1. The SocialOomph feature “Vet New Followers” – I am far too email-forgetful to vet every person as the follow request comes through email. I’ve missed some real gems in the past and didn’t want it to happen again, so I turned on the auto-follow. It didn’t take long before I had this slew of people doing that HORRIBLY ANNOYING thing where they follow a billion people and then unfollow them all and then follow like 20 so they look cool. It was fine for the top Twitterers when they did it because they were trying to engage and all that hooey – but the sleazy stock tips Twitter feed has no need to unfollow so they have a 20 following to 1,100 followers ratio. It just doesn’t look as cool as they think it does. So I go in every three days and vet them all in one fell swoop! So much easier and a happy medium between individual following of each person and mass follow-backs, which have left me in a Twitter Feed Cesspool.
2. Non-entrepreneurs. The people I enjoy most on social media are there for the pure joy of it. Business owners can be there for fun, too, but if you own a business it’s your lifeblood. The business is what a business owner eats, sleeps, and breathes. A good business owner sees everyone as a potential customer or someone who knows a potential customer so they always have to be a little bit on guard. The eye always has to be focused on the end goal. I respect that and have no problem with it, that’s why I still have probably about 70% entrepreneurs on my Twitter and Facebook feeds and am pretty content with the amount of information vs. YouTube links vs. sales. It’s good.
3. Bloggers with content. I’m waiting for the rest of the industry to realize that a review blog with no content is not a place a brand wants to be. Most savvy readers don’t trust review-only blogs. Not because they’re smarter or cooler or whatever, but because really, who chooses to watch the commercial-only channel on the TV? Exactly. They have readers because they give things away and people LOVE giveaways. I think there’s room for everyone in the blogosphere. Just because I got rid of my review-only blog does not mean I think everyone else should.
4. Drama. I can live my normal, boring, relatively drama-free life easier knowing there will always be someone else’s drama to live vicariously through on the internet. You don’t even have to lower yourself to watching TMZ with real life drama being spread by Bloggers Without Boundaries™ sharing every last thought they have – for better or for worse – and damn the consequences! Thank you. Thank you for your lack of boundaries and your need to overshare. I really, truly love you.
5. Information. This is really always my number one. I remember being a kid and having to go to the library or having to rely on a reference librarian. Now… oh it is SO much better! Not just published authors, but the whole world at my fingertips. Sure there are crazies and conspiracy theorists on both sides but really, after reading and listening to as much as I can handle…there is usually a middle ground I find myself content to have. I would not have that if I didn’t have the Internet. I’d have whatever my local radio company conglomerate chose to allow me to hear. The Internet is just an amazing vehicle for information…and free speech.
I’m sure I forgot another hundred things, but I’m trying to remind myself right now how important social media is – because I’ve started to take it for granted and that’s a bad, bad plan. I’m in the process of falling in love with social media…all over again.
So this list might be different tomorrow, next week, or in ten minutes. But one thing remains. I can search for anything. Learn anything. Have anything at my fingertips in a few clicks. That is both magical and frustrating. Amazing and confusing. Because that information doesn’t come with a manual that tells you what is most important or best for YOU to learn. I don’t know how to find what is truly geared toward my interests unless I can put those things into words. New things do exist, I have to find a better way to find those new things.
I ♥ Being Social!