Many years ago, I used to be the Social Media executive for a medium-sized agency. One of my clients was an electronics giant and had a Facebook page that focused on home appliances. Refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers – all kinds of things I had zero experience with. I don’t think I even turned on a washing machine until zero years later.
As a young professional, I must admit I used to feel some kind of power thrill when fans would engage with ‘my’ content and find it amusing. Tips on how to separate colors for laundry, how to keep your fridge organized – long before the obsession with organization skills became a trend – it was great to see all kinds of fans – mostly housewives – enjoy my content.
One person in particular was an Arab guy. Surprise, surprise! He was what we would call in the good old days ‘The Super Fan of the Page’. He used to comment on almost everything, especially washing machine posts. He would enquire about the advanced technology, praise his service company and the endurance of his machine, you know, all kinds of great stuff you’d screenshot and show the client.
And although the super fan had Homer Simpson for a profile picture, I felt like I knew him well. Like we bonded on some weird level. I’d always imagined he had a typical Arab 35-year-old kinda look, averagely attractive, beard and a stocky build. I would picture him applying my tips (or Martha Stewarts, if I gotta give credit) on his house chores. I would write content and think: ‘What positive thing would Pseudo Simpson have to say about that?’
I realized I developed similar ‘bonds’ with several fans. One of them ended up becoming a relatively famous chef after I nominated her to win a contest. And we met and worked on a project! Proud moment!
For some reason, fans who truly engage with pages made me take my content mix much more seriously. I started writing keeping in mind that this content might appeal to a particular group, or even a particular person.
Can you relate? Or am I alone in this? Please tell me you can relate.
