The A-Ha Factor of Community in the Social Media World

By rerockstar • April 18th, 2010

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Community is more than just a way to say “where I live.”

The idea of community was around long before social media was even possible. Whether it was local town hall meetings, early computer bulletin board systems, or nomadic tribes bonding together for safety and security; community has always existed. It’s a place and a part of life. It’s not just your neighborhood, but it’s your connection to that group of people.

After I wrote “Conviction, a goal, and a lesson in community.,” I started thinking more and more about what community, especially in relationship to real estate and my use of social media, meant to me.

Connection is key.

Let’s take my Twitter account for example. When I first joined Twitter, I used it half as a chat room, half as a way to broadcast my real estate message to the world. Thing is, the people who were listening (mostly other real estate agents) at that time weren’t really listening. Over time, I got to know some of the people I had blindly followed and some of the people who randomly followed me got to know me. We were beginning to form community. Before we began interacting and talking, it could be said that we were still part of a community, but I feel that definition of the word lacks any real impact. As we shared ideas or talked about a particular topic, we began to listen more to each other. Which is stronger and has more meaning to you – a stranger giving you advice (an acquaintance) or someone who you know on more than just a basic level (a friend?

By connecting with others in the community, you begin to form bonds – community ties. This is where the strength of community forms. It was only when I started getting involved in the local social media-online community that I truly started to begin to understand what was really going on.

The a-ha factor.

As I began to pay more and more attention to my local San Antonio community, I began to understand that community had less to do with your physical address and more to do with a state of mind and a way of communicating, sharing, enjoying, and being a part of something. It was the collective interaction of a group of people that created community not necessarily their geographical location. Call it an “A-Ha!” moment if you will. It all made sense now. When I became part of the community and focused in on people first, the quality of interaction rose. With a higher quality of interaction, I found myself not only learning about the people around me, but also having them seek me out. As a Realtor®, I obviously want more business – that’s always going to be a fact. By connecting locally with my community via social media, I open myself to being the person someone can turn to when they need real estate knowledge. Will they all buy and sell homes with me? No. So if I want to the real estate guy for the community, why am I not upset by the fact that not everyone will choose to work with me?

If my community improves, so do I.

Accepting the concept that it wasn’t just about me and my business changed my world. I had to learn to accept this as all the social media gurus were shouting from the mountain tops about how to earn more, sell more, get more people to follow you. Instead what I saw was a ton of professionals looking like vultures hovering over anyone that mentioned the word “home.” Throwing their names out there without any regard to the fact that real estate is a personal business. Although it’s a financial decision, it is often rooted in emotion and personality. Some investors and logical-by-the-numbers type people may not base their home purchase on emotion, but from experience (both as an agent and as a consumer) these are few and far between. Emotion rules people and although they ought to be paying attention to the numbers, they will still be influenced by their gut reactions and feelings.

So the community concept steps in to view. By being part of the San Antonio community, I can learn, educate, help, ask, collaborate, find solace, poll – it’s a give and take. And yes, I can even conduct and earn business too. What truly matters though, is that the community mind set is able to expand your horizons. People you wouldn’t have met, ideas you may not have heard, opportunities that didn’t exist. All become possible because of the interconnected nature of community.

New goals, new ways, new plans.

With all this in mind, I am moving more towards a local community oriented social media state. I’ve always been part of it, but by refocusing the attention to this mindset, I expect to be able to improve local San Antonio real estate – step by step, transaction by transaction, helpful answer to interesting question. If you’re out there – feel free to join me.

photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks and the people of Bath, New Hampsire