It depends.
While some people take the shotgun approach — posting links to their blog articles on every social network imaginable, usually with the help of an automated posting system — I don’t generally recommend that. Social networking is about interaction. Start small. Start with one or two social network platforms that you already spend time on — or want to. Social networking is a 2-way street. Avoid being that person who shares all your stuff but never interacts with others.
One of my clients has been meaning to get involved more with LinkedIn, but he has procrastinated. He told me he’s gotten hundreds of connection requests he hasn’t dealt with for months. My recommendation to him was:
- Drill down and check who’s inviting you to connect. See if they are connected to your existing connections. Beware of LinkedIn users who are obviously trying to amass the most connections.
- Accept connection invitations selectively.
- Commit to spending a certain amount of time every day or week reading posts from your connections. Interact with them by liking, commenting on, and sharing posts you find of interest.
- Once you’ve established some good will by showing you’re paying attention to your connections, start posting your own content.