I spend a lot of my time in and on social media. It still amazes me that a platform like Facebook that I joined because it was fun while in college (I still remember where I was when I first signed up) now provides me with so many opportunities.

However, social media has produced two major negatives that have infiltrated not only the world of marketing, but our lives.

The first I recently wrote about, and it is our propensity to do things to be liked and get likes. For me, that is a huge loss in individuality and I admit that I have fallen victim to it.

The second is that business and people are too focused on their growth numbers. I too have fallen victim to it. I understand it though. If a company spends $4 million on a Super Bowl ad, they want to see some return on investment.

But for people like me, I’d rather have 100 super-duper passionate followers than a million who won’t even click links. That’s the virtue of having a community: It’s diving in and experiencing all it has to offer.

It’s not how many followers you have, it’s what everyone gains by being a member. It’s not how many phone numbers you have, it’s how close and connected you feel to those numbers when the phone isn’t in your hand. It’s not how many friends you grab coffee or drinks with. It’s how many will be there at your worst moments.

What is your community giving you?