The proverb "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" suggests that two parties can or should work together against a common enemy. Can there be a more positive corollary in social media?
How about, "The friend of my friend is my friend." We have all heard something similar to, "Well, nice to meet you, Tom. Any friend of my brother is a friend of mine." Can we really leverage social media to "help our friends?"
I have seen anecdotal indicators that viral posts, videos, tweets and such are powered by the sharing of "friends with friends." Some have even quipped that "Social Media is the new word of mouth."
Recently, I have seen the advent of Black-owned crowd funding sites, and other enterprises that attempt to leverage the connections between Black social media friends. Sadly, my experience is that these endeavors don't enjoy the viral success of their mainstream counterparts. Many Black-owned businesses have an Internet presence, and their own contact lists. Why aren't these "connections" at Facebook and Twitter resulting in a multiplier effect among us?
Often, the "spending power" of Blacks is referred to and compared with developing countries. I would like some feedback from this group about how we can create more viral phenomena among our connections.
I would like to share a story. A friend recently asked me to support their application for a potential $25,000 grant from Fedex by casting a vote every day during the contest period. I shared my vote with my FB friends, and one of them asked, "Why should I support this business when I don't share in the trickle down?"
My reason for voting for my friend was "the kindness shared among friends." Sharing my vote with my friends should engender additional support. Right? If not, why not? I have more than 1570 friends, and I know they are all busy. I didn't expect the response I got. People win these contests because their friends vote. I once heard that "the Internet is held together by the kindness of strangers." What about the kindness of friends?
If we are not attracted to join groups of friends with like-minded goals, how will we ever leverage our "economic power" to help our friends? I understand the due diligence required to make an investment, but how difficult is it to click and vote when a friend asks for support? Let me know if you support your friends when they ask you to vote.
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19 Feb Is The Friend Of My Friend Really My Friend?
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