Great content is not the king in social networks. Triggering conversations is. Administrators of a blog or a fan page should not miss an important piece of the social networking puzzle, which helps evolve and retain a blog or a page of any size: visitor interaction and engagement.

In a few words, people who manage online communities should always keep in mind that conversation is paramount. A blog or a Facebook fan page is not like a column in a newspaper but rather like a place where people discuss, question, comment and feel an integral part of this community.

Hence your visitors should be able to contribute to the discussion with their own thoughts rather than just hearing yours. Just because you are an expert on a specific subject does not mean that your audience has nothing to teach you. When visitors feel valuable for the community, they will be more willing to engage in conversation. And once a healthy conversation starts, it is difficult to ever truly stop.

Except for trying to engage your visitors, you as a blogger or a community manager should leave your own space and interact with people on OTHER sites. In other words, be actively social in social media.

Being active in the social media sphere helps you improve your own site, have a broader knowledge of viewpoints and in the end unveil your site to more and more people.