7 Stages of Using Social Networking

by Jason Seiden

The stages of using social media.

Thinking about getting on Facebook or Twitter? Here’s what you need to know:

There are seven stages of social media usage (according to me). These break down into two clusters, including Noob (Beginner) Stages, and User Stages. Here is a brief overview of each:

Noob Stages

If you stapled a sign that said “Rookie” across your forehead, your status wouldn’t be any more obvious.

1.  You feel like an idiot.
People are telling you about these technologies, and you just don’t get it. You can’t see yourself using them, you’re not sure what the point is, and the whole idea of it seems… foreign. Meanwhile, more and more people who you know and respect are using them, making you feel like the last kid picked at recess.

2.  You’re an idiot.
You finally get a page and start playing. And because your page is open for all the world to see, all your tentative first steps, mistakes, mistakenly-uploaded photos, and embarrassingly obvious questions are there for all the world to see. “Does anyone really care if I just worked out?” The answer is no, but you’re going to update your status letting us know anyway. Plus, if you’re on Facebook, you’ve sent your invites and now you need to wait to see who accepts you… while if you’re on Twitter, you have, like, NO FOLLOWERS.

3. You’re an intermittent tool.
While you’re building a following/network, you’ll periodically invite/follow a bunch of other people, making you look (and feel) like a stalker. Chalk it up to growing pains, it’s a stage we all go through. Personal recommendation: never get too far out in front of your skis… on Twitter, I run when I see someone who is following ‘000’s of people yet has only a few dozen followers himself. That smacks of “trying too hard to sell something” to me.

User Stages

4.  You’re a node.
Eventually, you have a small, stable base of followers, including one person who is seemingly connected to the rest of the world. This person serves as your lifeline, bringing you traffic and exposure, and in return you offer valuable content—photos, insights, witty observations, whatever. You’re a node in someone else’s network.

5.  You’re a spoke.
You start to do more than just throw out content. As you get comfortable, you start to push a little, to connect people, to share stuff more purposefully. Now you post about your workout because it’s your way of letting someone know that you know that he did not show up at the club as promised… and if the rest of your network happens to see that post, so be it. You’re still connected mostly to a discrete pocket of people, but the pocket has some substance. You start to use automation and grading tools, but you feel a little silly doing so, since keeping up with everyone’s not that hard…

6.  You’re a hub.
You’re established. You know this because people start seeking you out and inviting you to get involved in stuff. You sit at the epicenter of at least one network. You may never hit this phase, you may hit it quickly. You may be a hub for some networks (like old hs buddies) but not for others (like professionally linked people). You’ve been validated, have a good number of high quality followers, and people actually listen to what you say. You now have the power to draw in new people and begin to convert them from nodes to spokes to hubs… you also now NEED automation tools because you can’t keep up otherwise.

7.  You’re part of a vehicle.
You’re a hub who is tightly connected with other hubs. As such, you now play a pivotal role in both bringing people online and also in cross-pollinating networks. You now personify the power of social media.

NOTE: At no stage along this continuum do I recommend becoming an addict.

See you online!

1. Debbie says:

   October 27, 2009 at 9:52 am

   Wow – I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. The reason I’m laughing? I went through the stages you mentioned.