I don’t know about you but, I have a complicated relationship with social media. I feel grateful I have had a chance to connect with incredible people over the years, develop a friendship in some cases, and discover new minds doing all types of interesting things.

At times, I’m mesmerized by how politicians, activists, celebrities, and even scientists spread a single message that goes viral in 1 minute.  Sometimes I get cranky when I hear about the metrics of social media reflected by the number of followers, the number of likes, or the number of people watching your profile. I’m sure there are many more ways of measuring the impact of those channels that I don’t know of.

Why should I care about social media today? Here is a single reason: every time I submit a project, there is always a question about “your audience, the platforms you’re using, and the size of it.”

My numbers, over time, have grown – not like a bamboo tree, more like a magnolia tree – with touches of caring, humor, and sharing different ideas, trials and tribulations. Sometimes, I have felt discouraged because I don’t have those 100K followers, but I don’t see myself spending every single minute on social media, or posting videos of my day every second; that’s just not me.  I love connecting with others but I’m also more of an introvert; so I wouldn’t be myself holding a cell phone and talking to a camera as I go on with my day… Of course, it’s totally fine, if others are comfortable doing that. There is room for all of us to be who we are, right?

In moments of discouragement because of those famous numbers, I remind myself why I choose to participate in one project or another; then, I can let go of my discouragement and stay with a sense of clarity that comes with my values. Our WHYs matter!

Doing what matters is an individual choice we all make.

However, I don’t think we do the things that matter alone, but in collaboration with others. 

When collaborating with others, we make ideas happen.

Malcolm Gladwell – one my favorite authors of all time – explains that there are three groups of people that help to pivot an idea and reach a tipping point:

(a) Mavens are dedicated to curate information and share it with others. Chris Winston, the creator of #365daysofcompassion, is an example of a Maven; he publishes a flipboard every week, sharing videos, tweets, journal papers, all about the science of compassion that collects all types of resources.

You can follow Chris here: https://twitter.com/chisi_98

(b) Connectors are the ones that are super-well connected and have an extended social network. They are very skillful at forming relationships by introducing one person to another as a habit and naturally create community wherever they go. Julia, is an example of a connector; there has not been a time when I asked her a question about her posts that she did not get back to me, sharing all types of resources, and simply connecting.

You can follow Julia here: https://www.instagram.com/juliasirwester/

(c) Salesmen/charismatics are skillful at persuading others about how some ideas, concepts and projects are worthy of people’s attention. I secretly think that Malcolm Gladwell is a salesman; he always makes the point of showing us how some situations are overlooked, how what appears to be an advantage maybe a disadvantage, and how the past deserves a chance.

You can listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, the Revisionist History here: http://revisionisthistory.com

Does the number of your followers matter? Yes. But, having a small group of followers like all of you that are committed, connectors, mavens, and salesmen, matters much more when collaborating on a project and making things happen.

THANK YOU so much to all you for subscribing to the Playing-it-safe newsletter, supporting my work, and making room in your day to hang out with me in this way!