digibyte: The five most powerful words in social media

Social media in the form of Facebook and LinkedIn provide ways of showing that you are human and that you care. Services have arisen around Twitter that provide similar capabilities. Showing you care matters in a machine driven age. Demonstrating that you care has a much more powerful impact than you might realize. How does it work?

Facebook reminds you when a person to whom you are connected has a birthday. It encourages adding a congratulatory message which you must hand craft. Saying Happy Birthday brings joy to those we know, however distant the relationship. Your reward? Many will 'like' your message on Facebook.

LinkedIn is much more business focused and here you can congratulate someone on getting a new job or a workplace anniversary. LinkedIn's approach is more programmatic. The LinkedIn Connected mobile app will create the simple 'Congrats' message for you but I think it is always better to personalize the message. Your reward? It could mean the rekindling of a distant business relationship.

Commun.it is a collection of tools that work with Twitter to help you gain followers. It also allows you to thank people for following you and thank them for being engaged in your Tweets. Commun.it does this automagically so you don't have to worry about it but again, there is a personalization option. Your reward? Usually a retweet or favoriting of your message.

So there you have it. Happy Birthday, Congrats and Thank You. The five most powerful words in social media that carry rewards that will make you smile. If you choose to use them, they will not take up much of your day, they will be appreciated and you will feel a lot better.