Why Participation is Vital in Social Media Optimization

Lisa Braziel | July 26, 2007 | View Comments

One of the most compelling features I wrote about yesterday for Sezwho was the site’s ability to provide a user reputation – with a critical part of this score being a user’s interaction.

This brings up an important point – that interaction and participation in social media is a vital part of Social Media Optimization. Yes, to give is (almost) better than to receive in your quest gain readership and interaction.

Why?

1. Participation builds readership. How? The more that you participate the more visible you are in the community. Every comment you make on a blog that relates to your area of expertise or topic can become another chance to reach new and interested audiences. Avoid spamming, but don’t be afraid to use this as an opportunity to link back to your own blog if it relates.

2. Participation connects you with experts. Participation allows you the opportunity to interact with experts. Find blogs or writers that relate to your subject area. Reaching out to these experts can grow your knowledge base, and potentially allow you to add meaningful content and credibility to your blog.

3. Participation guides your efforts. There is no other way to learn social media and know your audience better than being emerged in it. By becoming a consumer of it, you can understand what others are doing, what works and what doesn’t work, and use this information to redirect your social media efforts.

Finally, I’d like to add that interaction is synonymous with what social media is. Because of this, it should naturally be an element of every social media effort.