Reciprocity as a Key to Success in Social Networking

Posted on 27 September 2010 | by JR Rozko

Last time around I talked about how focus serves us well in terms of maximizing our social networking efforts.

Another major key to success in social networking is reciprocity - "a social norm of in-kind responses to the behavior of others." (Thanks Wikipedia ;)

In some ways this is social networking 101 right?  Someone friends you on Facebook, you friend them back.  Someone follows you on Twitter, you follow them back.  These are common examples of reciprocity.  But, they also happen to be reactive and easy.  And as I ma sure you'll admit, if you're honest, simply reacting and doing that which is easy is a surefire way to never accomplish anything of real significance. 

The real vaule in reciprocity is harder to come by as it takes initiative and intentionaloty.  Here's what I usually tell people...

In order to maximize the power and potential of your social network, you have to become a catalyzer of reciprocity.

The point here is faily simple, don't just act reciprocally, create opportunities for reciprocity in social networking.  Here's how you might go about this...

1. Budget time in your work week to comment on a few key blogs that you follow.  Anyone who blogs knows how meaningful it is when someone takes the time to comment on something you've written.  When you take the time to comment on the work of others, guess what, thay are 200 times more likely to engage with you in return.

2. Go out of your way to make connections through the social networks that are most useful to you.  Search through friends of friends, make use of keyword searches, ask people who they think would be significant for you to connect with.  Initiate connections and you will surely find that others hold you in a different light.

3. Share valuable contacts with your social network.  Hopefully you are always keeping a mental list of the people who add the most value to your social network.  Share that list with people who have your passions and interests and your own value as a contact or resource is sure to climb the social network ladder.

These are three easy ways that you can catalyze reciprocity in social networking and not just do the easy and reactionary thing.

Of course this takes time.  But the aim here is to work smarter, not harder.  The time we spend in catalyzing opportunities for reciprocity in social networking will almost always exceed our investment.

What about you.  What tips and tricks do you follow to enhance the significance of your social network?  What have you found to be the most worthwhile means of reciprocity in social networking?