working in this neighborhood!

WARNING: If you are using your personal Facebook Page solely for marketing your business – CEASE and DESIST. There are business pages specifically designed for marketing and I can tell you that the fastest way to lose friends is to push your business agenda into their personal world. FACEBOOK also reserves the right to close your account if you choose to try this.

I have a personal page and a business page. I suggested my business page to my friends and they chose whether they wanted to hear about my business by “liking” my business page. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could choose to like or not like some of our real neighbors!

Included in this category are the rebels with a cause. There are pages specifically for your cause, organizations and groups. Educate yourself about which is best for you and respect your friends by giving them the choice to hear you or they will stop listening all together!

The Efficiency: Bargain Hunter

Just enough to say “I’m on Facebook”. They will have a blank profile picture (called an avatar).These are the tenants that leave mailbox nameplates blank. They want to come and go without being seen or heard but they want the benefits of the shared wisdom of the community.  90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)

A dear friend commented “I don’t want to be on Facebook, but I want to know what is going on. I can’t go anywhere without someone asking did you see this or that on Facebook?”

While being invisible is tempting, it is not the best way to get the most out of social media. A conversation works best when post parties participate. Bargain hunters are some of the most valuable contributors to the community once they commit join.  They are problem solvers and researchers. They continually seek the correct answers – and won’t neglect to do the homework. They can appreciate the FACEBOOK marketplace for buying and selling goods and services.

FACT: Social Media is not going away anytime soon! The one universal currency that we use in this post-modern world is information. We are in the Information Age and learning to use these tools secures the platform for your voice to be heard in the global conversation.

Home Sweet Home: Casual Lookers

The majority of FACEBOOK friends  are casual lookers. We know that 80% of our populations are called the stable group. They are others focused and immensely loyal. The keep the peace and spread the love and are always considerate of others needs. They create basic personal page with a picture. They are sure to adjust their privacy settings to just friends and family. They will make comments to help others grow and to be of service to others. The are the foundation of any community.

Just like a real neighborhood, GREAT virtual neighborhoods must be full of humans and their personalities.

So Why Isn’t Everybody on FACEBOOK

I wouldn’t be an honest neighbor if I didn’t mention the reasons while people choose NOT to have a FACEBOOK. The top 5 reasons people give for not being on FACEBOOK are:

1. Waste Of Time
2. Privacy
3. No Time
4. Don’t Know How To Use It
5. Don’t Know Much About It

Facebook does require Time Management: How Much Time Are We Spending?

The ability to access Facebook from or computers and our phones keeps us plugged in around the clock. In May oflast year, Nielsen specifically says it counted 140,336,000 Facebook users. The calculation thus becomes 53.5 billion minutes divided by 140,336,000 users, divided by the 31 days of the month. Americans spent an average of 12.30 minutes on Facebook every day that month.

If you get lost in activities, I would suggest purchasing a timer before signing up. This is something people know long before they waste time in FACEBOOK.

Privacy

Facebook is a glass house. While FACEBOOK does offer privacy settings you can put in place, it is your responsibility and you must use common sense. If you tell everyone you are a vegetarian, and then post a picture eating a 42 oz steak people will know you are not telling the truth. Do not accept friend requests from everyone just so you can brag about how many FACEBOOK friends you have. Nothing says you have to accept requests from your ex’s or your classmates that gave you wedgies. There are people that do not have the best of intentions . . . in anything they do. Make good choices. Remember that every piece of information leaves a path or internet breadcrumb. Many of us realized this when the newest FACEBOOK update, The Timeline, rolled out in December. Reading a status from a year ago made many of us realize how information and experiences can change their impact over time.

No Time and I Don’t Know

These are the most common complaints real or virtual. We all struggle to make more time and life requires continuing education whether you read a book, watch a video, take a class or read a FACEBOOK article post.

How do you choose which virtual home fits you?

Determine your motivation and expectation for joining.  Maybe your virtual property is a vacation condo…you visit once every six months, or maybe your neighborhood provides daily motivation like a jogging buddy.

Set Limits. My friend Chris has a 40 friend limit. If you want to be his friend, someone gets the boot. Decide how many relationships you want to start with.

Educate yourself. Take a class or learn from a friends. Find out about the different types of pages, apps and privacy options.

Try it. Do not fear joining a neighborhood for what you do not know but instead risk learning something new that will connect you with opportunities that you have never had.

Remember: Just like your real home, you have a front door that you can choose to answer or not.

This article was recently published in Heart of Ohio Magazine  (March/April 2012 Edition).

Kym Lamb is a Social Media Coordinator and designer. She works with clients to create and manage their on and offline communities. Kym also teaches social media to local churches and civic groups.