Sharing is Caring… Or is It?

Sharing is a big part of social media. It’s basically the foundation of any community, to be honest.

And the message of sharing has spread over the Internet like crazy. Especially for marketers. But, are we doing sharing the right way?

By that I mean, what is the purpose of sharing? Are we sharing because we legitimately want to help others? Or are we doing because we want to become popular?

Make no question about it – being popular is part of being successful. But there two sides to popularity.

You can become popular by being a community leader: inspire others, and challenging them to become better. You are changing people’s lives.

We’ll call that the “good side” of popularity.

Then there’s the other side of the coin – people being popular by doing stuff that is cool. This, much like creative content and other dumb marketing ideas, might catch fire a bit. But then it extinguishes. And you’re left with nothing.

How do you know why you’re sharing a piece of content? Ask yourself this: did you actually watch/read/listen to the content you’re about to post on social media? Do you understand it? Can you give further information on why you support it / are against it?

If there’s a “NO” to any of those questions, then you’re only sharing for the sake of clicks, follows, and likes. And believe me, in the long run, those are not going to pay the bills.

Heck, once people realize you have no credibility (a side effect), they might take those follows and clicks back.

Just something to think about.