12 Most Adorkable Reasons to Love the Red Headed Stepchildren of Social Media

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Such a blunt metaphor but these wayward children need some love too. Not every social media app is going to become Foursquare, Twitter, or Facebook. There are more networks out there than stars in the sky. I have been an advocate for these smaller, intimate, communities.

Here are 12 good reasons to use these social media apps and networks:

1. Easier to build relationships in a smaller community

 

2. Less competitive

 

3. Attain veteran status if the service goes viral (Pinterest anyone?)

 

4. Beta startups have limited membership, i.e. no spammers allowed

 

5. Reminisce about the old days with other members

 

6. You have a direct line to the founders

 

7. Get to influence the development of the product

 

8. They have potential to bring in referral traffic

 

9. Usually focused on testing, not monetization; no obtrusive ads

 

10. Lowers the bar for their network achievements, like badges

 

11. Promoting them can make good blog posts

 

12. Supporting the entrepreneurial spirit

I have been member of Favo.rs since it was in beta. The spirit of the community is supporting others with promotional favors. It is much more than that. As you help others, you build relationships, and they become your friends. The promotional favors don’t bring in many views to my blog. It is the members of the community who visit that makes up 30% of my referral traffic.

I think back to the advice that I was given when I started as a blogger — I am sure you have heard it before: join Twitter and Facebook. I think we have to move away from the mentality that there are any “must haves.”

What you have to do is understand yourself and your brand. Seek out the tools that help you express that best. Connect with like-minded individuals and start building your network. That type of support cannot be bought or sold.

Who were your early supporters? How did you find them? Tweet

Featured image courtesy of  nio_nl via Creative Commons.