Why Bother Blogging Podcasting and Using Social Networks

Dude, we are SO in the Land of Recursion now!

Welcome to Web 2.0.

This whole 1% idea regarding Web 2.0 technologies is interesting. Certainly, Twitter is a bleeding-edge app, especially the way some folks use it. But is Facebook? Obviously not — my kid lives in it.

The problem, I think, is that the “blogosphere” as evidenced again by the TechMeme leaderboard flare-up is too insular and circular. That’s not a criticism, per se. But it does make seeing the big picture tough. There’s no doubt the average person/worker/small business today lives on the Web to some degree — but maybe not in the same way as you do Chris. I think the habits of the other 99% are worth paying more attention to….

Love the blog, btw.

I like how you added the example of preconceived notions at the beginning. While it is true some people may use blogging and social network on wasteful or non-productive activities they are still meaningful channels for creating and adding to conversation about certain topics, products, services or causes. We should always have an open mind to how we can use these tools.

Yeah… some people use all kinds of tools for stupid, pointless, or even dangerous uses. We don’t blame the tool.

Stupid or Useless is in the eye of the beholder ! We don’t see things as they are we see things as we are !

Amber: Even so, the people you mention are probably not trying to convince you to join them in the act, or pretending to be your friend so that you will watch them.

Marshal: Yes, everything is relative based on perspective. Like when one person says something isn’t useful to them, others may perceive that they’re being called an idiot for using it.

Amber: Even so, the people you mention are probably not trying to convince you to join them in the act, or pretending to be your friend so that you will watch them.

Ummm… yeah, probably.

I guess I’m just not grokking what (or why) your gripe is here.

Amber: Wow? Really.

Here’s a tip – go back up and read only my comments – I’m not griping about anything.

Then scroll back through and read everyone else’s – see how they’re justifying their use of technology (fine by me) and also calling others “idiots” for not “getting” how it can help them.

True, today’s technology makes it easier than ever to reach out to a large number of people – and for some, they get lucky enough to actually meet in real life – that’s all wonderful – but for most of it, imho, it’s just blatant marketing and social role playing – I opted out, others took offense – the rest is history.

Michael- who do you think is offended that you bowed out of social media? What will you do differently now that you’re ‘out?’ Isn’t chatting on a blog post social media?

If you see in any given situation only what everybody else can see, you can be said to be so much a representative of your culture that you are a victim of it.
S. I. Hayakawa
HAYAKAWA, Samuel Ichiye, a Senator from California; born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, July 18, 1906; educated in the public schools of Calgary and Winnipeg, Canada; received his undergraduate degree from the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, 1927; graduate degrees in English from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 1928 and University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1935; psychologist, semanticist, teacher, and writer; instructor, University of Wisconsin 1936-1939 and at the Armour Institute of Technology 1939-1947; lecturer, University of Chicago 1950-1955; professor, San Francisco State College 1955-1958; president, San Francisco State College 1968-1973, becoming president emeritus in 1973; columnist, Register & Tribune Syndicate 1970-1976; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1976, and subsequently appointed on January 2, 1977, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John V. Tunney, and served from January 2, 1977, to January 3, 1983; was not a candidate for reelection in 1982; was a resident of Mill Valley, Calif., until his death in Greenbrae, Calif., February 27, 1992.

I dropped MySpace, LinkedIn, and Facebook – not useful to me.

Justin Kownacki blogged about it.

Then your post appeared.

I’m guessing then that you are offended by it.

For the rest of it – I comment on blogs, write on my own, and use Twitter – but for the services where it’s all about adding friends, sending virtual drinks, and poking people – not for me.
Somebody else wants to use it? Fine – I don’t care, it’s not my time (

dang – half of my last comment is gone – hmm, maybe removing the less than sign would fix it?

Chris, great post. Have to second the thought that many people I speak with think it’s a waste of time. However, through social media and online tools — I’ve created very real frienships with folks who are now counted as some of my closest friends. My professional network has grown immensely and it’s great to have knowledgeable people a click away, ready and willing to give advice when needed.

Chris, great post. Have to second the thought that many people I speak with think it’s a waste of time. However, through social media and online tools — I’ve created very real frienships with folks who are now counted as some of my closest friends. My professional network has grown immensely and it’s great to have knowledgeable people a click away, ready and willing to give advice when needed.

Hmm, that’s okay – I’m not trying to sell it.

It’s just like any other industry –

How many people want to become actors? Tons – how many people actually make it? Few

Sure – as in anything, you can find those which make it work for them – but to give credit to the technology itself (social media) is totally inaccurate.

It’s a tool – nothing more – the person who leverages that tool through persistence and hard work – yeah, they’re the rockstar – and good for them.

If you distance yourself for a bit – take a look at the entire thing as a whole – the big winners are the ones who are combining and aggregating the information (like the record labels did, way back when).

Have you heard of any VC money going to someone because of a single video blog? No – a sponsor here or there – yeah.

Being a cog in something like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace – well, again, that’s not for me – I spoke on the phone yesterday with three people – in my view, that was a great connect – but then again, I have no message that I am trying to push out – as I said before – I don’t need a “strategy” to make friends and help people.

Okay Michael, now you’re being snarky to me, and that really was not necessary. I read the post and all the comments. I didn’t mean “gripe” as a dismissive term, either. I gripe about stuff all the time! To me the word doesn’t imply that the thing being discussed is minor or unimportant.

Anyway I guess I missed some backstory. I didn’t read Justin’s post. And honestly, Michael, I am getting a bit of a “holier than thou” vibe from some of your comments. If I’m reading it wrong then apologies.

Amber:

No snarks here – just working on another project – I don’t always feel like adding in the initial 3 paragraphs which lead up to my main point.

Might be that my “different perspective” comes across that way.

apology accepted

;-)

oh, and as I submitted that comment I had a flash thought – I wonder what this comment thread looks like to someone who is not familiar with the scene –

My initial thought on that was probably that they should never render an opinion which is different.

It’s okay, I’m not feeling attacked or anything – but it’s wearing thin that a discussion about the usefulness of a technology could even go on this long.

So – I think that it’s more than just the “technology” itself – I think it ties in to personal feelings of acceptance, or being recognized in a smaller version of society.

Again – I like to think out loud, and I am not passing judgment or rendering any opinions.

“Again – I like to think out loud, and I am not passing judgment or rendering any opinions!”

“Michael!” above excellent statement ! It seems by you taking the opinion away, your words evoke thought! The element of anything written is to make the viewer collect their thought otherwise we confuse effort with results! Language in Thought and Action!
Words with built-in judgments are words which, in a language community, immediately call forth an emotive response or value-judgment.

I’m still stuck way back at Justin Kownacki’s comment:

“If the answer is “nothing even remotely as fun as this,” you should probably quit and re-evaluate your life…”

Definitely your opinion you are entitled to. Not sure how to interpret this statement, though. If the most fun you are having is with social media then there is something wrong in your life? Or if it is fun you shouldn’t be doing it? Social media is very much my hobby, my enjoyment. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but commenting on blog posts as part of it. I’m not that big on Facebook or Myspace myself, but if that is what my friends are using, and I want to talk to my friends, then that is what I use.

I “waste” my time taking walks, reading books (fiction even!), playing Sudoku, watching TV, listening to music, and working out at the gym. I also like to “waste” my time partaking in social networking and social media. I use social media to talk to people around the world with interests similar to mine, or with ideas that challenge mine (such as you are). We learn from each other, test new tools and ideas, share our findings. I learn about new events in my city, attend them, meet new people, some of whom have become good friends.

I have had both professional and personal opportunities come my way directly as a result of my social media participation. My career has easily accelerated by five years as a result. I am now writing, speaking and teaching as a result of my participation in blogs, wikis and other tools. I’m not sure what there is re-evaluate. I am happier, getting more job satisfaction, better pay, and *gasp* I am having fun.

Is that so wrong?

If you aren’t interested in using all the tools, that is quite okay. We won’t take it personally. And if your personal and professional lives hold way more fun than you can find social media, that just rocks! Maybe you will blog about it for us sometime. ;-)

I have never really been affected by social networking site. I never use twitter, the only podcast I can stand listening to is SMODcast. Digg is about the only social site I spend more then 2 minutes on, granted I only spend about 20 minutes on Digg everyday, but that’s not here nor there.

One of the reasons is that I can never usually find anyone that can hold an actual conversation with on any of the sites. It sounds odd but all I run into is people who add me cos of a band I used to be in or cos they know someone I know.

The other reason is I just find them really boring, there never seems to be anything worthwhile on the site to warrant spending copious amounts of time on them. But I dunno, maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.

I must defend certain aspects of Michael’s post’s! To survive social media must generate content with a mass appeal ! In a serious vein when people mature their tastes change ! Facebook has a lot of apps that do not promote development of good generic content ! It is an interesting experiment! I think much of the spin lately, has been created by what Facebook is worth ! It is a private company so we are not privy to the bottom line ! The real question in my mind is,” To Survive what services does a social media have to provide ! In the long run, business has no Heart it exists for profit ! So far Connie seems to have generated profit thru social networking ! Her business probably lend’s it self to this kind of networking ! Michael has planted a grain of sand in the Internet Clam, it will either produce a pearl of just float thru the Kelp ! Cheers for Chris for also creating a grain of Sand! In my opinion Google is a firm that has created a great social tool !

as an outsider looking in :

social media tools seem to be great things
if used productively

some folks can manage 50 things at once
and not have it seem chaotic
i manage 3 maybe
the average guy…i dunno 10?

I bet a ton of social media thing a ma jigs are great
but what about if someone is putting all their energy and resources into working them
maybe some folks are too caught up in being everywhere at once that they lose the reason they wanted to be there in the first place

Has that been talked about in any of the gatherings
like podcamp etc?
along the lines of social media tools being used to produce or destroy quality social media
and how to know the difference

even if you know *how* to use a tool
that doesn’t really help you know when and how often to use it

In response to Marshal Sandler, actually no I don’t have a business. Social networking has just advanced my career so that it is further ahead than where it likely would have been. My work is not related to social networking at all; social networking has just given me a higher profile than I had before. My blogging and the like is actually done outside my work.

Social networking tools are for more than just business. Quite often people use them for personal socializing too. It is more than one big market. The idea of appealing to social networks as a market or “monetizing” these tools is a more recent one.

And social media go beyond things like social bookmarking, twitter and facebook. Those admittedly are part of the “partial continuous attention” phenomenon. But we seem to be having something of a conversation here—and a blog is also social media. So is Flickr if I post photos of my vacation for my friends and family to see. Or if my book club uses a wiki to get organized.

I’m not sure people need to be told when they should use these tools. It helps to know what they are useful for, which types of projects or efforts, but people have to take responsibility for their own lives. I don’t understand why others have the right to judge them as wasting time or not having meaningful interaction.

People have found lots of ways to avoid meaningful interaction long before the web.