Riley Q

In the age of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, it seems overwhelming to add another social platform into your daily mix. But eventually you come to a point where you're just so frustrated with the way things work, aka: data tracking, constant ads, and skewed algorithms, that you'll jump at the chance to try something new.

Enter:

Upon entering the site you are quickly greeted by the harsh reality that you don't own what you post on any platform. Therefore, you're not getting paid for it. But like Rashon, aka: MICOPEIA, said in his article the other day, we are getting “pimped” by social media providers. We create the content, they take the money and the world keeps turning. Thankfully, we are entering an age where we're starting to use our heads and realize that WE should be making money from our hard work and thoughts and that ruthless, money hungry, controlled-narrative ad companies should be on their way out the door.

When I was first informed about the possibility of gFam, I was thrilled. Finally a version of social media that is completely controlled by the user. I get to make money for my content? That's more like it.

The basic premise is that you post a selfie, organic and real, and you use the caption to expand upon something bigger in your life, or a creative project you're working on. It's less about the old Facebook days of “I'm vacuuming” and more about “here's a hand picked thought out of a bigger piece of content I'm working on”. Originality is what gFam is all about. I think it's actually a challenge to post sometimes, because it's not often that we're asked to post a selfie with a small piece of a bigger picture. But by providing actual value with this selfie, it opens up the possibility of making money. We have been so programmed to accept that our thoughts are seemingly “worthless” that the idea of getting paid for an idea, even a small one, seems preposterous. But the beauty in gFam is that we get to decide which ideas and thoughts are worth what. We now have the ability to tip one another in a matter of seconds, not only affirming the creator's value, but engaging in a bigger ecosystem that benefits all people, not just proclaimed creators.

For those of you who aren't overly familiar with gFam, it's still in the very early testing stages and there is not an app yet. You can use via your browser on your phone or computer. If you're the kind of person who relies on an app to use a service, I found a way around that. If you have an iPhone you can easily create an “app” by sharing a link to your home screen. Personally, I like to keep a tab open in my Chrome app on my phone so I can easily get back to post and engage with other users.

If you're still confused about exactly how it works or how to use it, I encourage you to go take a look around and check out gFam's posts on Coil. There's a ton of articles that will answer all of your questions and lay out exactly how easy it is to use the platform!

Over the past few weeks that I've been using the app it's been cool to see how different people have chosen to create on it. I think that when someone says “post a selfie and a thought”, it can be easy to just throw up any old thing, but there have been some really cool posts.

For example..

In this post Therese not only gives us a unique selfie with her composition, but she tells us a little bit about her story and circumstances. This is a great example of a “short and sweet”, yet visually creative post that leaves us wanting more.

In this post Adam shows off his strength, but he also provides an immense amount of value, providing his workout regiment. This is such a cool way to post. He's providing a tangible takeaway that you are “paying” for- just like you would a workout plan and providing an interesting visual with it.

In this post, Kristy is showing off one of her hobbies, declaring her goals and what makes this post special, is that she is starting a conversation! On platforms like Coil where we don't have comments, therefore we avoid CTA's, sometimes conversations can be sparse. But on gFam, a SOCIAL platform, a CTA with a question to start conversation is a perfect way to interact with other users! That conversation may just be the catalyst that holds the value for the post itself.

In this post, @roadtodivinity, shares her heart on how she's choosing to handle the state of the world right now. Her positivity is contagious and take note in her caption that she says... “I am posting this message again because I really want to reach more people to read this message. I posted this at Twitter yesterday and just added more to it.” This is such a great example of taking a small piece of content and making it more valuable on gFam. Don't mind that I didn't include the selfie, I couldn't screenshot the whole thing and really wanted you to see the full caption!

And one more example, not to show off, but I wanted to show you how I post. In this post I shared a small section of the post I did on Coil that day. I didn't know at the time that posting a link to my actual Coil post was allowed, or even possible, otherwise I would've included that. I expanded upon an individual thought to provide a bit of extra value. I've also been using the platform to track my pregnancy bump and keep my gFam in the loop!

Ultimately when you're going to post on gFam, I think there's three important things that you need to remember.

1. Tell YOUR story. Own YOUR brand. Your picture is just the snapshot of where you're at in life in that fleeting moment. But what are your thoughts? Where are you at mentally? What cool thing are you doing or thinking about? Don't underestimate what people will pay for. If your brand on Coil, for example, is that you provide healthy recipes, post about the benefits of one of the ingredients in a new recipe and then link to the post with the recipe! Or if you have a “free” download with a bunch of recipes, offer it up via a link and people can tip you for it via the gFam post. If your brand is that you provide inspiration, maybe you provide inspirational quotes on gFam and then you link to a post that is an expanded version of the thought, or the application of the thought.

2. Try to offer up something tangible. If someone is going to pay you, they typically want to walk away with something. This doesn't have to be a download or a recipe, although it could be via a link. But, like a man who tips a musician on the sidewalk, he doesn't walk away owning that musician, he walks away with the pleasure of having heard that musician perform. That is how you should view the posts on gFam. You want your audience to walk away with a new idea, a different perspective, or maybe the inspiration to try something new.

3. This last thing is actually from the creator of gFam himself about what he's looking for from users. “Essentially I like posts that are a story, with the pic as additional info. I like it when people post links to their work or things to check out. gFam isn't about earning XRP on your photo, but about earning XRP to support you, a creator... with the post more being about teaching your audience or checking in on the progress of your project.”

I hope that leaving this post today that you have a bit more clarity on how to use the platform. I encourage you to branch out and if it's hard to remember to post, that's okay, I struggle with it too, put it in an easier to access spot. Bookmark it, add it to your home screen, turn on notifications for the gFam Twitter account, whatever it takes! There is so much going into gFam and I truly think it could be successful if we all take part and stick around to watch it grow and evolve.

Subscribers! I decided to keep this post open and free, because I want as many people to learn about gFam as possible. But I did want to offer up something special. I was able to talk to the mastermind behind gFam and we did a quick interview that I think you're going to want to tune into...

When you first join Coil the first thing that comes to mind, or at least it did my mind, was “how am I supposed to let other people know I like their work if upvotes are anonymous and I can't message or comment?” It's a valid question! I know that a lot of us think comments and messages would help Coil and while I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, you can read more about that in my article “Coil: You've Protected My Mental Health”. Instead, in the meantime, if you're new to Coil, Twitter is where we all hang out! If Twitter is new to you, I understand how overwhelming it can be. But I promise it's easy to use and the key is observing, trying new things and testing methods until you find what works for you!

Most of us have our Twitter handles in our bio, but you can also locate one or two people and usually you'll see a whole list of tagged handles under one of their posts. A lot of people use tags to alert Coil members when they've posted since we're also lacking notifications on Coil as of now. If you're worried about the lack of features, don't be, Coil is still a baby and all of these features will come in due time. I don't personally use tags, but I do not have anything against them and I think there are pros and cons to using them! Just do whatever you feel comfortable with and whatever is easiest for you as a creator, there's no right or wrong way to do things.

Without further ado, here are a few tips that I have come up with to help you rock the Twitter game. And as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me!

1. Take 15 minutes a day to engage.

When it comes to finding MORE time for something that you need to do in your schedule, it can be overwhelming, but think about how much time you spend on social media anyways! Ya know, mindlessly scrolling. What if instead of “wasting” that time, you intentionally made that time productive! Take those 15 minutes you spend in the morning sipping on your coffee or evening when you're having down time and engage. Take 15 minutes of your lunch break, you know you have your phone in your hand, engage then! If 15 minutes at one time is too overwhelmingly, split it up into 3, 5 minute segments. I promise it's totally possible.

2. Comment and retweet others before you post.

Awhile back I noticed that I would tweet and then I would comment on a ton of posts and retweet a bunch and then I wouldn't get any engagement on my tweets. Then one day I reversed it by accident and I got a TON of engagement. This was crazy to me, but it made sense because I had just brought my name into a bunch of people's notifications and then I tweeted so they saw it almost immediately in their feed or they'd click to my page to see if I had tweeted. This realization prompted two changes. Instead of posting first and then retweeting, I would retweet and then post and then when I did post, I would pin that tweet to the top of my Twitter page so that it was the first thing that they saw when they clicked on my page for that day. Those two changes helped me increase my engagement significantly.

3. Engage with who you want to!

There are so many creators on Coil already, it can feel impossible to engage with and support all of them. But guess what? You don't have to! Don't feel pressured to retweet people, this isn't a scratch my back and I'll scratch yours type of thing. I only share content I truly love and believe in and want to SHARE. I hope others do the same thing for me, I never want anyone to feel pressured. I think the key to not burning out with engagement is to limit yourself, hence the 15 minutes. It's okay if you don't get to everyone. If you're starting to feel like you only engage with the same 5 or 10 people, branch out. Force yourself to engage with someone else or seek out a new creator. And don't forget, if you're ever feeling pressured by someone to upvote or retweet their work, or they make it known to you that they don't support you because you're not retweeting all of their stuff, leave 'em behind. I'm serious. That's toxic behavior and Coil is supposed to be fun, let it be fun! You've got this!

4. Connect in the DM's.

If you're new and you've dabbled in the community, I'm surely not the first person to say this, but I can speak for almost everyone when I say that we LOVE welcoming new community members and our DM's are open for any questions. I promise it's not bothersome and if you reach out to me, I will be there for you, support you in any way possible and give you all the tips. I seriously love this community and empowering other creators is my jam. I love shining a light on people, highlighting what they're amazing at and giving them the tools to be the best creator they can be. So please, do not hesitate. My DM's are always open and I'd say most creators on Coil would say the same. Community is sometimes difficult just via comments, let's get to know each other in the DM's!

5. Take advantage of handles.

Try to work the @coil handle or @cinnamonvideo, if you're posting a video, into your tweets. This not only catches the attention of your fellow Coilers, but you may just score a retweet or comment from Coil or Cinnamon themselves!

If you've read any of my other “tip” articles you know that I have a few more tips for my lovely subscribers. In fact I also have one thing that you shouldn't ever do on Coil and what you can do instead..