Comments on: Avoiding the online popularity contest to seek a deeper connection

By: Technotheory.com - Whether you have the time for them or not, you’ve made your decision

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:54:42 +0000

[...] was coming to terms with this myself in my Avoiding the online popularity contest to seek a deeper connection article. But until one gets past that, this whole online social thing will just be a game; [...]

By: Technotheory.com - How to Find Balance…in 13 minutes

Technotheory.com - How to Find Balance…in 13 minutes — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:04:40 +0000

[...] Social media fame vs. real life 29:00 / slide 21: avoiding online popularity [...]

By: Technotheory.com - When there’s no last page online, how do you find The End?

Mon, 19 May 2008 15:42:43 +0000

[...] Avoiding the online popularity contest to seek a deeper connection [...]

By: Technotheory.com - Friend me, don’t spam me: Facebook & LinkedIn don’t excuse junk

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:57:13 +0000

[...] Avoiding the online popularity contest to seek a deeper connection [...]

By: Technotheory.com - Maintaining real relationships online and off: a guide to presence

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:50:08 +0000

[...] This point may be obvious, but what’s not so obvious is why so many of us spend so much time building up a network of very loose connections when a few stronger ones will make all the [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:33:34 +0000

Still letting this peculate. Good thoughts. It got me thinking about what the goal of a brand might be as it engages in social media. For instance, if a brand could get people to follow them, and engage, what kind of conversation would that be? Would that even be a conversation?

In a marketing sense, they are engagements. So is buying/using a product. For brands, they need to move from engagements to longer term engaging tools. I think. And brands will have to avoid faking it as they go for numbers — for different reasons.

By: Jared Goralnick

Jared Goralnick — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:33:03 +0000

Pistachio,

I guess you would know more than many about the virtues and dangers of online interaction. (I mean, you’re good at this stuff!) I hadn’t considered that as the quantity goes up, the likeliness of finding gems also increases. I’m really glad to hear that it’s led to many of those in your life.

Thanks for stopping by!

By: Jared Goralnick

Jared Goralnick — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:30:13 +0000

Melle, thanks for responding and sharing your own rant. I guess the paradox is both how much better we do know people through new media…and yet how we only know so much. As for the thought on transparency and authenticity, I find that amongst those who aren’t “in the know” that they often DO get social media involvement wrong. Fortunately a lot of people smarter than me have kept writing about how to get it right.

Sue, great to meet you! You’re right that it’s pretty easy to see who’s genuine and that many (most?) people online who reach out have good intentions. I can personally say that I’ve added so many great people to my life through the internet (and not just through the new wave of social media)

By: Jared Goralnick

Jared Goralnick — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:23:29 +0000

Ben,

Thank you for your thoughts–I’ve come across a few of your WordPress themes in re-designing our site (yes, it’s going to look VERY different very soon), and I’ve enjoyed your work.

Interesting point about the financial value of real connections–yes, a bunch of followers isn’t as valuable in ANY way as meaningful connections with real people.

By: Sue Murphy

Sue Murphy — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:16:31 +0000

Great article, Jared, and nice to meet you. I came across your blog thanks to a tweet by Chris Brogan. Enjoying it very much.

What I think is interesting is that there seems to be a stigma attached to openly wanting to get to know people online. It can be misconstrued as “wannabe”, “creepy” or “needy”. I think the opposite is true. It’s easy to weed out the people who have ulterior motives like winning popularity contests or forcing their way into the “in” crowd. What I like about my social network is that the people who are part of it are so accessible, easy to talk to and they are just nice people.

So as requested here’s a brief introduction:

My name is Susan Murphy, I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with my husband, 2 cats and 2 dogs. I’m a video and new media producer with my own company called Jester Creative. In my spare time I like to write, blog, sing and play guitar, and socialize online and off.

My links are as follows:

murphy.sue at gmail dot com
http://suzemuse.wordpress.com
http://www.jestercreative.com
http://twitter.com/suzemuse

Nice to meet you, look forward to getting to know you.