I admit that I’m often slow to join Internet trends.
I was skeptical about e-books and didn’t think they would sell. I was wrong.
I was skeptical about blogs and thought they were all a waste of time. I was wrong.
I’ve been skeptical about social networks, such as Facebook, and their plug-ins, such as Twitter. But I may be wrong about them, too.
Facebook is a social network where people find friends, some from high school and college, and some from just strolling through Facebook itself.
I still don’t see what all the fuss is about, but I went ahead and joined it. When I did, more than forty people were waiting there to become my friends. I don’t know how they knew I would be coming. It was like entering a room and everyone screamed “Surprise!”
Twitter is a 2006 micro-blog which serves one purpose: letting people know what you are doing.
I don’t understand the fascination with it, either, but some heavy hitters and bestselling authors are using it. They type a line, called a “tweet,” about what they are doing. People read it and “follow” them. They are like polite stalkers.
I’m trying Twitter, too. I occasionally send a text message from my phone to Twitter, letting the people who are following me know what I am doing. Earlier I sent a message to Twitter saying, “Writing a post for my blog.”
It’s all very curious.
Why do it?
Why does anyone care?
I don’t know.
Since I was wrong about e-books (I’ve made a fortune from e-books) and later about blogs (I’ve created a responsive list of readers through this blog), then I’m open to the possibility that Facebook and Twitter and other social networks might be of value that I don’t see right now.
I just don’t get it yet.
After all, there’s enough to do with daily emails and daily business. Adding more social networks, more emails, more messages, even if they are designed to create and extend relationships, might be in danger of making more time wasters and superficial relationships.
Again, I just don’t know.
If you do, please comment and let me know.
Thank you.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — What are you doing right now?
19 Comments
I’m blogging right now.:razz:
Hi, Joe!
Ran across this post on Digg and was curious what you would have to say about Twitter because I was surprised when I first joined that you weren’t already on it.
Twitter has helped me in several ways and I’ve blogged about them along with several others so I’ll just mention the top one – it has helped get my message out in a way where I can get live feedback. I can twitter the url for a blog post that I just published and then within minutes hear responses to my post from followers on twitter – sometimes I even make tweaks based on the feedback which makes my posts more informative and valuable to my readers immediately.
Anyway, glad to hear you are part of twitter now so I’m off to search for your home page so I can follow you!
You’re right. It’s pointless to tweet “I’m eating a sandwich”. People just don’t care. HOWEVER…. If you’re meeting a group of friends and tweet “had car trouble. running 20 minutes late” then that’s a bit more useful. If you tweet “looking into ‘grandcentral’ and a friend sees that tweet they just might email you something useful about it.
I use twitter to send direct tweets to my “remember the milk” to do list as well as xpenser and sandy. I follow people who tweet about tech things I’m interested in, just in case they tweet an interesting link I haven’t heard of yet.
I follow “lifehacker” and stay on top of what’s new. It’s a much FASTER way to make information viral.
I may not be reading your message correctly, but maybe you are being too serious with these social networking tools. Maybe you have a view that prevents you from having fun with them.
I would suppose that if you view them as potential time wasters, they could easily be that (read: attract that). I’ve had a Myspace page and a Facebook profile for many years. I usually just check my messages and see what a couple of my closest friends have posted. Only on rare occasions do I burn a lot of time on Myspace.
Recently, after clearing some limiting beliefs, I’ve had multiple potential dates contact me out of the blue and I just got my first art project proposal also out of the blue. And I don’t have an online portfolio or a website with any of my work up on it yet! (It’s a couple of miracles!)
There is something to having a page with a fairly standard layout, posted pictures and written word. I know you don’t NEED the fancy layout and pictures as long as the message and feeling is clear. But a lot of people like to see all those visual elements, to help get their attention. (I will admit that I am a graphical arts type that also enjoys reading.)
And for your fans, there is something there when they see that you accepted their invitation for adding you to their friends list. I admit I felt that one on myspace, and thanks again for adding me.
As for Twitter, I haven’t used it. But I can guess that people like it because they view it as a way to play and keep in touch with each other.
What a timely post. Just moments ago as i was updating my twitter and adding people that I follow, I searched for you. I would love to add you as a twitter associate. I was also skeptical about the use of twitter, in particular, but I have found it to be a useful tool.
Buz
Jo I have to say I agree. If I get inundated with lots of the same thing it tends to put me off getting involved/buying it. When I got inundated with friends requests for Facebook, some from people I know (a lot from those I don’t) it turned me right off. For one I don’t have the time. I already belong to a social online community (Care2) and barely have time for that. Like you it took me a long time to get into writing a blog (but then I’m a technophobe) but I finally got round to it last year http://EssencetialLife.blogspot.com. Does Facebook have a purpose? Time will tell. But right now I’m not interested in it.
Thanks for all you do,
Blessings
I agree, Joe. I continue to do facebook and twitter, and I find it interesting to see what people are doing all over the world, or even what they are thinking. I have had a “real” conversation, not a twitter, with one new friend, and have enjoyed the mail there at facebook — somehow easier to pop a quick note to an on-line friend there. So I am learning–tho the marketing advantages are yet to be seen — at least by me.
Haha, you are funny Mr Fire! You don’t always have to know why as Kabbalah teachers or Eckhart Tolle would say. Just follow your intutition and live in the moment! At any rate, I’m going to digg this post. Hmm where is your digg icon?
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. are fun distractions. There’s a phenomenon called “Facebook fatigue” noting that once the novelty wears off, people aren’t spending much time on social networking sites. Last month, The Register reported that Facebook’s numbers have been dropping.
Additionally, none of these companies has found a way to monetize the network beyond advertising — which hasn’t been enough. Facebook’s cash flow for 07 was negative 150M. That in and of itself leaves me wondering how it becomes an actual long-term marketing tool. It might be an interesting adjunct to other marketing efforts, but as a primary tool, I have doubts.
There is nothing that beats owning your own domain, your own blog, and your own list and investing your time and effort there. You’re not restricted by the network, the medium, or the parent company’s financial state (or lack of foresight when it comes to security and privacy — issues for both MySpace and Facebook respectively).
Blogs and eBooks differentiate from social networks in that you are not dependent on the network to generate content. These two mediums helped the non-technical with relevant content to communicate via the web without having to buy a domain, pay a web developer, or even pay for hosting.
So, long story short: play with Facebook and Twitter, but don’t expect a ROI from them.
I’m still trying to figure out the Social Networking thing too… However, on interesting note: This year, I received the most birthday greetings since I was in grade school – I had forgotten that my Birthday was on my Facebook account, and everyone dropped me a line.
David
I have 3 grown kids, all living in different places. Facebook allows us to communicate in a more “shared” way than email or phone conversation. It also allows us to have this kind of shared conversation among our mutual friends. I dunno about the commercial possibilities, but after all, it is a “social” network.
“might be in danger of making more time wasters and superficial relationships.”
Above is the same problem I see with a lot of people Joe.
If you dig using these sites then cool. But i’ll pass. I’ve only got so many hours in a day. And my time is the most valuable tool I have. These sites mentioned above will only cut into it.
It’s all about the sociability of it. Personally, I don’t like MySpace, and it took me forever to get a Facebook account, but it has been a great way to get (and stay) in touch with other professionals in my field, as well as socialize with friends and family. It gives others a more rounded idea of who I am and what I’m like, rather than the one-dimensional person they see through email or on the phone, or even in person. For instance, the only person we see of you is what you write about on this blog. While you go off on tangents every once in a while, it’s mostly about what you’re doing. Facebook lets others know your likes, dislikes, what kind of games you like to play, etc. The nice thing is that others can’t see your profile until they become a friend, which has to be agreed upon by another person.
However, as a marketing tool, I don’t see it as much more than just something like a blog. It lets others know what I’m up to, and that’s about it. I don’t see the value of trying to sell something to it. But it’s a great way to network! (And it’s a lot faster than Second Life, and more personal than Twitter.)
Carrie
http://www.thathealthyperson.com
*Help obliterate obesity! Visit obliterateobesity.com to find out how*
I’m just launching a Web site within the next week or two.. (I’m a part of your Ex. Mentoring Program.) I have been encouraged to join these sights as a means of driving traffic to my sight. (Blog is up.. insightfulNanaBlog.com.) So far.. I haven’t seen much new traffic to my blog. I’m willing to do what is suggested though… But to tell you the truth… I would rather be developing product for my site… my blog… creating free downloads and writing articles etc. I can see the social thing cutting into my productive time… but I’ll we’ll see if it works in the long run.
I joined one “mom” social site and have commented, given suggestions for over several months now and can see no purpose in it since I can’t advertise. I have to be sneaky about giving out my site information. Chit-chat and meaningless gossip doesn’t interest me. But I’m willing to pug along to see if it really works. Test…Test…Test… Network…Network…Network as my mentor says.
I sometimes wonder if family and face to face friends aren’t being neglected by spending so much time on social sites. I recently noticed 4 girls in a restaurant booth all text messaging someone else. Great relationships right in front of their noses and they were chatting with one they couldn’t see.
Since the words “Virtual” means “Almost” I don’t relish having an “almost relationships with my friends, family and grandkids. Even blogs are lacking.. I wish I could meet the person face to face. Feeling another personal energy is much more powerful and rewarding. However, I do follow blogs that give useful and helpful information as well as have a personal twist.
I’m on Facebook but haven’t Twittered yet. But…. if it works business wise… I’ll willing to try it and out to see the results. Some of the above comments give me hope.
“Test..Test..Test.. Push the Rock…Push the Rock.”
Kathryn
Insightful Nana
Hey Joe,
I have to admit, I haven’t gotten the bug for a number of these trends, although, twitter is beginning to seem more interesting to me.
A couple that I have found particularly useful are
LinkedIn ~ This is a more professional social networking venue, and I have found it to be a great way to find contacts, and also to easily provide praise to people I feel have done a real good job in helping me out with stuff. Plaxo is related too, and some people like it more. I’ve noticed that a number of people I know on LinkedIn are also on Plaxo.
Another really useful tool, is Jott.com, which allows you to call in “Jotts” and send them to just about anything, twitter, remember the milk, google calendar, blogspot, etc…
It only gets about 30 seconds at a time, but I believe that they are working to have paid services that might allow for more talk time, etc. The speech to text that they have works really well.
Great question. As a budding filmmaker, I’ve found a lot of value in blogging, because it allows me to communicate one-on-one in a time-effective way with anyone who wants to follow the ins and outs of my career – be it audience members as my films hit press and then theaters, or colleagues beforehand. It’s a great tool to bring those worlds together, and continue the decentralization of media. It lets me help feed information to the world of people who influence my work most directly, in an indiscriminate way. That seems good.
On the other hand, my reaction to twitter is to heed Noam Chomsky in “Manufacturing Consent”. People are trained to hear soundbytes, and to define the world in those terms. I wonder if putting twitter out there makes it easier for folks to get their sense of Joe from two second messages, and thus harder to believe anything longer.
It’s all a question of which tools serve your goals. These are all tools for the toolbox. It’s enough that they’re in there. You don’t pull out your whole screwdriver set every time you hammer a nail, do you?
I’m grateful for tools like twitter, and I have them when the need arises. I’m grateful for tools like my blog, and I’m using them right now. I’m grateful for Noam Chomsky, too! That fella knows a thing about psychology and the media, and I’ve learned a lot from him!
I love you, Joe. Thanks for posting! Anytme you want to come by, I’m writing my media musings on http://tenny.8sidedfilms.com.
Best Always, T
Hey Dr.vitale!
I think it’s another way to expand means to “attract” more people. Whatever one may do, we are the creators of our realities.
regards,
naz…
I think it lets people know what/how you are doing. Maybe, by some small chance, they might be inspired by what’s going on in your life.
Also, Facebook to me is about connecting with people I haven’t seen in ages…nice to know they still remember me.
Thanks for the inspiration, Joe.
Tamara
http://www.thewritersmentor.ca