Social media wheels keep on turning...and fast!
My social media journey started with blogs, then LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, a few other social networks, social sharing and bookmarking sites thrown in, then Twitter and, now, Plurk! Sound familiar? My, how the wheels of social media evolution do turn.
It's hard to keep up, isn't it? After all, who has time? Once you get locked in to a particular social networking site or application, why move on to the next newest and shiniest one that comes along?
Those were questions I was asking myself, but only to justify my unwillingness to stay in touch with the current state of social media affairs.
For example, I've been dragged kicking and screaming into Plurk. And you know what? I like it. The threaded conversations have a familiar feel, but the time-lined interface is totally new (and cool). I'm not too keen on "karma" so the points thing doesn't mean that much to me. Being able to more easily follow conversations though? Yes! Plurk beats Twitter hands down.
In fact, I think the only thing Twitter has going for it now is that it was first to market. It's performance sucks, it doesn't have an on-site notification of new followers and the conversation thread is not as easy to follow. You have to constantly click between tabs to see who's replied or DM'd you. (But, heck, I've got over 1,000 followers in there now and I'm not willing to abandon it completely.)
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, in their ground-breaking new book, Groundswell, make this statement: "Online entrepreneurs are highly competitive, and speed can create a dominant edge because whoever gets to an idea first gets first crack at the visitors (and the traffic). The result is an evolution of new ways for people to interact, moving forward at a blistering rate."
They go on to say, "Online, people can switch behaviors as soon as they see something better. It's the force of these millions of people, combined with the rapid evolution of new technologies by trial and error, that makes the groundswell so protean in form and so tough for traditional businesses to deal with."
My point in quoting Groundswell is that, online, things change quickly. If you fancy yourself a social media early adopter, you might as well attempt to keep up. New and better mousetraps are constantly being built. As such, it's important to be first to market, even if the product is not quite ready for prime-time, as in the case with Twitter.
I've given up on getting stuck in a social networking site/application rut. Might as well keep up with the Beth Hartes of the world. (She's the one who dragged me into using Plurk.)
Ning: Paul Chaney
StumbleUpon: pchaney
May be it's turning too fast. Which is a sign of a market that's not yet mature and super fragmented with everybody trying to push their own spin around blog/rss/social network/sharing - Recently stumbled on this amazing list of web2.0 applications that goes on and on (and am sure tons are about to be added to the list in the coming month) http://go2web20.net
Posted by: laurent | June 25, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Interesting citations from Groundswell. The book is on my to-get-first list just as soon as my Kindle arrives next week. (Ordering books on the road became to big of a PITA). LOL
I can understand what Charlene & Josh say about online entrepreneurs being competitive and rushing to be the first. However, I believe each of us needs to focus on our passion and brand as standalone and let all these myriad socnet platforms serve as just that - platforms to further propagate our existing message. I'm consistently amazed at how many new "gurus" spring up claiming to be an expert on social media. Each to their own.
Posted by: | June 25, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Things are getting a little out of control and I would be lost without Friend Feed and Google Reader to manage everything in a time efficient way for me.
Accessing your favorite Social Media Site can be the most unproductive thing you will do all day, and then sometimes you get that one effort that returns exponential results.
I related to Mari's comment - "I'm consistently amazed at how many new "gurus" spring up claiming to be an expert on social media."
Posted by: 20 Things 4 Website Success | June 25, 2008 at 11:29 PM
Paul, kicking and screaming? It wasn't that bad was it?! And now you are a fan! Unlike Twitter, which I consider a broadcast tool only, Plurk has threaded conversations...and PlurkShops! Next time, I am sure it'll be me following you to the next cool app, which I am sure you'll tell me about on a Plurk thread!
Posted by: Beth Harte | July 01, 2008 at 12:17 PM
My all-time favorite social media tool will always be LinkedIn (speaking of which I should do some housekeeping on it). Facebook is great for generating traffic as is Twitter.
The others I'm not involving myself with so much. Is it hindering? Maybe. With a vast array of social media tools out there, the best you can do is find the ones that are "right for the job"...right for you...and focus on using those to your advancement.
Posted by: Ricardo Bueno | July 15, 2008 at 08:44 AM