Last night I had a great conversation with Chris Heuer while he and Kristie Wells were in San Marcos, TX. After spending a long day at a conference in Austin, it was amazing at how much energy this guy still had!
Chris, Dave Evans, and myself were discussing issues in social media, specifically how a person filters all the “noise” in the field. By “noise” we mean the various social networks, the multitude of communities, and the plentiful methods of communication that we interact with on a daily basis.
Chris admitted that he does not use RSS Feeds for any news whatsoever because he would simply be overwhelmed by the vast amount of news being exchanged. Rather, he focuses on the news that his contacts share between one another personally, at conferences, or through certain industry sites. This is an effective method for Chris to filter through the “noise” that can easily overwhelm the uninitiated.
Finding the Signal
Just how is someone supposed to fight all that noise and find the signal that will occupy, entice and eventually encourage interaction?
For starters, nurturing your existing network is a place to start and quite frankly a rule of thumb when venturing into the global mediascape. Your contacts more than likely will be on one of two major social sites, Facebook and/or MySpace. Create a profile, it’s free and easy, and soon you’ll amazed at how quickly you’ll start to connect with long lost friends, family members, and others with similar interests.
After that, venturing out further can be a bit of a strain for some, but for others, who delight in taking themselves further into the conversation have a wide variety of choices such as Plurk, Twitter, Ning, LinkedIn, Hi5, just to name a few.
Any attempt to join them all can by a dizzying effect unless you are disciplined enough to truly manage all your contacts. But for the casual user, the question becomes where do I go? My recommendation is you go where your closest, trusted contacts go. It’s a great way to get your feet wet in something new and will feel comfortable because you already know someone there.
Focus on Nurturing
Aside from eating, drinking, and breathing, there is no bigger need then the human’s need for interaction and communication. Out of the gate you may feel overwhelmed by all the social interaction across the networks, but remember, don’t spread yourself out too thin.
Focus on nurturing the networks you feel you receive the most benefit from. Personally I nurture my relationships on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’ve maintained a strong presence in all three and feel comfortable with that. I’ve just recently joined a Ning group to experiment with what Ning has to offer, but I went because similar friends started a group so I felt comfortable making the jump.
The one major factor of Social Media that you must keep in mind is that it’s never a numbers game; it’s about real people with real relationships. Focus on those that care for you like you care for them and you’ll be amazed at the avenues that can open up just because you took the time to build that bridge.
For those of us involved in social media, how did you filter the noise? With so much out there, no one has the time to be involved in everything that happens, but with a few key decisions, there is little we will miss.
Chris, Dave Evans, and myself were discussing issues in social media, specifically how a person filters all the “noise” in the field. By “noise” we mean the various social networks, the multitude of communities, and the plentiful methods of communication that we interact with on a daily basis.
Chris admitted that he does not use RSS Feeds for any news whatsoever because he would simply be overwhelmed by the vast amount of news being exchanged. Rather, he focuses on the news that his contacts share between one another personally, at conferences, or through certain industry sites. This is an effective method for Chris to filter through the “noise” that can easily overwhelm the uninitiated.
Finding the Signal
Just how is someone supposed to fight all that noise and find the signal that will occupy, entice and eventually encourage interaction?
For starters, nurturing your existing network is a place to start and quite frankly a rule of thumb when venturing into the global mediascape. Your contacts more than likely will be on one of two major social sites, Facebook and/or MySpace. Create a profile, it’s free and easy, and soon you’ll amazed at how quickly you’ll start to connect with long lost friends, family members, and others with similar interests.
After that, venturing out further can be a bit of a strain for some, but for others, who delight in taking themselves further into the conversation have a wide variety of choices such as Plurk, Twitter, Ning, LinkedIn, Hi5, just to name a few.
Any attempt to join them all can by a dizzying effect unless you are disciplined enough to truly manage all your contacts. But for the casual user, the question becomes where do I go? My recommendation is you go where your closest, trusted contacts go. It’s a great way to get your feet wet in something new and will feel comfortable because you already know someone there.
Focus on NurturingAside from eating, drinking, and breathing, there is no bigger need then the human’s need for interaction and communication. Out of the gate you may feel overwhelmed by all the social interaction across the networks, but remember, don’t spread yourself out too thin.
Focus on nurturing the networks you feel you receive the most benefit from. Personally I nurture my relationships on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. I’ve maintained a strong presence in all three and feel comfortable with that. I’ve just recently joined a Ning group to experiment with what Ning has to offer, but I went because similar friends started a group so I felt comfortable making the jump.
The one major factor of Social Media that you must keep in mind is that it’s never a numbers game; it’s about real people with real relationships. Focus on those that care for you like you care for them and you’ll be amazed at the avenues that can open up just because you took the time to build that bridge.
For those of us involved in social media, how did you filter the noise? With so much out there, no one has the time to be involved in everything that happens, but with a few key decisions, there is little we will miss.
