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At the end of last year, I had finished with what I called respectable reach on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. So I set some goals for each one of them. I gave myself a year to met my new targets. In financial circles, that's what is called budget or the budget.

Early this year, I discovered what is probably one of two fundamental truths about social networks. I've shared it here several times before (Social Media is the New Rolodex & Social Media, Music, & Television). Once again I'd like to point out, unless social media is purely a past-time, you're livelihood is directly proportional to the size of your social graph.

What's a social graph? Imagine a cloud of rain. Within that cloud there are perhaps more drops of rain than you can count. Now imagine each one of those raindrops connected to every other raindrop in the cloud. This mesh of connections is THE "Social Graph" comprised of all social network connections for everyone using social media. Each individual person "owns" or "shares" their own set of social network connections.

Goals

Alright, I confess. There's a third fundamental truth about social networks. Thanks to my research on transmedia, I can now see the social graph as the multidimensional mesh that it is. Within each dimension, let's say each social network, it functions using certain main algorithms and processes. The advantage that I have over many of my peers is that I come from a pure computer science background. To me they are all systems, and I'm a very good system analyst. The trick to social media is that each channel is different. Too many lump all things Internet into one channel, while separating tv from radio or newspapers. That doesn't drill down deep enough. While they share some similarities, Facebook is very different from Twitter and LinkedIn. Each of these is a unique channel with a unique system behind it.

To effectively grow your social graph, you've got to understand each social networks basic formula and adjust your strategy to capitalize on weaknesses in the formula. By a weakness, I refer to components involved within a social networks "formula" that I can control. Ultimately this means you need to have a growth strategy for each social media channel.

I've discovered a few weaknesses for each of the leading social networks and I'm pleased to report that I've exceeded all of the goals I set out for 2010. In some cases I've doubled the number of friends, connections, and followers that I had budgeted. And the year isn't even over!

Metcalfe's Law for Social Media

During research for my recent class on "Using Twitter for Revenue Growth," I learned that Bob Melcalfe has adjusted his description of "Metcalfe's Law" just for social media. Where he predicted a linear growth for each additional node you add to a network, he is now suggesting that a social network grows logarithmically with each new connection you add to your network. Put most simply, the value of your social network grows exponentially every connection, friend, or follower you obtain.

Conclusion

Look around for suggestions on how to grow your social networks and implement something. Find something you can do EVERY day to grow your social graph. If it doesn't work, then try something else. Keep trying until you can see visible growth in every social network you belong to. And of course, I'm not talking about indiscriminately adding connections, just because. Try to form real relationships based on the keywords most important to you or your business. Go ahead and set yourself some moderate goals. I think that is the simplest way to increase the size of your social graph. Set a goal and measure how you're doing.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Anders Adermark

One of my favorite acceptance speeches ever!

There may have been many people expecting another record performance for the combination of a star-studded awards show and the second screen.  The so called second screen is using a computer (laptop, tablet, phone, etc) while actively watching a television show.  After last month's monster success for MTV's Video Music Awards (VMA), many were expecting, or at least hoping for, a repeat performance from last night's Prime-time Emmy Awards.  I, however, was not one of them.

I doubted that the combination of Fox Television, Mark Burnett, and the second screen would move the needle much during last night's show.  While they are probably still partying in hollywood, it appears that I may have been right.  A quick scan this morning of the Internet news reveals nothing other than the standard report of the winners for the awards show.

Case-Study for Second Screen for Mainstream Television

So what clues did I use to conclude that the Emmys wouldn't set any new records?  It was a combination of  3 factors. together they combine to provide a cautionary tale for ANYONE hoping for success in Social Media. Here are the three clues:

1. He who has the biggest social network wins: If you look at the top users of Twitter, according to the metrics site Twitter Counter, 6 of the top 10 (10/20) Twitter users are music celebrities. Only 3 of the top 10 (4/20) are television celebrities. If you scan through the top 100, there are many more music celebrities than any other category.
   
   Conclusion: I believe this is simply Metcalfe's Law in action. The larger the network of social connections (the size of your social graph), the higher your engagement potential will be. In this case, more is more.
2. Commitment to social media: From the beginning, it was clear that MTV was fully committed to engaging viewers with social media. First, they knew from the 2010 VMA award show, to expect second screen participation. While I'm not sure that even they were prepared for a  record setting awards show, they created a strategy to highlight social media engagement, specifically Twitter. Two things they did, which I think helped push them to the top were actively urging viewers to get involved on Twitter during the broadcast and providing real-time metrics. From repeatedly announcing the hashtag #vma as well as suggesting a new one, #whatWillGagaWear, the directors of the show encouraged second screen participation. Then, to give viewers a real-time feedback loop, MTV created a special web application to show viewer participation. The real-time Twitter analytics tool provided amazing integration of metrics with multi-media components to cement in viewer's minds that they cared about and wanted the second screen involvement.
   
   Conclusion: Social media can not be an after thought to your marketing strategy. It must be planned for ahead of time and built into a well rounded Internet Marketing campaign. For MTV, the combination of on-air promotion along with a supportive Internet website made for a record setting level of engagement.
   
   Note: The Emmys website has links to social media, a twitter feed plugin and links to plenty of vides, but nothing to funnel social media attention into one location of tool. According to Mashable, producer Mark Burnett was going to promote social engagement. From a look at the Emmy site, I'd say he failed to complete the 360 integration seen from MTV. Plus, I didn't see or hear the #EMMYS hashtag once during my limited viewing. Does that mean MTV is the new litmus test for social media engagement?
3. Optimum audience demographic. MTVs target demographic 13-25 age group (call'em whatever, conehead X gen) has nearly 100% penetration in social media. So all those crazy 26 MILLION kids who follow Mother Monster and the Beibs are heavy users of Twitter and Facebook and YouTube.
   
   Conclusion: The dictum follow the traffic, has been true from the beginning of the commercialization of the Internet. Guess what! It's still true, especially within social networks. As a demographic group, the 13-25(26)(27) continues to grow in size, it will force all companies to pursue this demographic. It will absolutely explode as Brazil, Russia, India, and China come online with smartphones.

You want a winning combination to produce loyal fan engagement. Then these three clues should be key aspects of a winning social media marketing campaign. Three critical Internet marketing components that promote engagement:

1. Metcalfe's Law - Aggressively grow your social graph (24/7/365). You never have enough connection points. He who has the biggest social graph wins.
2. Add a social media department. Build social media into your Internet Marketing campaign from the conception of your marketing plan. 
3. Understand your target demographic. Or preferably, how can  you appeal to, first the 18-25 demographic, every major Internet user demographic. Tricky thing though, you have to get each demographic to engage based on their own unique behavioral models. There are few behaviors that span all major demographics. 

While you say that you are not against spammers, you've most definitely got something against Metcalfe's Law for networks. You deny us the right to pursue the accelerating demands we gain by each new connection. Only a few accounts are selected within a secretive system where you establish who gets the maximum benefit and who needs to match a preferred profile (celebrity).

At this point, most of my new adds are followbacks, which I suggest is required of any conversation based community. You can't have a conversation if only one person gets to talk. Followbacks should be excluded from your little formula.formula.

I look forward to clearing up this misunderstanding.

While you say that you are not against spammers, you've most definitely got something against Metcalfe's Law for networks. You deny us the right to pursue the accelerating demands we gain by each new connection. Only a few accounts are selected within a secretive system where only celebrities get the maximum benefit. We shouldn';t have to match a preferred profile to get access.

At this point, most of my new adds are followbacks, which I suggest is required of any conversation based community. You can't have a conversation if only one person gets to talk. Followbacks should be excluded from your formula.
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Would you please remove the following limit from this account. The follower growth model I use relies on pursuing high Klout users and #followbacks. It would really help me If could continue with my strategy. Thanks.