Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

3 Steps to Mastering Any Social Network

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Books - from Shutterhacks on FlickrGreat news! There’s a new social network, and the word is, it’s awesome!

Oh. But it’s fundamentally different than anything you’re using right now, and the first reports are that just about everyone is, as usual, doing it wrong.

Pop quiz, tough guy. Do you join the new network?

One of the biggest challenges when approaching a given platform is feeling like you’re actually getting your head around it. Are you publishing the right material? Are you making the right friends? Are you ticking anyone off?

Getting over the fear of diving in is difficult – but it doesn’t have to be.

Whenever I start making use of a new platform – whether it’s digging into Twitter, or changing my approach to Facebook or LinkedIn – there are three simple things I do before solidifying my strategy: Listen, Observe, Catalog. You might think these are similar activities, but they’re really quite different – and essential to do before actually taking any action on a new plan.

How does it work? Simple:

1) Listen to what other people are saying about locales, individuals, or artifacts on the new platform.

Granted, this is easier with open networks than closed ones – it’s easier to do sentiment research on what’s going on within Twitter, for example, than it is on LinkedIn. However, if you have any kind of network to start with, you probably have a buffer – a back channel – to help you navigate the initial onslaught of information.

Chances are there are some movers and shakers, no matter how early the days of the new network are. Who are they? Are they making splashes? Are people you follow mentioning the same things consistently? Listening, especially on purpose, can be a powerful first indication of what people are doing, why they’re doing it, and how they’re managing to get results. Listening will also let you in on what kinds of results people are actually looking for.

Now, I’m not saying this should be done before filling out that tempting, well-designed sign up form. Not a bit. But it is easy enough, with some tools like Google Blog Search, Google Alerts and (gasp) asking your friends, to get a sense of where to go next, where the movers are actually doing their shaking.

Listening should give you your first indication of whether or not a space is worth further investment of time and energy.

2) Observe what others are actually doing with their networks in the new space.

I know, radical isn’t it? Once you’ve found out what you should be looking for by listening to the noise surrounding a new space – and, bonus points, this is actually easier as the space ages; anyone listening for Facebook news would find a wealth of information these days – you’ll know what kinds of people to actually spend time watching.

Pay attention to what’s getting done. Take note of how it’s being done as well. Is auto-publishing of blog posts or Twitter feeds welcomed? Are there opportunities for leadership? Are the leaders in the space actively investing in others, or promoting themselves?

Where listening is generally outside-the-wall activity, observation is being a fly on the wall in the same room where the party is.

3) Catalog what you’ve learned and start breaking out your plan of action.

What did you learn during your listening and observation? By now, you should have an accurate sense of:

  • What gets done in this new space
  • How people are doing this work effectively
  • What kinds of behaviors are encouraged or accepted
  • What kinds of behaviors are expected, whether encouraged or invisible
  • How to get ahead easily
  • What tools are available to reduce emotional overhead and administration effort

This preemptive insider knowledge will help remove a lot of the thrash from starting out on a new network, and make even your first days there easier. When you have a sense of what’s accepted, expected and anticipated, you can live up to expectations – and manage them – far better than going in blind.

Don’t have that sense yet? Repeat steps one and two until you can hammer out at least a 14 day revolving plan.

It’s really that simple. Everything else is over-complication.

Yes, there’s detail involved. there always is. And sometimes, the new network may not be for you – or you may go for years using it in a certain way, based on your initial perception of where the value is. Above all; don’t be afraid to course-correct and make a new plan of action. But, if you’re making changes in your network navigation intentionally, I’d strongly suggest spending at least a day on each of the above activities.

Going in to any network with more information, and using aware observer skills in building your knowledge, is always a good idea.

Have you been in any situations where more information could have been helpful? Where later observation put a new spin on your initial perception? I’d love to hear about it – please do share in the comments.

How To Reduce Stress with Automatic Comprehension Training

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As much as Gen-Y don’t like to invest in their jobs, and Gen-X work to live instead of living to work, there’s a large gap between doing a job that you enjoy, and doing a job vital enough to incorporate your life into the role.

An article on Free Pursuits asks the question: At what age is it hardest to radically change your life? While the article is framed as an examination of the many valid reasons why any given portion of life is difficult to make changes in, the question itself raised one especially powerful for me, given my recent change of fields: If you aren’t doing something meaningful, what are you doing? Here’s the comment I left there.

Any lifestyle change – any major life decision – comes with stress.

I recently shifted from a career I hated (the kind where you say “I work at [insert workplace]”, rather than describing yourself as “I’m a [insert title]”) to one that will fall far better in line with my wants, needs and talents. It’s a win on all sides, but I’m still stressed out.

Any of this kind of work is taxing, not only because of a gain/loss in the situation, but because of how people operate. While I agree that age can add considerations, how difficult any major change is relies heavily on the ability of the individual to cope. Some people are very good under pressure, handling adversity with grace, but can’t fathom acting from a position of power or privilege. Others are better at negotiating success, but can’t handle what most people would call stress at all.

No matter the age, we’re all better working under conditions we can navigate best.

Anything is easier when we’re prepared – but there’s no escaping stress.

One of the best pieces of advice I got from my mom in my teens – and this is saying something, because she’s one smart cookie – is exactly what I was getting at above. Any life shift, be it good or bad, has a certain amount of stress attached to it. Promotion, demotion, marriage, divorce, breaking a bad habit, forming a good habit; all of these things are changes, and cause strain.

People like routine. Even thrill-seeking twenty-somethings have routines, no matter how simple or varied they may feel like these routines are. Little rituals are our saving graces when we go through change. Even something as simple as making coffee in the morning, listening to a familiar record, or taking that morning walk can reduce the amount of appreciable strain of any situation because of its familiarity.

So how do you reduce the stress and find routines when there is no familiar ground?

One of the things I’ve taught myself to do – something I hope to come up with a way of teaching other people to do – is called Automatic Comprehension Training. Going into a situation that feels foreign and looking for the patterns that can act like navigational cues is absolutely a lifesaver for me. Whether it’s applying old knowledge to new situations of similar scope (like using sales techniques in writing or conversation), or taking stupid tricks I’ve learned to get around hardships (such as seeking those familiar cues in design from one gadget to the next). The ability to pick something up and, very swiftly, develop a rapport with the situation, item or person, is one of the few skills I’ve taken away from retail that’s usable in every day life.

Here’s the problem: This won’t work for you if I teach you how.

The funny thing about any stupid human trick is that I can’t tell you how automating your learning will work. I can’t explain how to reduce new experiences to bite-sized portions to make them easier to handle, because the method I learn by doesn’t apply to anyone else. I can, however, offer a few tips.

1) Deja Vu is your friend. It’s a sign that something is familiar. Don’t freak out, analyze.

2) Repetition is the motor of learning. Repetition is the motor of learning. Repetition is what? (The motor of learning.)

3) Look for tiny errors. Not everything is a blue screen of death. But there might be some details that poke at your logic about new events or new situations. These are hints either than you’ve learned a lesson before (see point 1) or that there’s a lesson you’ve missed among many others you’ve already learned.

I hope this helps.

Automatic Comprehension Training is an ongoing process. You’ll never stop encountering new situations in life – if you do, something’s gone terribly wrong – s the best thing you can learn is exactly how you go about the process of learning, and continue to use the bits that work.

After all. This works for me – but, of course, your mileage may vary.