I’ve been thinking a lot about social media lately. I think about how it has set the barriers of entry effectively to zero (a good thing if you’re trying to break into the market), how we use it or don’t use it and why, how it impacts the business of publishing and is reshaping it in some drastic ways. We rely on it, use it to connect and build brands faster than ever before, and when the machine’s wheels grind slow, well, just look what happened with the recent Twitter outages.
Social network building has become a big part of what I do. And on a bigger scale it has become the primary medium through which business is evolving and through which we connect on a personal level. It’s all about friends, tweets, blogs, DM’s, unique visitors and whether or not you’re focused on SEO and you community influence. But for all the upside–and there is a lot, mind you–there is also downside. There always is. Single-sided coins are a myth.
As I have been going through my week I’ve found myself fixated on this corner of my life and wondered, “Why is having more Twitter followers or Facebook friends really important? Is it important at all? And why do I obsess (let’s call it what it is) about having other people like me and care about what I have to say?” These are tough questions because if I answer them honestly, which I’ve tried to do, the answers may uncover some pretty twisted priorities or worse…a crooked soul in need of straightening.
As I’ve thought about it, two things have become clear in my own experience: Continue Reading…