Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and a host of other social media sites have become the darlings of the Internet. Everyone from starving artists to big businesses have accounts for exposure, and many of us use them keep in touch with family and reconnect with long-lost friends.

Scarlett de Courcier wrote recently, “How, then, do we keep track of ourselves? How do we remember that we are people, rather than profiles? Reducing yourself to an ‘about me’ box is both cathartic and intriguing; I am never quite sure which parts of me I want to include, and which parts are so unimportant as to be insignificant.”

One of the pitfalls of social media is the disconnect between ourselves and our posts. For instance, some of us have spoken out on issues in social media blogs and status lines and placed their jobs in jeopardy. These pages are supposed to be for users, but instead they sometimes turn out to be for a self-appointed political correctness police force. Although the United States guarantees citizens freedom of speech, it does not guarantee that we will be exempt from criticism for saying controversial things–and it does not guarantee us employment in any event.

On the other hand, a business that uses social media sometimes loses sight of the “social” part of the term. It’s fine to use Myspace to send out advertising bulletins, as long as there are also personal messages, maybe post public service statements, or articles and blogs that are aimed at clients as people instead of customers.

Let’s use a fictitious company called Zap-U Electrical Services as an example. Zap-U has 700 Myspace friends. If you were a friend of Zap-U, would you want a barrage of advertisements or specials, or would you want reminders of when to change the batteries in your smoke alarms and get your sprinkler systems winterized?

Sure, a lot of what Zap-U could write about could help prevent their online friends from getting zotted into the next zip code. They can also use it to distribute other public service messages that tell their customers the company cares about them as people, not just customers. Zap-U could take it further and have a professional writer produce a blog once a week on things like electrical panel fires, outdated wiring, warnings and help for determined do-it-yourselfers, and other things to keep them from glowing in the dark.

All of these things will help prevent the social media pitfalls of dehumanization and disconnection. A company that goes the extra mile to stay human online will undoubtedly reap the rewards in a better bottom line. Companies should remember that everyone on their friend’s list knows 250 other people–it’s called Girard’s law of 250, created by Joe Girard. If you want to know who he is, check your Guinness Book of World records–he is listed as the greatest salesman in the world.

So do what Girard does and value each one of those people, because just one of them can tell the 250 people they know how good your business is–or isn’t. And remember that the 250 has probably expanded astronomically thanks to social media. If Zap-U does everything right, its 700 friends includes 175,000 hidden friends, probably many more. You do the math beyond that.

Source: “Social Media: Because We Have To Know There’s Sunshine Somewhere,” http://www.womenonbusiness.com/social-media-because-we-have-to-know-theres-sunshine-somewhere/