Why Social Media Matters to Developers

Introduction

In our personal lives, many of us use multiple forms of electronic communication—social media—with which we connect online to family, friends, and various social communities to share ideas, messages, images, and other content. Even when these individuals are half way around the world, social media is a great way to stay connected and feel actively involved in the lives of others and to participate in online communities. However, as software developers, we sometimes fail to see the benefit of establishing a social media presence in our professional lives. Some developers may view social media connections as beyond their job scope, a waste of time for them and their employer, or possibly intimidating for a social media novice.

This article describes the value that being involved in social media provides you and your company as a way to stay informed about topics of interest to you professionally and as a way of connecting with communities that may use your software products. It can serve as a channel for feedback and discussions that foster both personal and professional growth, while being an invaluable form of marketing for your company. Additionally, for developers, social media can be a barometer of how well your software is performing in the marketplace.

Why Businesses Embrace Social Media

Social media benefits your organization when you, as a software developer, engage in a discussion on a site because, by doing so, your company’s brand becomes more accessible and more ”human.” People tend to trust a company that directly connects with potential customers or helps actual developers work through a problem. You become a ”brand ambassador” when you engage in a conversation with a potential customer or help a developer resolve a problem with your company’s software.

Social media, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, or any of the various developer communities hosted on a business’s website, are where the most interesting conversations are happening. These conversations may also be happening at meetups and hackathons, but they are also happening virtually via social media of all kinds. This is where the target audience of developers is present and asking questions about the technology they are interested in implementing. This is where those developers are working through issues and sharing new, creative ideas. This is where developers can share best practices and be technology evangelists within their areas of expertise.

Another reason for involvement in social media is to become an expert and expand your sphere of influence within your specific technical area. You learn more yourself when you teach others and engage in discussions about new technologies. Involvement in social media is also an opportunity to shape the discussion around how your company operates and the innovations being introduced through your company’s products. Becoming a technology evangelist allows you to have a role in controlling the message, terms, and models in discussion threads.

The more you engage through social media and provide content through that channel, the easier it becomes for other developers to find your information. Here is how it works. When many different people on social media refer to your content, your website, your articles, or your videos, it means that those individuals find your content useful, entertaining, informative, or all of the above. When content gets viewed, search engines pick up the thread and use this activity as a factor to provide better search engine placement for your content.

Today, progressive companies all over the world (including your competition) have turned to social media to gain market visibility, evangelize brands, attract more loyal customers, develop and nurture communities that promote their products, and engage in professional/industry discussions—all of which support brand preference, market penetration, and sales.

Advertising via social media sites is at an all-time high due to the numbers of people using those sites. Facebook’s revenue from advertising is an eye opening $2.59B. Companies pay a lot of money to advertise and grow their brands in social media, which shows that using social media for business is working.

Developers need to be heard from within their cubicles and home offices—and the way to do so is by engaging with your communities through social media.

A Social Media Story

Here is a story that serves as an example of how social media helped a division in my company. A colleague of mine is a social media expert whose specialty is Twitter. He tweets about new code samples his team creates and has been following the Twitter feeds to gauge interest and to better understand who is retweeting or “favorite-ing” his announcements. People often have questions about the new code samples, and conversations are sparked from his tweets. My colleague works in the game developer area, which is a small, tightly knit community where ongoing cooperation, interactive communication, and relationships are formed—mny of them know each other by their Twitter handles (user names). My colleague’s team shipped a new code sample recently, and he tweeted about it. At the same time, a well-know gaming whiz was tweeting about how he wanted to experiment with the sample and that he would like to publish his results. My colleague worked with this gaming expert to get him what he needed so he could do just that. The gaming whiz then wrote a 16-part series on optimizing this sample, and it went viral! With all of this collaboration, it caught the attention of other companies and brought in new business to our company as a positive outcome. But, what about the risk? The downside? Yes, there was certainly risk here. What if there were problems with the sample, and the world is looking on? Building relationships with people and actively sharing valuable knowledge helps to mitigate those risks and fosters collaboration and problem-solving. If my colleague can deliver that kind of value and influence others, what can I do?

Best Practices Using Social Media

As with any communication, there are some some ”best practices” to rememberwhen becoming actively involved in social media, so be thoughtful when expressing yourself or providing content that will be posted on social media sites

Be positive and truthful without breaching confidentiality. Don't be offensive, argumentative, or engage in controversy. Do not disparage industry competitors or other developers. And, most importantly, do not share anything confidential about your company or its planned product offerings.
You are the expert in your technology. Always take the high road and refrain from getting personal. Stay away from 1:1 discussions. Speak to the community and invite inclusive discussions.
Know your audience and the level of expertise you are trying to reach. Make a conscious decision about whether you are writing for a novice or an expert and tailor your writing and content accordingly.
Maintain good boundaries between your professional and personal social media accounts. Use your professional account only when you are representing your company. Use your personal social media strictly for personal connections and content. Do not mix the two.
When tweeting, verify that you have the right Twitter handle when you are directly addressing a comment.
Discuss your professional social media activities with your manager. It is very helpful to have a manager who supports your work-related social media activities. Perhaps you need to educate your manager on the power and value of social media. Ultimately, if your manager does not support these activities, you may choose to work on these activities at home on your own time. Gaining a social media following can help your professional standing and is a powerful argument for using social media for professional purposes. Hopefully, attitudes will change over time as more and more companies and management understand the benefits of social media participation.

The level of involvement in social media varies across companies. Small startup companies need to create a bigger presence, and most have embraced social media as a key resource in building their brands and being able stay lean and mean. Larger companies, that traditionally have not been involved in social media, may not have seen the need to invest in social media before, but it is clear that they will need to do so in the future to stay competitive. The challenge with the well-established older companies is that their workforce has not been accustomed to participating in social media for their work, so it may not feel comfortable for them to jump in to external discussions.

Popular Websites and How to Get Involved

There are numerous developer sites—from general to specific (such as Android), gaming, and everything else under the sun—that invite discussions and social networking depending on your focus area. Here are just a few popular developer websites where you can start getting involved by sharing your expertise:

StackOverflow– This is a Q&A site and one of the favorite sites developers go to find answers. It is 100% free, and there is no registration. Stack Overflow works on a voting system for providing answers to programming-related questions. The more votes for your answer, the higher your answer moves toward the top of the list of answers provided. This is one way you can build a reputation in Stack Overflow. Readers vote up your questions, answers, or edits, and your reputation goes up accordingly. They also moderate questions to keep the site focused and helpful. There is an About page that lists the rules of engagement in greater detail.

Intel Developer Zone– This is another site where developers go for answers. It contains forums, blog posts, and various tools and resources for your projects. You need to register, but the site is free. This site has a Black Belt Developer Program where points are accrued to move you through the ”belt” ranks as you contribute to the site. They have an FAQ tab that provides greater detail on the program and how you can share your expertise.

Reddit– This is a very broad-based website but still has technology and gaming areas you can participate in. Again, registration is required but there is no cost. AskReddit has a point accrual system similar to Stack Overflow called “Karma” but you don’t have to have a certain reputation to post items. Reddit also has administrators who monitor the site. One point to mention is that Reddit is not corporate or marketing friendly. Check out their FAQ page for rules of engagement.

Gamasutra– This is for game developers who typically work at game studios but may also include press members. You do need to register but it is free. You can comment on blogs or submit an article directly to this site. IndieGames.com is a sister site of Gamasutra that focuses on independent game development.

Gamedev.net– This site is for game developers and hobbyists, but there is a small charge to create an account. Here, too, you can post an article or participate in forums. This is another site where you can build a reputation through your answers and comments.

Social Media Reach and Potential for Your Business

Following are some impressive statistics that may motivate developers to see participation in social media as an open invitation to build a stronger professional presence. These articles appeared in Buffer, WebDam, Business2Community, and Social Media Today:

Facebook Users Spend 6.35 Hours Each Month on the Social Network via Their Desktops. (Facebook)
189 Million of Facebook’s Users are "Mobile Only" (Facebook). We should remember this when we create any content to ensure it is mobile-friendly.
33% of Consumers Cite Social Networks as a Way They Discover New Brands, Products or Services. Brand awareness and reputation are powerful in the social media lifestyle.
YouTube Reaches More U.S. Adults Aged 18-34 than Any Cable Network. Visual content is processed by the brain 60,000 times faster than text. 65% of people are visual learners. All blogs, case studies, and white papers will need captivating visuals to stand out and attract people’s attention. Don’t think you need a professional, expensive video to demonstrate something you want to share with other developers when something informal on YouTube will get you the visibility you want—and much more quickly.
Pinterest Drives Twice the Website Referral Traffic of Twitter, Linkedin and Google. 15% of Internet users are on Pinterest. These users are well educated and nearly 18% have an annual income of $75K or more. Tumblr and Pinterest outperform Twitter and LinkedIn for time spent on their sites. (ComScore) Pinterest has demonstrated powerfully the ability to drive users from the social network to corporate websites, second only to Facebook. (Shareaholic)
With Only 9% of Marketing Companies Employing a Full Time Blogger in 2013, the Pressure to Produce High Quality Content Consistently will be a Lot Higher in 2014. There is plenty of room for more developer bloggers to express your passion and knowledge about a particular technology.
Customer Testimonials have the Highest Effectiveness Rating for Content Marketing at 89%. If you can solve a developer’s problem quickly and effectively on a website, you are positively influencing their attitude toward your company. Conversely, 25% of consumers who complain about products on Facebook or Twitter expect a response within one hour. (American Express Forum).
Social Media is the Top Driver for Relationship Building. 52% of enterprise brands say social media is the top driver for relationship building/brand engagement, which is more than twice as much as email and quadruple that of corporate websites. (Spredfast)
Nearly 50% of Companies Have Content Marketing Strategies. Content is king and always will be. Thus, there will always be a need for organic content that will attract the attention of developers.
Email with Social Sharing Buttons Increase Click Through Rates by 158%. Emailing developers with more shareable content and the ability to share easily helps to increase your visibility.

Summary

While developers might balk initially at engaging in social media, it offers tremendous opportunity to develop their own personal brand, which works within and supports the overall company brand and reputation. Managers should take notice of and support developers who want to reach beyond their cubicles to influence other developers, share their expertise, help to solve problems, and create a conversation to evangelize others about the company’s tools and technologies they can offer to help developers become successful. Take some action. Set a goal to do something now. Set up a Twitter account, write a simple blog about something you know very well, or start lurking around a couple of sites that focus on your area of expertise. Then, dive in.