Connections Rule

I keep hearing social media is about “building relationships”.  I even say it when I teach Social Media for Real Estate.  “Build relationships, establish your community… “  I am not saying that is incorrect, but I think that perhaps the process may not be clearly explained, or defined. You don’t just dive into a relationship. There are founding measures that occur first, which allow for a relationship to develop and a community to build.  The question then also becomes, are you really establishing a “relationship”, perhaps you are building affinity, fondness, or friendship?  I think we may be putting the cart before the horse.

What is a Connection?

Merriam Webster defines connected as:

1 : joined or linked together
4 : having social, professional, or commercial relationships
5 of a set : having the property that any two of its points can be joined by a line completely contained in the set; also : incapable of being separated into two or more closed disjoint subsets.

A connection is defined in this instance than as: a person connected with another especially by common interest.

In social media we are all seeking to make a connection with people who have common interests, therefore I would surmise that social media is more about making connections, connecting people, and expanding those connections to grow larger networks, thereby permitting more connections to be made, and eventually relationships to grow and communities to be created. That is why I say – cart before the horse.