Ayn Rand Quote of the Week:
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.
-
Look, I’m Not a Social Media Expert
Posted on April 7th, 2009 3 comments
I need to be really clear about why I’m writing about Twitter on Tuesday’s and FriendFeed on Fridays. I want to avoid leading you to a false conclusion. I’m not trying to position myself as a Social Media Guru or expert. I’m just a guy who is enthusiastic about the Social Media world. I love this stuff and am actively experimenting with it.Twitter and FriendFeed have been really fun for me and I wanted to help others who were just getting started with them. I write in hopes of sharing my knowledge and reducing the learning curve of others so they can enjoy them as quickly as possible.
I want to be up front on this because I don’t want to mislead anyone. I’m going to make mistakes as I explore the Social media world. I’m going to be doing things that will work great for me and not so great for you. I’m going to be changing things and doing things that others advise against. But that’s OK because it’s all part of the experiment.
Having said all that I want to tell you about something that I did this week, and about why I did it. To set the context, I would like to ask you to listen to Ed Dale’s Rant on Twitter. Here it is: Damn It TWITTER!!!! This Follow Thing Has Gone TOO Far!!!
After listening to Ed and evaluating my recent experiences with Twitter, I found that I was in total agreement with him. Even with Groups in TweetDeck, I found my Twitter experience was filling up with just a lot of noise. The more I tried to filter the noise, the more frustrated I got. So this week I did a massive “unfollow” to eliminate those people that either were part of the noise or those who I have never interacted with. I made a commitment to myself that from now on I will only follow those who interest me or those with whom I interact.
I truly believe that Ed is right. Twitter is not high school. It’s not a popularity contest. It’s about genuinely connecting with people and enjoying and participating in on-line conversations that interest you. Nothing more and certainly nothing less. Marketing potential be damned!
What do you think? Are you frustrated with Twitter noise? Are you willing to risk doing a mass unfollow and streamlining your Twitter stream to only that which interests you? I’d like to hear from you, so please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Picture by takomabibelot under Creative Commons License
3 responses to “Look, I’m Not a Social Media Expert”
-
KimLitchford April 10th, 2009 at 21:23
Yes, I unfollow people on a regular basis. Sometimes I may unfollow someone then follow them again depending on their twitter topic. It's ok to take control of your twitter experience. I find that in purging those who I have not had contact with is the very thing that gets them talking to me. And if they are interesting enough I will follow them again, and if not, I don't. Life's is to short to waste time on reading irrelvant material that does not interest you or help you. Once you pick and choose those you want to follow then great relationships can develop and networking can also take place. So don't be afraid to unfollow. Hit that remove button. Take control of your twitter life.
-
KimLitchford April 10th, 2009 at 22:00
I unfollow people on a regular basis. I prefer to follow people who converse with me and respond to my tweets as I also do to theirs. I enjoy developing meaningful relationships and networking. And when I find that I am following to many people to keep up with I have no problem unfollowing. I do find that when I unfollow that it sometimes causes that person to respond to me. And if their tweets are interesting enough to me I will follow them again. Life is to short to waste following people that do not interest you so why do it. Should you feel obligated to follow someone just because they follow you? I think not. Don't be bullied into doing it. Be brave, be strong, take control of your twitter experience and hit that unfollow button to a more meaningful twitter experience.
-
dpan54 April 10th, 2009 at 23:02
Hi, Kim,
Thanks for the encouraging comments. I find that I can have a more quality experience if I am interacting with those whom I follow. I am committed to building relationships, not marketing (at least in the traditional sense). I will continue to experiment with social networking because i find it is the only way to find out what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, it's how we learn.
Leave a reply
Subscribe to DAPancost.com
or subscribe by email: