How to Effectively Share Bookmarks Online
Kaila
As we all know, the Internet has become a big deal when it comes to our social lives. There’s Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and many other sites we’re supposed to keep up with. More than to simply keep up with your friends, however, these social media sites serve another important function. They help us aggregate content. When you share bookmarks online, you serve as an important filter on the Internet.
But how do you get people to pay more attention to your shared content as opposed to someone else’s? Here are a few guidelines on how to share bookmarks effectively.
Humor: We all like a good laugh and the Internet in some ways has turned into our main source of humor. From videos to web comics to sarcastic blogs, there will always be a wide range of content to choose from. But how do you pick something that your friends and followers will love? The answer to this, fortunately, is easy. If you find it to be laugh-out-loud funny, your friends probably will too. The trick, however, is to post something that isn’t already viral because if your friends have already seen it, it’s no longer a big deal.
Provocative Content: This is hard to define but easy to recognize. If a video, article or image strikes a nerve with people or gets people heated then it falls under this category. But unlike the humor category, you have a greater potential to offend or even alienate your friends and followers if you share bookmarks of this type of content. So how should you handle this?
First, you should be prepared to get a strong reaction from people and to not get too heated when responding to those who have strong reactions. An online spat can lead to real life consequences, whether that’s in your job or school. If you can find a topic that gets people to engage in healthy debate then you’ve effectively shared good content.
Philosophical Content: Want to get people thinking? Finding content that gets people to analyze themselves or others is a great way to engage your friends or followers. Posting survey results that go against conventional wisdom is always a good start. Just be careful not to bore your friends or followers if what you find isn’t as thought-provoking as you had wished.
Educational Content: Don’t confuse philosophical with educational. While the latter should get people to think about themselves or of the existential, educational content should actually teach people something useful. That could be a “how to” article or a news article on an important current event. Again, you can run into the risk of boring your friends and followers, so be sure the content you share is interesting first and foremost, but perhaps even unusual or surprising.
Personal Interests: While you might find it important that the content you share gets read and shared, you don’t want to be a robot either. The reason social media is not only popular, but important, is that it does something that computer algorithms can’t do. It can share content that might not necessarily be relevant, but worthwhile. If you have a personal interest or hobby that you’re really into, by all means you should share it. Not only does it let your friends and followers know you as a person, it can get other people interested in the same things you are interested in.
The key thing to remember when you share bookmarks is this: do it and do it often. The more you share, the more likely you will have people consume it and, perhaps, share it themselves. If that happens, you’ve become a winner in social media.
Kaila West is a writer on many topics, including online applications. You can share bookmarks of some of the great websites you find online with your friends.
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