We often talk about trust, reputation, and the like as some of the elements that comprise “social capital”. We use the currency analogy because credibility and authority are earned, as are things like favors or business referrals and connections.
And when you want to accomplish something using the social capital you’ve accrued, you have to spend some of it.
I’m particularly aware of this dynamic right now as The Now Revolution is being released through Amazon and bookstores around the world. In order for a book to be a success, people need to buy it and read it. And by “success” I don’t just mean monetarily. The ideas we put in this book are ones we believe in, so part of the measure of how well the book does is in the people and companies that put those ideas into practice for their benefit. But either way, it has to get out there.
And getting it out there means spending social capital.
Making Deposits…
I’ve spent more than three years now really heavily active in the social media space. Overall, between work and connecting and content and learning, I’ve spent probably close to my 10,000 hours and then some over the last few years earning social capital, or doing my best to do so.
While some of the work I’ve done is paid (i.e. my job and my previous consulting work), a good bit of it is investing my own time and money to learn and participate. All of that is to get better at what I do, and hopefully establish a strong network of relationships, based in trust, and earn a reputation as someone who not only knows what she’s doing, but is someone you’d want to work with.
That’s the earning side of the social capital equation. And while I’ve used my own example because it’s what I know best (you can decide for yourself whether I’ve done it well), businesses do this too as they begin their immersion in social media, as do you. Either way, the act of earning social capital takes a good bit of time.
Making Withdrawals…
Throughout our work, every time we ask something of someone else, we’re spending a bit of that earned capital. Sometimes it’s as simple as tweeting a blog post and hoping we’ve earned enough of people’s interest that they’ll read it. Sometimes it’s much bigger, like my asking a new customer to invest in our work at Radian6, or asking an audience to give of their time to hear me speak at an event.
The trick is that this is never a one to one transaction. It’s not a matter of doing something for the good of the community and then asking for a quid pro quo, an instant and equal return of that action. So unlike a bank account, it’s not like you put a dollar in and just turn around and pull a dollar back out. It’s much more nuanced and subtle than that.
Social capital is earned slowly, and spent quickly. And most of the time, the withdrawal you need to make in order to ask for something of significance from your community is proportionally larger than you might think. We humans have much better short term memories than we do long term, and while Janet may have asked What have you done for me lately?, there’s even more to it.
“Lately” to us doesn’t just mean yesterday. We might most immediately remember your most recent activity, but we have a deep perception of each others’ overarching contributions. We make judgments about whether we’ve earned the right to make withdrawals on our deposits yet, or whether what we’re asking for exceeds the investments we’ve made to date.
See why this is a delicate balance? It’s about timing, giving to get, context, and perception.
Spending When It’s Worth It
When I endeavored to write The Now Revolution with Jay, I made a conscious choice. Embarking on a book project means you *have* to know going in that spending some of your accrued social capital is going to be part of the bargain.
I’ve done more self promotion than comes naturally to me, putting out more posts, tweets, or content about the book because it’s the right thing to do for a project that Jay and I have worked very hard on. The end result is something I’m very proud of, that I believe can be helpful and useful to a lot of people and businesses, and it deserves my investment in its moment to shine.
Eventually, someone is going to get upset with me for talking about the book a lot. Someone might say I’ve sold out. It’s also possible that folks won’t like the book, will question my expertise, or other not-so-fun parts of sharing ideas with the world. It’s all part of that social capital withdrawal, and the risk that goes with it.
But I also know that this is a big step toward what I’ve been working so hard for all these years. If I’ve been using my 10,000 hours well, this is a really good time to draw on the social capital bank and ask my community, friends, colleagues and the like to invest in this project. Because I think it’s worth it, on every level.
And For You…
Ultimately, when and how you decide to spend your social capital is a judgment call, and a rather unscientific one at that. It’s a gut check. It takes some self reflection and courage, too. But if you’ve spent the time to invest and make those deposits first, you’ll find that much like your bank account, you’re careful where you spend your earnings. After all, you’ve worked hard for them and want to protect your investment.
If you’re on the path to something that you have dreamed of and want to achieve, keep at it. Creating trust, contributing and learning, shaping the industry you’re in…all of those things are worthwhile and rewarding. Earning and building your social capital is a worthy endeavor in and of itself. Never doubt that for a minute.
When you take that leap of faith, however, and ask your community to invest in you in return, do so with care. Respect those from whom you’d like respect. Know that it takes years to build that social capital, and only moments to spend it. So spend wisely. And when you do, I hope you are as humbled, inspired, and grateful as I’ve been.
Thank you, sincerely and from the bottom of my heart, for how supportive all of you have been of The Now Revolution and all the conversations we’ve had to get to this point. You’re so much a part of why and how this book happened, and I couldn’t be more proud than I am today, holding the finished copy in my hands. I’m very eager to share it with you. Thank you for your trust (and for letting me explore a point here based on my own, self-centered example). I don’t take it for granted.
I know very well what you mean, and you explain the concept of “social capital” far better than I have read in the past. I believe spending your social capital – or rather, investing it – is mainly a choice of instinct, something you know it’s right to do when the time comes. It’s normal to fine-tune this ability with time, after all, we all (should) learn from our mistakes.
Interesting take. I’ve heard of this concept before in terms of an emotional bank account but I suppose it equally applies to any interaction between humans. I like this.
One thing that people need to be aware of too, is that, unlike a money account, if you don’t continue to make deposits in your social/emotional account your “balance” will dwindle over time. For example, if Amber suddenly stops posting (great articles, by the way) or tweeting for six months, a proportion of her “followers” will be less willing to extend social credit to her. After a year even less. It’s that “what have you done for me lately?” issue that you talked about.
The good news is that it’s an outstanding book that will actually help people. Although I may not be 100% objective in that view.
I really like the way you put it. In the past I have found myself putting tons of investment in social media, only to then put it off and lose what credit I had obtained. I’m hoping to keep up with my investments in the future. Thanks for the great post!
I love the mindset you share with the community here — it really is the only way to create long term value — and cheers to your success with your blog and all of your endeavor’s — you’ve definitely earned it.
You can take that to the bank : )
So, Amazon told me that it has shipped, but I live a long way away. I am looking forward to reading it. In fact, I may just have to go for the Kindle version.
Good luck with it!
I love your posts Amber – this was great and a topic near and dear to my heart. I believe someday we’ll get back to a barter system, only it will be a system of trading social capital. Just like farmers, black smiths, vets and even doctors all traded goods or services to pay for their services rendered, so shall the accountant, the sales person and the marketing genius, respectively, just to name a few.
The internet has enabled us to find like minded people with similar visions much easier than it’s ever been before. Is it so unpractical that a marketing person would partner with a technology geek and a graphic designer to create a business they can all three profit from?
Love this post!
“Someone might say I’ve sold out.” – Let them say anything they want. From my perspective, I have considered this line of thought (the crux of your post) many times and find a big difference between selling yourself, as a personality, socially vs selling your work/content. Thin line of distinction, but it does exist – in the former, you stand to gain more than your audience. In the latter, you try to balance the gains between your audience (interesting/engaging/thought-provoking content) and yourself (personal branding). The announcements about your book fall under the latter!
Hmm..Great article I like the little spin you put on it. Relationships are key in the business world today & the main reason for that being is in our world today women are our main consumers. Think about it 30 years ago who went to the tire shop to get tires put on Mom or Dad? My question to you is….. Who does it more now Mom or Dad?
I’ve been very aware of my “social capital” long before I began to participate in Social media. I don’t ask for help or support unless I truly need it. As a matter of fact, asking people to read your book and participate in a contest I run, will be MY first foray into spending my online social capital but I’m happy to do it for two reasons: 1) reading your articles over the years gave me great information and you requested nothing in return until now. If I can help, I’m happy to. 2) I suspect that reading your book will be an investment that will have exponential rewards so it’s a win/win for all concerned. I’m very excited and wish the book would get here pronto!
Amber, you’ve thought about this way more than I have, so you’re a good one to answer. Sometimes it seems to me that “social capital” is like any other capital; you save it, you spend it. When you save it, your account goes up; when you spend it, it goes down.
But other times, I think it’s the reverse–more like use it or lose it, the more love you make the more you take, etc etc. This seems true in the sense of if you ask a favor and do a favor in return, you’re not net even–you’re both ahead. It’s like love, or any other relationship–the transactions don’t net to zero, in fact they feed on each other.
In that sense, social capital accumulates through exercise, rather than being added to or subtracted from. If true, then the ‘barter’ metaphor isn’t quite right; a better metaphor would be something where 1+1>2, not merely zero-sum trading, but quite additive for both parties at the same time.
Does that make some sense?