The Social Media Marketer

4 Ways Social Media Affects your Relationships

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Did you know that social media is changing the way we relate to one another?  You may have seen this coming—after all, social media is all about relationships.  Practically everything you do on it, the content you create, the following you build, etc. is designed to foster either personal or business relationships. 

Whether you’re a business owner or doing it for personal networking, it’s worth thinking about.  Here are 4 ways that social media affects the way we relate others:

1.  Social media extends your reach.
Business owners should ask themselves--How many people am I reaching, offline, in a typical work week?  SM allows you to connect with a lot more people and potential customers than you normally could.  Most of those you are connecting with through social media are people you would not have met any other way.  And, the nature of these connections can be more loose and varied than if you were simply making business contacts. 

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu once studied how people gain what he called “social capital” (you could think of it as social currency).   One way they do this is to develop large, loosely organized networks that are not particularly close or intimate.  Many people have attained top leadership positions because they have these types of broad social networks.  Why?  Because a larger number of connections usually equates to a greater variety of opinions, more feedback and better results.

2.  Social media competes with offline relationships.
A common mistake made by people using social media is that they start confusing digital intimacy with true intimacy.  As mentioned above, SM gives us the ability to easily connect with large numbers of people, establishing a broad social and business network.  But, these connections are often confused with the intensity and commitment of actual face-to-face relationships.

The downside to this can be the loss of the relationships that you have in the “real world”.  The trick for both business and personal social media users is to balance the time spent on SM with offline activities, and to have a good idea of the ROI being gained by your time on social media.  If you are spending more and more time on your social media accounts without much commercial success, then you may be getting sucked into not only non-productivity but alienation of your real world connections.

3.  Social media makes you vulnerable to negativity.
Some interesting research has emerged suggesting that emotional contagion can spread through social media networks the same way it spreads in real world relationships.  Yes, loneliness and unhappiness can be transmitted pretty rapidly this way, and given the broad nature of many networks, it can reach further, as well.

And, with social media, you can be influenced by the moods and behavior of people you don’t even know!  So, you should pay attention to who you’re spending time with on SM, and how those people are affecting you.  For business owners, negativity-- through your own online behavior or others-- can affect your brand and people’s perception of it.  Even the most minor off the cuff remark can have a lasting negative impact.

4.  Social media can become a rat race.
Which is to say, it can become a crushing burden to maintain your persona with customers, followers and friends.  Competition is tough, information is everywhere, and you have to always be on guard to protect your brand and your reputation.  If you start feeling like the hamster on the wheel, it should not surprise you.

So, social media can affect your relationships, but that doesn’t mean that it has to damage them.  There are ways to make your time on social media work for you.   Next post, I’ll give you some tips for ensuring that social media works remains a positive and productive use of your time.