Quality, Not Quantity

I didn’t know what was more surprising when I came across an independent artist’s website recently – that upon clicking the Facebook link I found that he hadn’t posted on there in almost four months, or that he still had MySpace as one of his social media icons.

With regards to the latter, don’t get me wrong.  I know that MySpace for all intents and purposes re-launched a ways back as an online music destination, as opposed to the old days when it was competition for Facebook (in terms of personal profiles).  And it’s fine to still have MySpace if you’re a musician.  But, if you’re “only” going to have four (he’s also on YouTube and Twitter), be good (active) on those four.

The fact that it’s January and he hasn’t posted on Facebook since late September stands out in a bad way.  Visitors to that page will wonder where he has been and start thinking that he must not be doing anything.  In some cases they might think he’s not doing anything at all, as in, anymore!

The moral of the story is that you don’t have to be on every social media site, but the ones you are on, be present on.  Regularly.

Some entertainers like to think that it’s quantity over quality, and so when it comes to the question of MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, ReverbNation, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, and probably even one or two more, their answer simply is, “Yes please.”  Wrong answer.  Are you striving to be an artist or is your goal to be a social media manager?

Don’t get me wrong.  I realize that not all people use all platforms, so, if you put yourself in as many places as possible, people who are loyal to those sites are more likely to find you than on social media that they don’t use.  As it is, YouTube alone has become as much a search engine as it is a video destination.

But, like our example at the top, if you simply start a Tumblr account but then abandon it for months at a time, what good will it have done you to have been on there?

Of course I was careful to look in the mirror before I wrote this.  I’m certainly aware that at a quick glance Now Hear This appears to be everywhere.  But understand that the social media icons on this site are really two categories: there are those that the company is on (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn), and then there are three where you can find the “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast (iTunes, Stitcher Radio, and SoundCloud).  So, in fact, the latter three are merely distribution points for our weekly show.  The other four are directly related to what’s being talked about in this blog and we even go so far as to have a social media calendar to plan what will get posted when, so that there aren’t gaps occurring and thus a misconception being formed due to a lack of activity.

Take a look at your own social media.  Which ones should be shut down (or revitalized) and which are your strengths?