Do You Read? What to Look for in a Social Media Manager

I have been postulating a theory. Stick with me while I draw you through the rivulet of thought; the theory is that readers are more  easily inclined to engage in social media. That, leading to the hypothesis that social media managers for businesses will be more successful if they are readers. I’ll come back to that in a second.

I posed the question on Facebook and in results unsurprising to me, found that a majority of my friends identify themselves as readers. Truth be told: I might be a bit of a snob in this area – I tend to have more in common with readers, being a voracious one myself.

It has been downright shocking, then, the number of people I’ve known in business relationships who say “I’m not a reader,” or “I don’t read,” especially when those people have been in marketing or communications roles.

Who are all these readers, then, who are the millions of Kindle users, who are buying up Nooks?

I suspect that they have much in common with the 500 million active Facebook users, than half of them login to Facebook daily. I suspect these same readers make up the 78% of internet users to read blogs, who participate in Amazon by not just buying, but ranking and leaving comments, and allowing others’ thoughts to guide their buying decisions.

Of those readers, those who are writers are doubly blessed; they read, listen, watch, engage, and (be still my heart) PUBLISH.

If you’re looking for social media managers, ask them if they read.

Go ahead — let me have it if you are a non-reader — I want to hear from you, too.