TL;DR
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Social Proof: Make sure your bio shows what makes you uniquely you. People see it on the timeline or click into your profile. Most will leave in 5 seconds if it’s boring.
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Live Sharing: Share what you’re doing in real time. The cooler the thing, the more people usually follow. Post the projects you’re building, events you’re hosting, milestones you hit, places you go, or people you meet.
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Value Prop: Think about what you want to be known for. How do you want people to remember you? When you hit 1,000–5,000 followers, people start remembering you for a specific label. Get clear on your positioning and double down on it.
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Quality over Quantity: Platforms reward original opinions and well-thought-out threads. It rewards people with sharp, clear takes. Frequency doesn’t really matter. Good content travels on its own, whether you post 10 times a day or just once.
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Comments as Content: The fastest way to drive traffic is by leaving substantive, value-adding long comments under influential people's posts (not just replying "Great post").
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Niche Interaction: Make sure you regularly engage with 10 people in the same niche. Reply to people with a similar (or not-too-big) follower count so they’ll check out your content. This helps you get past 0–1 likes and reach more interactions.
Background
Inspired by an article discussing passive social impact and effortless knowledge gaining, I decided to start journaling everything of building my social capital.
There are many tools that can help automate certain tasks, like scheduling posts automatically. However, what I want to document here isn't just about the tools themselves, but something I believe is even more important: the architecture behind it.
Am I familiar with social media platforms? Definitely yes! My first job was in charge of marketing. But after I switched to the STEM field when I started grad school, my career seems to have drifted away from marketing and social media.
Let's just say this experiment is my way of testing whether my skills are still sharp lol. At the same time, I've been working in the AI field for many years, and I see this as a perfect opportunity to combine these two areas of expertise.
Metrics and Journal
You can pick the metircs you care the most. No need to feel anxious or presure of the numbers, take it easy like playing a game. It's an index to help you evaluate your direction, not something that should pressure you to shift gears.
Takeaways
Know who your audiences are and pick the right channels
Just like in the classic marketing theory of the 4Ps, "Place" has always played an important role. It's about choosing the right channels and deciding how to distribute your message. In the online world, there are many channels, each with its own vibe. Make sure to really understand the atmosphere and get a sense of how people interact there before jumping in.
Some channels can be toxic. You can choose to avoid those, or find ways to handle the situation if you really need to be there because of its influence or reach. It really depends on your field. Try searching for the popular or trending channels to see where people are gathering.
Positioning yourself
When it comes to positioning on different social platforms, I once came across an interesting perspective. It pointed out the difference between Eastern and Western approaches: in many Eastern cultures, people are more likely to present different personas on different platforms. That happens to be my own approach as well.
Doing this has two benefits. First, it maintains consistency and quality within each platform. Second, by adjusting to the existing landscape of each channel, you may be able to carve out a unique voice even in a crowded space filled with countless influencers.
Positioning can be tricky. It's both simple and complicated at the same time. As the saying goes, "At first, a mountain is just a mountain. Then it's no longer just a mountain. And finally, it becomes a mountain again."
You can choose to align your positioning with external dynamics and try to become who you want to be seen as, or you can stick to your own interests and simply "be yourself." The real challenge is balancing both: staying authentic to your style while still achieving the goals you're aiming for.
Positioning should not feel like a fixed box that limits you. Instead, it evolves with time and content, but it also gives you a way to check if what you share still aligns with your core values.
Two-way is better than One-way
As an internet native, I often find myself wondering about the essence of posting and interacting when social media and online content are flooded with AI-generated material.
The momentum that keeps me active on social media comes from genuine direct messages and conversations with people. Learning about what they've built and how they're working to change the world is the most powerful way to imagine the future.
Even though I'm skilled at automating workflows, I'm not interested in replying or commenting using fully AI-generated responses. It's perfectly fine to use tools that help me browse more efficiently and respond with my own thoughts, but I need authentic two-way interactions.
I believe I'm not the only one who desires this kind of authenticity. At the very least, a two-way approach should capture your attention for a meaningful moment—not just replying for the sake of replying.