Earlier: Keep It Real: Keys to Successful Social Networking (Introduction)

I. The Bottom Line

Inauthentic social media will fail:

• The voice of the social network (SN) itself must grow organically from its brand; users can spot a phony. Don’t fake it. Social media platforms (SMPs) need not offer excessive apologies for perceived shortcomings and should not surround mediocre tools and services with marketing hype. Know who you are and don’t be ashamed.
• Integrated partnership advertising must make sense. Promotions need to be true to the sponsoring brand and honestly reflect its ethos. Advertising messages need to be authentic: “Keep it real.” Don’t force your pitch into a box in which it will not fit.
• Let members be themselves. Providing tools that let them pursue and share their authentic self will make them feel like welcome members of the community. Excessive restriction, paternalism of the “we must protect you from yourself” variety, or censorship will make them feel unwelcome; unwelcome members are not engaged members, and a social network without an engaged membership will fail.

A winning social network will offer a fertile intersection of the above:

The sweet spot is that little area where Member intersection Media intersection Message:  An honest social media platform supported by appropriate advertisers communicating a brand-organic message in a manner that enables the expression of authentic member selfhood.