How willing are we to cooperate on social media? Do we reciprocate a "like" with a "like" or a "tweet" with a "re-tweet"? I mean, is it even in our advantage to reciprocate cooperation? The answer: Umm...
YES!
However there's a catch
Cooperation, the process of working together towards the same end, is key to strengthening any social media relationships or branding endeavors.
Robert M. Axelrod, author of the book
Evolution of Cooperation, studied the process and outcome of a prisoner's dilemma scenerio in relation to cooperation. If you aren't familiar with the prisoner's dilemma, check out the wiki explanation here:
Wiki Prisoner's Dilemma, now come back and read!
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| Prisoner's Dilemma cheat sheet, enjoy! |
Axelrod, from his own experiments and analysis, determined that cooperation is not always the best choice and that in fact the majority of those who always chose cooperation received more punishment then those that confessed! So what's the problem with always cooperating?
Problem:
Blind cooperation is easily taken advantage of, and thus suggests a "run over me" attitude. Any second party will see the advantage they have over you and use your cooperation while not reciprocating. Luckily for you, life is not one big prisoner's dilemma... Life is one prisoner's dilemma after another!
Solution:
Reciprocity! Learn how others act and their patterns of behavior and then reciprocate what they DO for you. Cooperation is ideal, but if someone mis-treats you, statistically speaking it's in your best interest to reciprocate!
Now what happened to turn the other cheek? Well, there are ways to both turn a cheek and reciprocate. Learning how to reciprocate and cooperate on social media is crucial to anyone who is interested in gaining and maintaining an audience.
Here are some situations you might find yourself in and the best approach to take:
1. Someone has liked or commented on one of your posts on Facebook.
It is EXTREMELY important to match this behavior and like or comment back to them. Establishing a personal relationship with someone who has reached out to you first is key. It's like they passed the ball to you first and its up to you to pass it back! This is why a lot of popular Facebook pages will first pass the ball to their audience by giving something away, before they ask for something back (like sharing a post). When you're audience feels like it's their turn to cooperate, to act, you are in a good place.
2. To share or not to share, that shouldn't be a question...
Now what is the deciding factor behind sharing something you've seen? Usually if you are interested in something or relate to it enough, you'll share it. This is fine, however if you are interested in gathering an audience, you should be sharing a lot more frequently.
Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point, claimed that "ideas and behaviors spread like an infectious desease." The idea behind sharing often is that you become a popular host for infectious ideas and behaviors. Becoming a host of popular ideas is just as good, in many ways, as creating the actual idea on social media.
So if you find something sharable, share it! Chances are people will share along side you and notice you as part of the infecting process. Stretch a little more and share things outside of your general content. cooperating with anything or anyone sharable is always a good idea. Ride any wave you can catch.
3. Don't forget your real-world relationship skills!
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| "shop salesman attitude" |
So often I see websites and pages being managed like a dry "give-and-take" shop salesman. This has got to be one of the more poisonous habits to have while trying to generate an audience and keep them around. People want real relationships! People naturally want to cooperate with you, but with that online personality, you're getting no where fast!
Lets face it, a lot of the population who you will meet online spend more time with their relationships online then they do with their relationships offline. People are thirsty for real world interaction on the web and they don't even know it. When your business or Facebook page or blog or whatever responds in a human, warm, genuine way it stands out! People want to be greeted by personal kindness and you want to too! The long term relationships generated by genuine interactions will do wonders for you audience retention. It may take a little more time to create a more sincere response, but the payoffs are worth it.
4. Dealing with the haters...
Turn the other cheek and offer them your virtual coat. hmmm, I don't think that will be very effective! Let me introduce you to another name for these haters: Trolls.
Trolls aren't motivated by good intentions. They usually are driven by personal gain or entertainment. If you passively engage these types of haters they will double their efforts and make you look like a digital doormat. So there must be a way to approach them without stooping down to their level!
It's called "killing them with cooperation"... at least that's what I'm calling it! We have all seen those comment bash sessions where it seems to go on forever and nothing is solved. You can benefit from these public conversations so long as you are calm, cooperative, and on the masses' side! What I mean by on the masses' side is that you want the majority of your onlookers to be thinking, "wow, he/she is handling this really well!"
Either your attacker will eventually disappear without making any significant damage or he/she will stay too long and the masses' will begin to support you. When that happens, it feels so good! Don't expect to prove a point or make your troll feel bad, but focus on aiding them as fast and as classy as possible. Reciprocate their passion with your passion, just don't try and "win" the conversation, but rather "win" the masses.
5. Should I be competitive or cooperative?
This may not be the popular practice among social media, but in the long run it is always better to find a way to cooperate. In any market, the incentive to cooperate with the competition is always large enough not to ignore.
Lets say you are managing a semi-popular Facebook page that acts as a community for artists and collectors of modern art. You know of another Facebook page that does the same thing, but has less popularity then yours. They contact you and ask for cooperation. Do you ignore or engage? Engaging and networking is ALWAYS a good thing. It may even be more beneficial then a sharp competitive edge and here's why:
- There are plenty of scenarios where both of the parties can win!
- Creating a larger modern art presence online by cooperating is more beneficial for both parties then what both of them would gain if they ignored each other.
- Sometimes when you are on top of the market, helping the underdogs can help you too!
Because you still are competing for business, it's important to get creative with how you cooperate with competition.
The question you should be asking yourself is how do I benefit in the long run? Often times long-term benefits are not seen because we think the competition has nothing to offer us now. If both parties decided to cooperate, like the prisoner's dilemma, they can unearth more potential then if they ignored each other.
These thoughts and ideas on cooperating in social media is not just for businesses or profit-driven cooperations, but they can change any average person's social media experience. If you are interested in improving your online interactions, try these approaches! You'll see a difference!
Try sharing this blog post, see what happens!
