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Created By Annie Jennings PR, National Publicist  
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Which End Of The Magnet Are You In Social Media?


Social Networks are hot!

Facebook, LinkedIn and a host of others occupy  billions of hours weekly as people post about their lives and careers.

You make a statement, every time you post, about who you are.  Choose wisely.  Are you the end of the magnet that attracts, or the end that repels?

You can choose to attract, repel or even a third option – to be irrelevant.  Consider how often you post, as well as what you post and the tone.  While drama may attract attention for a bit, it’s generally not life-giving energy.  If you write the kind of posts that have life-giving energy, you’ll create new relationships and deepen the ones you already have.

Think of Social Media as an exchange of energy.  You can give energy, or you can drain it.

What are you going to be a Force for?

Some examples:

Positive:  sharing an experience of achieving a major triumph or milestone, how you did it and sharing the credit.  A useful article or video that moves you or can help lots of people in their businesses.

Negative:  a rant about how you’ve been wronged, snarky sarcasm about anything, or the ever-popular mystery, “I’m really upset.”

Irrelevant: Spotlighting the obvious (having a flight cancelled stinks), drivel (the mundane parts of your day), and repetition (if your posts are too similar, why should anyone bother reading them?)

The power of Social Networks can be profound, for your business and your life. They can foster connection in ways impossible before in history.  Consider the person who shares her gratitude for the kindness of a stranger or someone who shares his triumph in achieving a goal after years of pursuing a well thought out plan.  It acts as a virtual shot in the arm of inspiration and allows readers to acknowledge and join in the celebration.  Everyone leaves the interaction uplifted.

Conversely, when someone posts a “rant,”  I find myself so repelled, I may log off immediately, or delete that post.  It sucks the life force and happiness out of me, and that affects my energy and ability to be creative and productive.  It’s contagious in a really bad way.  A rant might be about a negative encounter with a company,  a personal disagreement or even simply the weather.  Of course most readers can identify with these experiences at some point in their lives.  But though the desire to be supportive of an on-line “friend”, posting a comment on a rant amplifies it.  The “downward spiral” so beautifully articulated in Rosamund and Ben Zander’s book, “The Art of Possibility” gets fed like a fire with a snack of kerosene.

I am continually amazed by what posts go viral quickly and which are ignored – it’s not always so intuitive, as the networks have a life of their own.  But what never amazes me is that they are the posts that touch people’s hearts and imaginations – people the world over are starving for stories and ideas that touch and inspire them!  That’s the attraction end of the magnet, and it is powerful.

Because of the potential gigantic reach of Social Networks, it makes sense to pay close attention to how you show up on it.  Memories are long, and posts can live forever.  We are all part of the fabric and together can create a tipping point – choose what you want to be a Force for – on every post, on every network.

Read more posts by Ginger Jenks, JenningsWire blogger.