I’m back! It’s been a couple of days since my most recent entry and for this I apologize, but we’ve had some awesome things in the works and the fruits of our labors will be realized soon! I’ll share a little bit about what we have going on, as well as what we’re working on in my next entry, but for now let’s get into building an identity as promised!
What makes you, you? It’s a question we’ve heard many times, one that we have to answer in interviews “tell me about yourself,” and one that we seemingly will have to have an answer to forever. The great part about identity, especially with social media, is that you are not stuck with just one. Your identity, while ideally a representation of you, is malleable! Much like we mature in life, your identity can mature or even be molded. I said in my previous post that your identity should be one that emulates you, but that doesn’t mean it defines you. With this in mind, how do we build this identity now that we’ve chosen it? The best way I feel I can describe this is by using myself as an example.
When I decided that I wanted to get involved with various forms of social media, I knew that I had something to offer the world, and that way my perspective on life. While we all have perspectives, mine is different. Just like yours is! We all have different perspectives! I’ve always taken a light-hearted approach towards what I do, because it makes things more interesting. If we can laugh at ourselves, we’ll not only have more fun, but we’ll find joy in other things. Now, my identity, is slightly audacious, because it’s fun! I love working out, playing sports, and being creative and passionate: that is my identity. So how do I build on this? Simple, I emulate my identity and magnify it. Let’s take Twitter for example: Twitter is a means of providing information to other people. So provide it! No one cares what you’re eating or when you’re going to eat, but if you spin it to your identity, it becomes significantly more interesting.
“Refueling at @Applebees so I can continue to terrorize my day. Being a #beast is #exhausting”
What did I just do? I provided information about what I was doing, in a humorous, slightly aloof way, connecting to people outside of my network with hashtags. All of this I accomplished under the guise of my identity, albeit exaggerated slightly. But that’s the point! If you’re an aspiring bodybuilder/gym-goer, or you want to laugh at someone who (you may think) takes their gym-going too seriously, you might follow someone who posts this! Hey, maybe you just like Applebee’s, and the comedy of this post dragged you in!
Another thing this post does: leaves the door open for “retweeting.” In two ways, funny posts tend to get retweeted more, AND, whoever oversees @Applebees might retweet this to show that they are being talked about. Subtle advertising tip: companies LOVE being talked about, and love to REMIND people that they’re being talked about. Lesson #1: Take advantage of this! Try and connect with popular @brands, use hashtags, they work, I promise! Besides, how cool would it be if a celebrity retweeted you? You don’t have to come across as desperate by including @people or brands in your tweets, if you word things properly, you’ll come across as someone others will want to emulate.
“Couldn’t believe @TaylorSwift13 was playing at the #gym, what’s worse? Broke a personal #record while the song was playing. #Trouble”
I can tell you guys, if I saw this, I’d laugh. Now I don’t know if Taylor Swift (or whoever is looking over her account would RT this, but regardless, it’s funny).
This example leads to Lesson #2: Branch out! Just because you have your own identity doesn’t mean you can’t expand to different markets. With this tweet, we’ve just connected with Taylor Swift followers, and she has a few (22,712,157 as of this entry).
Building an identity is all about YOU, and presenting yourself to everyone else in a way that people can relate to. Whether it’s comedic, serious, a little bit of both, or something completely different, find a way to connect with others by using the tools you’re given in social media.