Spreading the Social Butter
A couple months ago, Seth Godin wrote a blog post about critical mass, and how it applies to social networking. There was this particular paragraph that resonated with me:
“If you have a presence on twitter, squidoo, blogs, facebook, myspace, linkedin and 20 other sites, the chances of finding critical mass at any of them is close to zero. But if you dominate, if you’re the goto person, the king of your hill, magical things happen. One follower in each of twenty places is worthless. Twenty connected followers in one place is a tribe. It’s the foundation for building something that matters.”
With every new social network that crops up on the Internet, there comes yet another opportunity to register your name (or pseudonym) and go hunting for your ‘friends’. Yet another user interface to master. One more platform to learn. Subtly different netiquette from the other sites. Is it really worth it?
Joining a new network just to connect to the same friends you already have is pointless, and spreading your followers across different sites is equally futile. Either you’re sharing your message repeatedly to the same people again and again, or you’re having to log on to many different sites just reach each individual. On top of all this, you have regular blog, email and instant messenger as well?
This is why you should concentrate on just a few networks, and take the time learn how they work, and how to master them. Pick one of the networks you already use, and really get to know it. This could be a forum, a bookmarking site, a community on Ning, or something else. Even your local pub. Make friends with those that share you interests, and build relationships. Participate and contribute. If it doesn’t work out, or it’s too much work, go find a different one.
Top of the list for me is Twitter (after Squidoo and the forum of course). I’ve integrated it into my desktop, so that it is always there – keeping me continuously up-to-date with everything people are saying, and allowing me to join in their conversations. I’m now connected with people from all over the world and Twitter has subsequently become my primary source of world news. There are some great tools out there that extend the functionality too.
I do have accounts on many other social sites, but I don’t spend as much time on them. I also reserve some networks for certain purposes, for example my FaceBook profile is almost exclusively limited to family and old school/university friends, and I only use my YouTube account to keep track of my favourite videos.
I try to resist signing up with new social networks – there’s simply too many to keep track of. I do like to hang out in a little chat room though…
Where does your social butter spread to?
Great post, Fluff and I couldn’t agree more.
I’ve recently been cutting down my accounts so I’m also always accessable via Twitter and my own websites but have limited participation in websites I don’t feel will have as much value in the long-run.
Twitter and Tagfoot are the main two I love. Tagfoot is fantastic for getting your works out there.
That’s really interesting. I twitter…a LOT. I don’t see you on there often unless of course Megan is on, or occasionally if someone asks a question. Maybe I am just not on when you are…You are a great mentor on Squidoo, I would conclude that Squidoo is your social butter, no? Just my thoughts. Not negative, not positive, just thoughts.
Sensational post!
That Seth Godin is one smart cookie!
The last time I checked, there’s still only 24 hours in a day. I’m a part time network marketer so I have to be exceptionally careful about not getting enticed into signing up for a gargantuan number of social networking sites.
My all time favorites are Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, LinkedIn, and Betternetworker. At this point, and after reading your article …
I should probably cut my list in half!
~Melanie
So true, I find there are far too many social networks, and one definitely tends to get lost, I gave up trying to even keep up with them long ago. I’m with you Squidoo and Twitter, and my blog.
I spend the majority of my time on squidoo, I consider it my bread and butter. It is my way to get my writing out to the world and I can also get feedback on it on whether people like it or not. I have done some writing for AssociatedContent, which I have made some money on. My writing career is just beginning. I’ve dabbled a little bit with myspace but, I don’t consider it a major traffic source.
Yes, I agree that you cannot spread yourself too thin–it becomes proportionally harder as your lenses increase in number and you increase the number of social sites you frequent. Quickly overwhelming.
I’ve concentrated mainly on Tagfoot and find it a very friendly and responsive community–highly recommended since the format of the site promotes communication.
I definitely spend a lot of time at squidoo. I’m also reasonably active at twitter (try to login once a day) and my blog (try to blog three times a week).
Then there’s one or two ning forums where I’m one of the regulars.
Thank you for this post . . . I’ve always felt that I was doing the maximum of what I can do with one or two social networks (online), since I do have a life (and social networks) away from the computer. But then I thought I was just being a square and not with the program. . . you have lifted a weight off my mind.
great post…i agree with most of what you’ve said. squidoo and twitter are top with facebook for friends and family. i also add flickr to the list – i’ve made some great contacts there too!
This is such good advice that I am adding a module called “Netiquette” onto a certain “etiquette” lens of mine. After 6 months on Squidoo I have looked at many social netwroks and for me the ones I like the best are Twitter, Tagfoot & of course SquidU. I also blog on Squidtop.
All get me traffic but the one I get the least from is Twitter but I sometimes wonder if it is because when I am awake, many of my Twitter friends are asleep! Note to moi: Tweet more in the evenings when my friends are awake!
I do twitter, but I don’t fully understand it yet. I haven’t had time to sit back and figure everything out for a start, but it looks like a good place to keep in touch, and I have managed to link with a lot of my friends on there.
Thank you so much for saying what I’ve been thinking. Why on earth do I Twitter, Facebook AND Squidoo???
So, with all the ugly scuttlebut about Facebook, I’m doing away with it and I’ll Tweet and Squidoo, only.
I do have a personal Facebook page just for family which I will keep and I’ll continue to store photos on Flickr.
You are brilliant. Thanks. What a relief! Whew!
I am trying to learn/follow Mari Smith’s 5 minute plan for Facebook. 5 mins a day. I also stopped all those nutsy little applications on facebook, trimmed it down! Also my tweets go directly to my Facebook. I visit tagfoot most every day – great traffic for my sites there and good folks to visit. Other than that, I am totally stopping everything else. Squidoo, twitter, 5 min facebook and 10-15 mins on tagfoot. that’s it for me for now. Great post, Fluff! Thank you!
I try to limit my time to only the sites that are meaningful to me as business networker. I do keep my status updates on a lot of sites at one time by using a site called Ping.fm
Another thing to use is FriendFeed…which is kind of tricky to get the hang of.
With those two resources, you’ll see that you will save a ton of time and cut down on the headaches we all get from trying to do too much.
Corrisa