Hating on the FriendFeed Lists

Recently the social media community site Friendfeed released a new design that helped users better manage subscriptions, rooms, and content. I have been hesitant to manage my subscriptions into lists because I feel like it takes away from the multiple levels of content you can recieve from friends.

With that said, recently I have been starting to wonder whether or not I should take on the task of organizing my Friendfeed lists. As I have been subscribing to more and more people I find that I have lost the value in some of the posts that REALLY matter to me.

Shel Israel had a great post yesterday about the new features on Friendfeed and his view of the list management. He was bothered on what the management of friends into certain categories meant for the community design of the site. From the post: FriendFeed & Dividing Personal and Professional Relationships:

I believe that we should be transparent, credible, generous in both categories. I believe social media culture contributes to eliminating the differences in language, topics of conversation, apparel and so on. I just hating having to figure out which box to put anyone in so I avoid using any boxes at all friend.

Shel was focusing on his reaction to seeing the template list of Personal and Professional in FriendFeed when he first signed onto the new design.

I happen to agree with him to an extent. I am glad Friendfeed gave the users the opportunity to create their own lists to place friends in. It gives you, as a member, the opportunity to manage the hundreds of subscribers you may be following.

I have still not taken the step to managing all of my subscribers. I find it refreshing to scroll down and see everything from politics to cheezburgers.

When I get overwhelmed with all the information then I may choose to start organizing my FriendFeeders. Until that time I am going to blame it on laziness.

Blasting the Technology and Marketing Elite

Occasionally I will write about certain posts that Seth Godin has thrown up on his blog. I am a huge advocate of his ideas and strategies surrounding the world of marketing and communication. Yesterday, Seth had a blog post entitled: The small-minded vision of the technology elite.

The blog post immediately caught my attention because I know Seth and a couple of the “technology elite” are not the best of friends. The post talks about the narrow outlook of innovation (Chris has some amazing ideas toward the innovation of Social Media, this is clearly a link to define what true innovation could look like) and advancement that some of technologically savvy individuals possess. From his post:

Take a look at the geek discussion boards and you’ll see an endless list of sharp-tongued critics, each angling to shoot down one idea or another. And then take a look at the companies that show up at the various pitch shows, and you’ll see one company after another pitching incremental improvements based on current assumptions.

The problem with getting stuck in an innovation paradigm is rampant over every area of business whether social media or marketing. When something works we will always see a huge entry into the market of products and services that are enhancements of the original creation.

We can fall into the trap of rejecting new ideas because of what works at the given moment. I  see it  happening on a daily basis in the social media because I have been guilty of doing it myself. When new services are being launched daily, it is hard to balance trying the innovative idea with being productive.

I tend to rely on the technological elite to give me information on new services being introduced into the market. Whether you are following Louis Gray, Mike Fruchter, Hutch Carpenter, Douglas Karr, or Mashable (the people I rely on) it is easy to categorize what works and what doesn’t.

My only warning: Keep an open mind. When testing new social media services don’t get caught up in opinions and reviews. I suggest trying it out for yourself. It may take 15-30 minutes of your day but at least you will know it either is innovative or it failed.

I am not an early adopter. I am an adapter. I will follow and collaborate with people who are better at social media adoption than I could ever be.

That is where the truth is hidden between the lines of every service. Does it work for me?

Online and Offline Networking: Connect the Two

The past couple of posts at KyleLacy.com have been about the value of a relationship driven model of social networking. The process of connecting to individuals on and off the web is an extremely important idea that needs to be embraced.

Chris Brogan has always done an excellent job at giving tips on connecting to your readership, as well as, social media friends and acquaintances. He wrote recently on the Five Ways to Connect and Add Value to your networking practices. I thought I would add my own spin on connecting on and offline.

1. Combine Online and Offline Connections

In any business centered social networking group in an offline environment being a connector is a huge priority to most members. In Indianapolis we have Rainmakers, the Chamber of Commerce, and BNI (plus many more).

Personally, I am a member of the Rainmakers Marketing Group. We have hub meetings all over the state of Indiana and we are approaching 3000 members in the community. The group has recently launched a social media platform for the members called: Let’s Make It Rain. The community has allowed for members to network online and move the relationships to an offline meeting (whether lunch or coffee). This has increased the potential for strategic relationships because of the power of connecting 24/7 in an online environment.

I use the sites Let’s Make it Rain and Smaller Indiana to align myself with professionals I may not meet at a Rainmakers Marketing event. If you can use both networking mediums (web and events) to grow your network you have a better chance of connecting with the right people!

Combine the two models to get the most out of networking (whether business of personal).

2. If You Want To Be Interesting, Be Interested

This follows the second guideline on the Chris Brogan post, Connecting Other People. A fellow FriendFeeder, Mona N. (check out her blog), posted a feed that had this image.

This image speaks volumes when pertaining to the concept of the value of connection in social media and networking.

If you want to be interesting to other people you need to be conscious of what they are needing in return. If someone sends you business, write them a note or send them a gift card!

Always be thinking about the individuals who helped you get to where you are today. In the small business world and even in social media this is the most valuable concept you can and SHOULD remember.

Pay it forward. Always, pay it forward. Take interest in what your friends are posting. Take interest in what your clients are doing (other than your project.

Be Interesting. Take value in what others are offering. Connect with your online friends in an offline environment. Make the community a rich combination of community and influence.

Social Media has huge potential to help companies all over the world connect with each other. It is our place to help that dream become reality.

Redefining Innovation in Social Media: Adaptation

Social Media Innovation is a huge topic among early adopters of technology in cyberspace. Talk about an over-used phrase! The term social media is already dieing in the minds of the technologically savvy. And innovation?

First, let’s define the terms from Wikipedia:

• Innovation : may refer to both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in processes or in services (Mckeown, 2008).

• Social Media : the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings.The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.

It makes sense to couple the terms together to create a definition for beta products, new platforms, and applications on the web. However there is a new way to look at innovation in Social Media. I read a post from Brandon Coon titled: Redefine Innovation. In the post Brandon talks about the concept of innovation in business and technology:

“We relate the word innovation with companies like Google and new products like the Internet, Social Networks, or Blogging and innovation is all of these things.  But innovation can also be different ways to do business.”

“Always be trying to invent new products, services, ideas.  But almost more important is that we always find a way to make our business model better, more profitable, and more (invent a word to go here).”

You are hip to the beat if you are on the next best thing in social media. Beta applications and products are released on a daily basis and become slightly overwhelming (except for Louis Gray who has the uncanny ability to be on all networks).

The only thing I hear sometimes is innovation, new applications, and beta tests.

This may be an old thought. This may be something that has been discussed in the community driven world of social media. Perhaps… I thought I would expound upon it: Turning to Adaptation instead of Innovation.

I have found it difficult to keep up with the countless number of social networks out there. I have decided to become an adapter instead of an adopter.

• Adaptation: are traits that have been selected by natural selection

The concept of traits being selected by natural selection can be applied to social media. When we are investing time into a social community we are building respect among members, as well as, sharing information back and forth. By natural progression, as users, we start to single out certain traits of a site that could be changed or improved. This is the beautiful concept of adapting a process into something better.

The concept of becoming a continuous adapter instead of an early adopter could be a post in itself.

It is encouraging to see members taking the necessary means to help make a site better instead of joining and spreading out over new platforms.

We don’t always have to be radical. The concept of being rational can make that much MORE of a difference.

When a social media community helps the site adapt, in my opinion, that is when the magic happens.

Social Media Consultants’ Top 2 Dangers and the Solutions

I love social media. I love it. No question about it.

Through all the giddy love and unquestionable dedication to social media in the past few months, I have realized one thing. There is fine line to draw when it comes to embedding yourself into the social media world, especially as a business owner and social media consultant.

The Dangers of Social Media:

Danger 1: Loss of Productivity in Your Offline Work Environment

When I first started getting involved in sites like FriendFeed, Plaxo, LinkedIn, and Smaller Indiana I started to see a slow decrease of my productivity in my work flow. I was spending so much time writing blogs, commenting in FriendFeed, and searching for new content my Clients were starting to suffer. I was missing a few deadlines and not getting the sleep I needed to run a successful and productive company.

I have read more than a few posts in FriendFeed pertaining to this topic. When you become entrenched in a social community you grow to love the content and the people on the site. What do we do when we love something? Invest in it. Plain and Simple.

Solution

• Time Management: Try to set a certain amount of time aside for social media once a day. Set a goal to spend 30-60 mins in the morning and 30-60 mins in the evening (this is just an example). Maybe you decide to spend time on social media at night after you get home. Maybe it is on your lunch break. Manage your time and stick to it.

• Crowd Sourcing: Use your social media communities to help with your work! I recently needed some ideas of where to find stock pictures of run-down gas stations. I posted the question on FriendFeed and within 2 minutes, I had 6 responses! Social Media communities are filled with extremely intelligent and talented people. USE THEM!

Danger 2: The Curse of Knowledge

Most of us on the social media circuit are self-proclaimed social media experts. We love to be the early adopters. We love to try every new and shiny beta out there. We debate and talk about certain sites to the point of beating the conversation to death.

Owning a company that caters to small businesses, I have found myself ROCKED with the curse of knowledge. Most small business owners are not engrained into social media. LinkedIN and Plaxo are the extent in which they enter into the social community realm. For social media tycoons and experts the curse of knowledge can be detrimental when consulting to your small business clients.

“Have you ever tried Twitter? You should really check it out.” ***blank stare*** “Okay, let’s go back to LinkedIN and Plaxo.”

Solution:

It is simple. Remember that the social media fanatics are a completely different crowd than most small business owners. I have tried to slow myself down when discussing social media with a prospective client. I tend to get really excited and go on tangents of social media effectiveness and crowd sourcing in FriendFeed (blah blah blah).

• Get to the source of the pain. Maybe you are overwhelmed by all the sites out there? Maybe you need some help in finding the right sites and managing the content to the sites? You want to get into blogging? The Basics? Sure!

The greatest lesson I have ever learned is actually from the Sandler Sales Course, which I would love to take some day. Ask questions. Get to the source of the problem. Don’t overwhelm with knowledge and wealth of information.

Most people could care less about the amount of knowledge you have about social media. They already know you are good…..They are meeting with you. They want to know how YOU are going to solve THEIR problems. They don’t care about the new THING in social media. They care about how it helps them.

A New Level to FriendFeed: Confessions Room

Currently on the Confessions Room: 360 posts, 2815 comments today

I have been preaching about a new level of relationship building on social media. There needs to be a deeper connection between individuals on social platforms. Enter the Confessions Rooms.

Friendfeeder Shawn Farner started the confessions room as a way to share some deeper things in Friendfeed and post it anonymously. At first I was hesitant, shrugging the room off as just another way to spread myself farther across the wide expanse of FriendFeed. I decided to join the room after hearing a couple of excellent comments crossing the feeds.

I have not been disappointed. Other than the random meanderings of some complete idiots, the FriendFeed confessions room has been an excellent way to really get deeper with friends on an online platform.

Some Examples of the feeds in the Confessions Room:

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind not having kids. It would really not be a big loss to me…”

“I was drunk the night I asked my wife to marry me. She was as well…and also on the other side of the country at the time. That was 10 years ago October ”

“I just had a terrible fight with my girlfriend. And now i feel like shit.”

“I want to make a big difference in this world, but my career goals and the fact that I’m lazy means I never will.”

The Confessions room is an excellent way to get to know your FriendFeeder’s in a more intimate way. Join the group. Start a conversation. If you want to do it anonymously you can sign in to the Confessions account and post.

I encourage everyone to check in and see what is going on. What a great way to make social media have deeper meaning!

Rebellion! Personal Branding and Social Media?

Social Marketing Journal had a post today called, Is Social Media Starting to Rebel. In general the post talks about the deletion of accounts at Facebook and the changing of names at Bebo.

Andy Beal was one of the members who brought the ‘profile changes’ on Bebo to the limelight.

He is quoted saying,
“Let this be a warning. Don’t ever rely 100% on your social networking profile for brand building. Bebo-and perhaps others-can and will change your profile without warning”

The Social Marketing Journal goes on to say that bloggers and social media users should be wary when it comes to using social media as a branding tool. At least not as your major tool.

I don’t completely agree with the stance of the Social Marketing Journal. Just because a website or social media community has the ability to change your information doesn’t mean you should be wary of using social media as one of the staples to your branding strategy.

The truth of the matter is this:

If you are spending time on your networks and investing yourself into the community will you not have a problem with the branding behind your profile. The people who have problems (when their profiles are changed) are the individuals who start profiles just to be ON the site and not INVESTING in the site.

Being on and Investing in a social media community are two completely different concepts. Anyone can sign up for a social platform but not everyone can spend the time and energy it takes to invest in the community of the site.

When you invest in the community you shouldn’t have a problem with the changing of a profile or your brand identity.

This does not go to say that you shouldn’t worry about your profiles online. Whether or not you should be wary of social media for personal branding is up for question.

My Social Media Mission 2008: Collecting Genuine Relationships

There has been a small buzz going around in the social media community pertaining to the quality of relationships being built online. What is the difference between on online friendship compared to an off line friendship? Can you build genuine relationships online?

I recently found a video from Gary Vaynerchuk via the ProBlogger post called, How To Get Noticed [The Art of Positioning]. In the video Gary talks about the importance of connecting to people and building relationships rather than building a bank account or a subscription list. As always, Gary never ceases to inspire. The video:

I have always been under the assumption that you can only build true, strong relationships if you combine online and off line activity.

So… here is what is going to happen. Social Media Mission 2008-2009. Maybe this has already been done, maybe it hasn’t. I am going to make it a point to meet with a social media contact, in person, once a week until the end of the year (week long Holidays may be out…we will see). I will be posting about the meeting and conversation either here or at another blog.

I am craving the leap to connecting my online with the off line. I figure this is going to be the best way to do. It starts next week. Got any ideas let me know! First one, Chris Hadley who I met on Seesmic.

The Beautifully Disturbing Aspect of FriendFeed and Social Media

I have been reading recently about the psychological aspects of social media and the online medium of communication (I will be posting in the next couple of days my thoughts and research). As many of us can attest to, we have created some relationships online with people across the country and on the other side of the world. You can categorize some of these relationships as relatively strong compared to your offline friendships.

I have always been under the assumption that online friendships can be just as strong as their offline counterparts. They become even stronger when you combine the two (meet offline after meeting online or vice versa).

I have been spending a lot of time recently on FriendFeed. I have communicated with some amazing people, sharing in some laughs and conversations that have been extremely satisfying. There has been something that has been bothering me though and that is the beautiful disturbing aspect of Social Media: not being balanced.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I have a self-diagnosed case of an addictive personality. I become literally obsessed with certain things for unspecified amounts of time. It has been a good thing for my business and a ‘not-so-good’ thing for my personal life. I have been addicted to social sites like Friendfeed, Facebook, and Seesmic.

It is beautiful (I have met some great people) and yet disturbing (I have neglected offline relationships). I have finally figured out that the name of the game is balance. Isn’t that true in everything we do in life? Balance seems to be the name of the game when trying to magnify experience and learning.

Balance your offline and online relationships. When the opportunity arises to combine the two, don’t hesitate. You will not regret it.

Social Media: Ideal for Branding and Not Sales?

An interesting post flowed through my Google Alerts email this morning from Digital Response Media. The post was entitled: Social media ‘ideal for branding.’ The point of the post was to explain how the digital marketing manager of British Airways, Chris Davies, uses social media to raise the profile of his brand online. Basically, he finds extreme value in user generated content on the web.

There was an interesting quote in the piece from Mr. Davies:

Most UGC site users are wary of big brands coming into what they conside to be ‘their space’…. But if you are giving them something that helps then, some sort of social currency, then they’ll likely thank you for it.”

I found it interesting that Mr. Davies thought of a social media strategy as a COMPANY enterting into a space of individuals. I find that branding/communication strategies in a social media environment obtain more useful information and build BETTER brand value when personality is added to the mix. A good example of this would be Comcast. Whether or not you agree that Comcast is an excellent services (sometimes they are far from it) they have done a great job at using twitter for customer service. You can connect to Comcast on twitter @comcastcares.

Comcast did it right. They entered a space where individuals were sharing information and they added content themselves. When I ‘tweet’ @comcastcares I do not think of it as messaging a company but messaging an individual.

A brand can no longer enter a space as a ‘sponsor’ throwing up their adds all over the page in an attempt to gain recognition. We can see this through Myspace and Facebook. Does it work? You might get some click throughs. You might even sell something!

When it comes down to it you are not really building a lasting brand image.

You are building a weak wall that will crumble and fall.

The post ended with a quote stating that 27 percent of companies use social media as part of their communications strategy. I find that hard to believe.