Most of the worlds people today have some or other social media account. Even the older generation… One thing that is true is that even the most trivial social interaction online is driven by some sort of need. Since I started using Steemit, I made a point of researching and studying the various behaviors of users online.

I have read various reports, and the most recent report, stated that social behavior is pinned down by 5 significant things. These are Recognition, Diversion, Relationship, Progression and Learning. I believe these are very true even on our new platform.

The Wave report, which were done back in 2013, already stated that consumers were entering into a 'value exchange' mind-set. For example, they were happy to exchange their personal data for the promise of receiving more value. But we can take this one step further, as this is exactly what we are now doing on a daily basis on this platform. We are exchanging our content, for votes, which is translated into being paid from a pool of allocated funds! Beautiful innit?

The study asked a large group of people across the globe to answer a list of statements regarding their opinion and degree or concern about the amount of personal data that is available online.

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I find it very interesting that the first world countries are the least concerned about the amount of personal data that is going online.

As we use more and more devices and social platforms, these devices and platforms become more entrenched in our daily lives. As a result we are more inclined to share data with online organisations and communities which improves our experiences on these platforms. The research however indicated that there is a delicate balance when raising this specific point. There are more people concerned than those not concerned. And when we go in deeper , those who are concerned, feels very strongly about that.

So what do we need to learn, in order to sell ourselves in this platform? - We need to understand what value means to the people on the platform.-

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How do we find the right balance of content?

We should ask the question: WHY? So the researched showed by not asking what people want, but why people want it?

Learning, diversity, relationships, progression and recognition.

Alright, the above study, was focusing on how people viewed brands online, but what if we take those 5 elements which is key in people's lives on the internet, and use this as an angle to build a community around us?

Let's call the place between the objective you want to reach and the need you want to address the value exchange!

So let's do a practical example: The objective in this case is to build a community around you. The need is for you to create enough value for people to want to follow you!

Based on the five things identified above, we can do the following to build value.

Recognition

Recognition is key to build a following. Not only should you receive recognition for the content you provide, you should also recognise and add value to those around you. There are many types of recognition or recognising on the platform. Sure, a whale vote, means recognition to most people on the platform, but what about Number of Votes, or Number of Comments, or Highest reward without a Whale vote? I have been tracking all of the above mentioned in a spreadsheet just for myself to understand the inner workings and the development of the platform and the community around me.

Learning

If we do not learn we will die. We need to always be looking at how the community around us is changing. We need to follow what is the topics that are trending. We need to follow the people whose writing we enjoy. We need to follow the leaders of the platform . We need to learn and learn and learn.

Relationship

This is a no-brainer. If you do not build relationships with the community around you, I personally struggle to see how you will be able a community at all. It's part of life… Just do it!

Create a diversity of content

Diversity of content, will draw a wider audience of people to follow you as an individual. At this point in time, I believe it is much easier to win a new follower than losing a follower. I do believe that this will change in the future. If you do not constantly create good content, and a diversity of content why will people want to follow you?

Progression

I believe we have now all realised that the only constant in the platform is change :) There are always changes to the platform and this is amazing. I thoroughly believe that when the platform does not change on a regular basis, and progresses into a more intuitive user interface and experience, the platform will stop growing. It will always become more easier to follow people, view and read content of those who you following. New ways to attract people to follow you. The point here is that through progress and development of the platform, we will have the ability to follow and be followed more. This will ensure you build on your community.

In my post yesterday I told my story of my experiences since I came to this platform.

I want to again state the obvious by for me it is the key to unlock all of our potentials. The first thing you need to do is to build a good reputation, you then need to build a following whilst adding value to those who follow you. Many things have changed since I joined this social media platform. But the things I just mentioned has become more clear to me whilst I was using the platform. I might be wrong, but so far the community around me and has grown every day!

Well that is what I had on my mind today. Let's see what the future holds!

Happy steeming!

Images credit to the Wave Online Social Media Study

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