What is #FollowSA?

Uniting people online while motivating them to create communities offline

#FollowSA is an innovative social media hashtag campaign, aiming to fundamentally change South Africa’s presence in the global arena of social media. 

The hashtag was founded by Jodene Shaer of Lifeology, a business with people development and the endless possibility for South Africa at the forefront of its agenda.

Through the Lifespan of the business, and with blogging and social media playing a big part of the service offering, Lifeology has been witness to the possibility as well as the misunderstanding of social media in South Africa.  In addition our own products are a success story that demonstrate the endless possibilities for an individual or brand if they embrace the networking opportunities that platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Foursquare can offer.

Watching our network grow and turning friendships into possibilities and Tweets into ventures, Lifeology created the hashtag #FollowSA, which stems from the very commonly used #FollowFriday, that introduces Tweeters across the globe.  South Africans are entrepreneurial by nature and the number of individuals who are attempting to live their own success story is constantly increasing.

Many smaller voices are trying to compete with established brands, but the voice of any company or individual is only as loud as your online presence. Therefore brand presence is equally as important for the more established names in the South African market because of the open platform to question and demand service. Because Lifeology knows there is nothing more damaging or empowering than the voice of the brand in the online arena, we create a space where South African can gather to hear all the goings on through #FollowSA .

#FollowSA is more than just a hashtag. It is a link to your next potential client, a blossoming friendship, an unanswered question or a dream coming true. #FollowSA is an opportunity to share your network with others and tap into limitless possibility of those who network around you. It can be a suggestion, a question or a cry for help, but only if we share our networks with each other, can we guarantee that no request or dream goes unanswered. It is a hashtag for the community that is there to be used as if it were you own.

Lifeology believe that people will always want to unite and connect in person, no matter how much social media and technology consumes our daily lives. With this in mind, the #FollowSA Tweetups were born and a combination of fun and purposeful events have been planned under the #FollowSA flag. As the hashtag grows online, organise many reasons for South Africans to meet and mingle across the nation, including nationwide Tweetups.

Here are some Tweets showing how the community is making use of the #FollowSA hashtag:

Connecting each other:
@Les_CT  For awesome S.Africans wanting to connect with other awesome S.Africans #FF@Follow_SA

Supporting each other:
RT @roshOPC: @Follow_SA #FollowSA >> RT @Chanelle19: Anyone know of any fashion related jobs I can apply for , anywhere.. Let me know

Informing each other:
@WotzupCapeTown:  Check out 51 places to celebrate New Year in Cape Town. tinyurl.com/d8k969n #followsa

Looking for each other:
@zaheera_a: I’m looking for photographers in durban please ? #FollowSA

Helping each other:
@TinyKoen: @Follow_SA thank you so much for the amazing work you are doing for Nkosis Haven

Sponsoring  each other:
@8tada: our gr8 pleasure. RT @Follow_SA: Our gratitude to @8tada for the sponsorship of #followsa #downdown2011Hooray to Tweetups and meeting awesome Tweegos!

Rewarding each other:
@GabbiBrondani: Sooo many fantastic giveaways at @Follow_SA#Downdown2011. @LovokaSA is done, we’re now onto #TrivialPursuitSA. I need at least one!

Asking each other:
@daisydeblonde: Hi all! Whose got iPhone 4′s? #FollowSA (doing a little probe)

Promoting each other:
@JohannJoubert: @daisydeblonde a very good business mentor to follow is @allanbagg  #businessowners #FollowSA

Sharing each other:
@Leebs101: one of my favourites is @clarencesdb – so vibey and positive and a great love for music – a #mustfollow #followsa

Inspiring each other:
@mindtoolsnlp: Dr seuss first book was rejected 27 publishers.The 28th,vanguard press, sold 6 million copies of it.Never give up#leadbyexample #followSA

Turning to each other:
@cchjnb: Anybody advise what 1 can use to shorten long updates now that Deck.ly is no longer an option on TweetDeck? #FollowSA

Meeting each other:
@SerenaCG: Some of the peeps I met or reunited with through #followsa #ff @Tam_Visser@JarredLove13 @PWduPlessis @deeshroom@FairyGirlZA

Grab the #FollowSA public Google calendar here and keep track of national events! Jozi ur 1st one is there! ow.ly/8j7jJ

Stay in touch with the #FollowSA community through Twitter or Facebook:

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