Twitter Lists – Hot or Not?
November 1, 2009
This week the rest of the Twitterverse got a look at the long anticipated Lists feature. Despite the polite request by Twitter for the beta testers to keep it mum, rumors had naturally leaked about their existence. The careful systemwide rollout by the Twitter team heightened the anticipation and excitement as more and more users logged in to see that the new feature had been added to their account.
The technorati have been weighing in with mixed reviews. Some folks like Robert Scoble love the feature and others like Chris Brogan find it to be less than desirable.
In the next few days to weeks, there will be dozens of posts on Lists – because it really is a radical change in the functionality of Twitter and will continue to have ramifications the effects on the usage of the platform.
Of course, like any good GeekMommy, I’ve done my own tests, research and analysis. And like any other blogger out there, I’m ready and willing to overshare share my findings with you.
Pros and Cons
For the sake of clarity, I’m resorting to ye olde bulletpointed list. It seems that embedding analysis in long paragraphs tends to get the information skimmed and comments pop up that get stuck on misconceptions.
On the Plus Side
I find it good to look for the positives first. After all, tools are created to be useful, right? And if I’m being candid, this tool can be really useful. Used beneficially, I can see where it’s very appealing.
- Sharing Great Resources – Lists make it easier for you to share good resources with someone who isn’t as familiar with the people you follow. If you’re a political wonk and know that 2 dozen people out of the thousands you follow already are the ones to read when it comes to current politics? Making a list for those who wouldn’t know which ones you’d suggest is an awesome tool
- Filtering Your Own View – granted, most people who want or need viewing filters have already switched to a 3rd party application such as Tweetdeck, Tweetgrid or Seesmic that allows them to create groups. But this is built in Twitter integration. The benefit of which is that all of those 3rd party apps will have to incorporate the ability to view Lists, so you don’t have to rebuild your groups if you move from app to app. The groups will now be lists and only have to be built and maintained in one place.
- Viewing Other Peoples’ Filters – Twitter used to have an awesome feature that you could view someone else’s twitterstream the way they saw it. Many of us used this as a good way to find new people to follow – you’d go to a user’s profile that you liked/respected/found interesting, click on the tab that let you see their stream and see what they saw. When that feature went aways it was a loss, because you could no longer put yourself in someone else’s seat. Now, with the ability to follow someone else’s public List, you can regain part of that functionality. Since Lists are currently limited to 500 members though, if the author of the List follows more than 500 people, at best, you can get a partial view. Still, if the List mirrored someone’s “preferred view” you might see what they look at most of the time in one of those apps like Tweetdeck.
- No Commitment – presently, when you follow someone else’s list, you’re simply giving yourself a link to that view, not following any of the list members. Again, it’s more like clicking over to see someone else’s stream than actually adding people to yours. Sort of a try before you buy. You can always click to view the members of the List and follow or unfollow folks from there.
On the Minus Side
- Noble Intentions Are Not the Norm – the potential for abuse/misuse of Lists is high. Let’s be candid, shall we? There will always be people who use something with the best of intentions and there will always be those who use it with the worst of intentions. If the beneficial uses outweigh the destructive ones? Then it’s a good idea. But relying upon people to not abuse something or use it for harm is naive. Let’s talk about how this feature can be abused, shall we?
- yes, this is a real troll lister
1) Negative Lists – it’s all well and good to find yourself on the “Really Smart People” list, it’s not exactly a joy to see your name on the “Stupid Egotistical Ass” list. Sure, we can say that people “shouldn’t care” or “should grow thicker skins” but ’shoulds’ and ‘ares’ are two different things. The truth is that most people are hurt when people say mean things about them. Especially in public. Worse yet? What if that list comes up on the first page of Google? Sure, it’s not supposed to mean anything really – but what happens when the HR person Googling your name comes up with a bunch of links to lists that are vile? Do you really think that impression won’t linger in the back of her mind?
2) Gaming Lists to Swindle the Unwary – for quite some time now, there has been an element on Twitter that has used high “followers” numbers to indicate to potential clients that they were some sort of “social media expert” and the unwary were not clued in to the number of tools that allowed people to ‘game’ that number using loopholes that allowed them to artificially inflate those numbers. Lists will be even easier to game. That the number of lists one is on is shown on a users profile page is a weakness that will be exploited. “I have over 50k followers and am on over 300 Lists for Social Media Experts” is a phrase that we can expect the unwary to hear as they are pitched by these “experts.” How can you game them? Far more easily than getting 50k followers. Each account is able to create up to 20 lists with up to 500 names on the list. Expect to see services that say “join this service and create 20 lists with names of other users and you will be on thousands of lists yourself shortly!” Yes, this will happen. Yes, the knowledgable will discount the influence of number of lists quickly. But just like people still think that number of followers means something as a metric, so too, they will look at number of lists as one.
- Unintentional Hurt or Offense – Chris Brogan covered this thoroughly in his post so I’ll just outline it simply. I know that we’re all supposed to be emotionally secure adults, unaffected by inclusion or exclusion from being put on someone else’s Lists. I know that more than one person is going to comment about that below. But can we drop the pretense? Even the most secure, well adjusted person feels a little twinge of disappointment when s/he isn’t included by someone s/he respects and thinks values them back. Sure, I don’t care what a stranger on the Internet thinks of me – but I sure as heck do care what someone I respect and value thinks of me. If I don’t make your “really awesome cool people” List? I probably won’t say anything, because I’d rather pretend that it was accidental rather than intentional… because finding out that it wasn’t an oversight? That would hurt.
You know what? I don’t want to hurt or offend or exclude anyone I care for. And I know I would. I know that at some point, someone I care about would feel left out or disappointed. I don’t want to be “that gal” – the one who left a dear friend off of the list and didn’t find out until years later that she was hurt but didn’t want to say anything.
- People Are Subjective, Not Objective – so you set out to make a list of “Thought Leaders” in your area. You’re adding people to your list when you realize that @UserX really should be on the list. S/he is generally considered a thought leader after all. But damn it all, you *hate* @UserX! You think s/he is a fraud. You just can’t bring yourself to endorse @UserX. What do you do? Pay lipservice to @UserX and add them? Or leave them off the list knowing full well that you are being less than honest with your list? Tough call, isn’t it. Emotions can and will play a factor in most peoples’ Lists.
- Changing the Twitter Ecosphere – this one I know won’t make a lot of sense immediately, but it will in a couple of months. Lists will change the way people engage on Twitter – and probably not for the better. The ability to follow someone *else’s* list without actually having to commit to anything will change things in the long run. As a new user, I now no longer have to commit to following someone to see them regularly. I can follow a list they are on and read that list whenever I choose. Do you know I’m interested in what you are saying? No. Do I know you exist? Not necessarily. Currently, if you follow me, I get notified. I go and look at your twitterstream and decide if you’re real, not spamming me, and not offensive. If so? I follow you. Now, you follow a list that follows me. You might @ me, I might @ back – but if I click through to your stream and see you aren’t following me? The likelihood I’ll follow you is slim. Have we engaged? Do we have a relationship? Nope, not really. What will this do in the long run? Not sure exactly, but relatively sure that it’s not going to help me connect with new people. The value of Twitter for me has always been in connecting with people and I suspect that value is just about to be diminished.
Well That’s Most of My Story
So honestly, if you made it through all of that (wordier than I intended again) I think you might understand why I am opting out of the whole “List creation” experience. I certainly don’t think it’s “evil” – but I think the negatives outweigh the positives.
I kind of hate the fact that I’m going to have to monitor the Lists people put me on semi-regularly to see whether or not I have to block some trollish attempt to put me on a derogatory list. Every moment that I have to spend doing that is one that I don’t get to interact with people I want to on Twitter. But I’m also not going to wait until Twitter figures out how to monitor their own nifty feature to see that it’s not abused.
I appreciate if you love the positive aspects of Lists. I just hope you now appreciate that there are negative aspects which I doubt Twitter considered when they implemented the feature.
What did I miss? Something positive or negative that hasn’t come up yet?
Add to my perspective please. But if you’re just going to say “people shouldn’t be offended”? Yeah, don’t waste your time. I already addressed that above under Negative Lists.
Consistently Inconsistent
June 10, 2009
If today’s Wednesday, this means I’ve posted 3 days in a row.
Are you back up off of the floor yet? Yeah, I know, it knocked me for a loop too.
I’ve been saying for a very long time now (months really) that I was going to get back in the saddle and start posting regularly. But I think it started being sort of a running joke amongst my friends and a bit of a lie that I told myself so that I could pretend that I wasn’t suffering from blogging burn-out.
Why lie to myself? Well, I think it’s kind of like a mid-life crisis — you don’t want to admit that you’re buying the Porsche and shopping at the hipster clothing stores because you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and it seems you’re a little soft around the middle and crow’s-feetish around the eyes.
I expect I’ll see a large number of my friends over the next couple of years going through it themselves. There’s a point in your blogging career where you have to tell yourself that one post a day is actually sufficient (thank heavens Twitter seems to have helped a lot of folks burn off the excess urges!) and a point where you feel like a day isn’t complete unless you’ve blogged. Then there’s the point where you start wondering if you’re running out of interesting things to say. Then the point where you wonder if anyone would notice if you skipped a day.
And then…
The mid-bloggylife crisis comes when you get to a point where you start arguing with yourself that the reason you aren’t posting today is because you were too busy, too tired, too uninspired, too something… But that you’ll totally post tomorrow. Or maybe Monday. Or maybe you’ll take a hiatus and come back fresh and ready to post. Or maybe it’s just that blog – if you closed it and started a new one…
But the truth is that like anything creative? No matter how much you love doing it – it’s possible to burn yourself out and need recharging. And no amount of resolution or self-deception is going to change that.
So here’s what I did — about a year and a half ago, I closed down multiple blogs I’d had for 7 or more years — claimed this one as my primary blog, and spent all of my time on Twitter.
What’s that? Oh, I spent all of my time on Twitter because it was a different type of creative outlet. A new shiny toy. If I had been a musician instead of a word-chick? Blogging would’ve been my guitar and Twitter would’ve been my side-trip being obsessed by sitar. (If you’re not Beatles obsessed or old enough or to remember? I’m invoking George Harrison here.)
Where am I now?
I think I’m over my burnout. I’m hesitant to say that, because let’s be honest, 3 days in a row does not a regular habit make. But it’s a start. So is admitting that I seem to have rediscovered the joy of writing something that doesn’t limit me to 140 characters and lets me have really in-depth conversations with folks in the comments section.
Okay, so I’m a little squidgy around the middle, and I have “laugh lines” so deep that you have to wonder what the heck is so darn funny. But there’s nothing wrong keeping the Porsche and having a mini-van that sits beside it in the driveway, is there?
Before we get too lost in metaphorland, what I’m trying to say is that I believe I’m back to blogging and twittering at the same time. Yeah, I know that doesn’t seem so amazing to some of you, because you’ve been doing that all along. But I promise to be sympathetic and not tell you “I told you so” when you hit your own mid-bloggylife crises.
After all, sometimes a few months of metaphorical sitar lessons are good for the soul…
Earth Day Twitter Give Away
April 22, 2009
For ONE DAY only, I’ve got a giveaway for all of those twitter addicts checking in.
In honor of Earth Day and thanks to the good folks at Walmart and Brita, I’m giving away a Brita Water Filter to one fast twittering reader.
Contest Details
- Submit your best Green tip for Earth Day on Twitter.com using the hashtags #11MOMSGREEN and #GMContest.
After tweeting please leave the link to your exact tweet in the comment section of this post or it might not be counted.
- (to obtain your url: open your twitter profile, on the giveaway tweet click the time stamp right below “about x mins/hrs ago”, copy the url at the top of the page, paste in the comment section of this post)
- Only one entry per person!
- The giveaway is only good for one day, TODAY April 22, 2009 a.k.a. Earth Day only valid entries received prior to 11:59pm MT will be counted in the drawing.
- Winner will be chosen by random integer generator from random.org
- Winner will receive 1 Brita Water Pitcher
Example: “@GeekMommy My Green Tip is ______________#11MOMSGREEN #GMContest”
Please note: All tips submitted into the contest may be used on Walmart.com.
So You Want to Know Why I Twitter?
April 7, 2009
The other day, I wrote a quick email to someone I’d met at a conference who was still trying to “get” the appeal of Twitter. I realized that from the outside, it’s just a confusing mass of people posting what could seem like endless noise & then telling their friends “it’s so amazing! You would love it if you understood it!”
So what’s to love? Well, I think I broke it down pretty well – so rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I’d post it here. Granted, there’s a little tweaking so it’s more ‘blog friendly.’ But here you go.
The Basics of Twitter’s Appeal
The thing about Twitter is that it’s so powerful as a tool, it’s almost daunting. Because you *can* do so much with it, it’s often hard to know where to start. I liken it a bit to a Swiss Army Knife – the uses are endless – unless you don’t really have a goal in mind, then it’s just a series of complex little do-hickeys that pull out and push back in.
For me, I primarily use Twitter on a number of levels:
1) Networking
2) Information
3) Sharing
4) Socializing
1) Networking — I’ve met so many people via Twitter that I would never have had ‘access to’ under normal working situations. From “A-list” internet folks to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to “celebrities” – people that I couldn’t just walk off the street and say “Oh hi! I want to meet you!” and have that become a reality. Additionally, I’ve found that I have formed bonds with many of these people despite geographic distance.
2) Information – you know that little news ticker at the bottom of CNN? In a way, Twitter is like that for me – only customized. I don’t get repetitive news about something I don’t find important – but rather I get breaking news, industry relevant news (like upcoming conferences!), information that is coming out of a specific conference, information about people and their current experiences. The wealth of information in one place is amazing – but it’s tailored to my interests, because if I don’t think someone provides value? I simply don’t follow them.
3) Sharing - if I’m someplace and someone says something I think should be shared with my network? a few keystrokes and a send and it’s shared. Rather than thinking “oh! I have to remember that so I can tell everyone later” and running up against “how did she say that? I forget” – I’ve already shared it and I can reference it myself later. Anything that I think would be useful, entertaining, or informative? It gets twittered.
4) Socializing – sometimes, it’s more conversational – not necessarily earth-shattering information, or work relevant even. Just touching base with my friends and being social. A lot of people take issue with this use, saying it shouldn’t be used “as a chat room” – my reaction is simply “then don’t use it that way.”
The thing about Twitter is that everyone uses it to the ends that best suit them. A lot of folks will tell you how they think you “should” use it (or shouldn’t) but in the end – it’s always a customized experience.
There’s no right or wrong way to use Twitter – there’s just ‘more effective ways’ to use it to get out of it what you want. This is by no means a comprehensive list of how folks use Twitter to meet their needs – it’s just a simple ‘why I, GeekMommy, find it appealing and worth so much of my time.’
Oops I Didn’t Do It Again
February 2, 2009
Some weeks, I wonder how I got by before the Internet brought all of these interesting, fascinating, and accessible-any-time-day-or-night friends into my life.
Other weeks, I wonder if the reason I can’t blog consistently anymore is that there are too many of them just a Twitter away, waiting to converse with me on any ol’ thing from Superbowl Ads to world politics to whatever falls out of my brain and onto my keyboard.
I really meant to get some quality blogging in sometime in the past week. But life was kind of chaotic with GeekDaddy out of town and Buttercup doing her best to keep my on my toes with illness, sleep deprivation, and general six-year-old related mayhem. So when things did settle down just a little bit? (tonight, at about 8:13pm Mountain time) I just relaxed and didn’t even think about the fact that my blog was starting to get that dusty, disused look about it.
Then I remembered that I have some serious things to blog about… I mean, heck, I’ve got a wicked cool upcoming contest/give-away for Valentine’s Day – and if I get organized, I might have a couple of other ones as well. (This would require me digging through my email inbox and finding all the ones that were nice people wanting to give my readers something fun for the holiday and actually, um, you know… emailing back again and if they’re still willing, post the darn things!) And I’ve had some thoughts on my mind, too. Hey, it happens!
Well, I think I did anyways. These days it seems like I have these great blogposts that are just itching to get written and then I get out of the shower and they melt away like so much soap down the drain. Maybe you guys should just come hang out in my bathroom and I can shout them at you instead? Nah… I know. It’s a small bathroom. And besides, I’m more likely to sing at you than verbally blog.
So then. Tomorrow isn’t just Monday – it’s also Groundhog Day!!!
I was going to have this big surprise on Groundhog Day – but then *cough* it got pushed back – so that one is right out. Maybe I can distract you with this picture of a groundhog… No? Okay, how about reminiscing about how great that Bill Murray movie called Groundhog Day is? Seriously, if I can’t get you with that one – we’re beyond hope. I love that movie.
Alright then – I give up. I’ll start writing content again tomorrow. I mean, after all… if Punxsatawney Phil sees his shadow, we have 6 more weeks of winter. If *I* don’t see my shadow I have 6 more hours of sleep to come up with something more exciting than this post turned out to be.
See ya tomorrow then. Shadow or not.
Please Leave a Message At the Sound of the Tone…
January 5, 2009
“Domo Origato, Mister Roboto…” – Styx
There’s been a bit of hubbub lately about automation on social networks like Twitter. Prominent folks have come out saying how anti-social it is to automate certain functions because it simulates engagement without actually being genuine.
I get dozens of automated Direct Messages (DMs) in my Twitter inbox daily that say something along the lines of “Thanks for following me! yadda-yadda-yadda…” After awhile I was on the band-wagon. “Don’t send me your auto-DMs! I don’t want your free e-book, or a link to your website! Be real!!!”
But I kept seeing these DMs despite the seemingly general sentiment against them. Then I realized something – those calling for the ‘end to the robots’ are also power-users. By power-users, I mean they’re folks who a) are followed by thousands of people and b) follow most of them back.
It’s that following back part that triggers these automated messages. Sent out from a variety of different services, the average user signs in once, sets up a generic “Thanks for following me! yadda-yadda-yadda…” message and doesn’t think twice about it afterwards.
So clearly, there’s a discrepency here: the usage/impression varies depending on how the user interacts on Twitter. If you follow less than one person a day, say maybe 5 a week, and only a couple of them send those messages – the annoyance factor is going to be far less.
That got me started thinking about automation in general. Since I had gotten behind on my own ‘followbacks’ in the month of December (to the tune of about 1500 people!) I turned to a friend of mine who really ‘gets’ thewhole automation thing – Jesse Stay [@jessestay] the creator of SocialToo.com.
The reason I contacted him was that I knew his service offered an option to “automatically follow back” those who followed me. I asked Jesse if that was “from the time I registered” or if there was a way I could retroactively follow all of those people whose notifications were sitting in my inbox, pushing it over 2,000 unread emails.
Jesse told me that he had been working on a premium option (now live) that allowed the user to run a ‘one time’ catch-up script. Was I game? Sure. Because at that kind of number, it would be easier for me to go back through them and unfollow people that I didn’t want to interact with than it would to a) open each email, b) click on the link to their twitter, c) click on the follow button (or not), d) go back to the email, close it and go on to the next. For fifteen-hundred-plus people. So Jesse ran the script for me. About 10 minutes later, what would’ve taken me hours was done.
Do other ‘power-users’ use this automated follow-back? I suspect so. There are some who probably do what I do and try to manually do it every day – but you know what? That’s a lot of time spent just going thru the notifications.
So is some automation good but other automation bad? My analysis? No. It’s how you use it that makes it effective or ineffective. To that end, I wanted to ask Jesse some questions about SocialToo.com and find out a bit more about what he’s done and why.
Here’s that Interview
GeekMommy: Jesse, I hope you don’t mind if I write about the fact that I turned to you for help with the automated following.
Jesse: That’s no problem – I’m probably going to turn that into a one-time payment, or possibly donation tonight or tomorrow as a new feature on the site if others would like that. I’m thinking maybe $15-$20 to turn that on once, but I may just make it a donation. (Note: the service is presently live at a one time fee of $5 on the SocialToo site ~GM)
GM: Your script took literally *days* off of my timeline for that. After the script ran, I went back through my following list and pared it down a bit based on whether or not people were following/engaging with me and also if they were spammy or scary – and I still had to go thru 348 pages of following folks on Twitter for that!
Jesse: I’m glad it could help. That’s why we started this – there were too many time-consuming tasks like that, and as Twitter grows that will only get worse.
GM: I really think that people are mistaking the tools for the issue. Anyone can use automation – but how they use it may or may not ‘work’ for someone else.
Jesse: Exactly. My goal is to try and satisfy those for automation, and those against automation, too. If you don’t like the auto-dms people send you, we’ll provide an option for that as well (I should note that I currently have a beta feature turned on for just my account that disables socialtoo-generated DMs from being sent to me.) Many, if not most people I hear from don’t mind them. Most of those people also aren’t following 4,000 people. We all have different circumstances, and should be able to control the way we use the service, and enhance the relationships we have as we use it.
GM: To me, the real issue with DMs is that they shouldn’t be tied to following. Just because I read your blog doesn’t mean I want to give you my home phone number too…. Likewise, just because I’d like you to have my home phone doesn’t mean I’m interested in reading your blog… The issue lies with Twitter, not with automation.
Jesse: Very true – I’ve got a post I’ve been meaning to write about this as well. Twitter relationships are broken. On Facebook, if I want to be your friend and follow your updates, you have to approve me doing so, and vice-versa. Once you approve me, there is a mutual relationship there, and both can know that they can see and follow each others updates if they choose. It’s built into the system. Then, Facebook has built in Friend lists and privacy filters to control what you want to see amongst those you have agreed to be friends with. Twitter gives no protection to users – relationships can be one-way, which IMO hurts the network. People can follow me but there’s no guarantee I’m listening, or even have the chance of listening down the road.
Then again, some people like that, and that’s how they use the service. There’s no wrong or right way to use the service – this is just my perception.
GM: That said, automation is a good tool used effectively. Ask anyone complaining about it if they have voicemail or not?
Jesse: Twitter itself is an automated tool – I don’t see people criticizing Twitter. These are all tools, and they’re built to give you flexibility to build the strongest relationships you can, and retain those relationships. I call it Relationship Metrics – the tracking of those you follow, and those that follow you, and finding ways to retain those followers and build strong relationships with them. The more people you can build a strong relationship with, the more “authoritative” (for lack of a better term) you can become.
GM: What made you decided to start SocialToo.com? Was it more a matter of wanting certain functions yourself and making them available for others, or of seeing people ask for something and fulfulling that niche? (or something else entirely!)
Jesse: It was a combination of the two. I don’t ever like to do things manually that could be automated. I was already manually following everyone who followed me on Twitter – I like to solidify the relationships of people that are interested in me. It’s just my policy, and it’s important to me. At the same time I wanted a way I could choose not to follow certain people. I believe it was Chris Pirillo [@chrispirillo] that mentioned he wanted a way to follow those that were following him on Twitter automatically, so I wrote a script for him to run on his servers (or Mac – not sure which). I ran the script for myself as well, and I built blacklisting functionality into it so I could exclude spammers and the like from being followed if I didn’t want to follow certain accounts.
Then, after following Guy Kawasaki [@guykawasaki], I noticed when he asked for the same functionality. I offered him my script, but quickly realized not everyone was going to be able to set up my script, and setting it up for them would require me asking for their Twitter credentials in person, which I really didn’t want to do. So I wrote a UI (user interface) around the script, put a database on the backend, and enabled it to support multiple users, allowing them to enter their own Twitter credentials in so I didn’t have to see them. And that was the beginning of SocialToo.com – I believe this was around April or May of this year.
Chris Pirillo also gave me some great advice as we were building it (along with Ponzi [@ponzarelli]) contributing to the auto-unfollow capability. Guy then later approached me with an idea about creating surveys you could Tweet to your friends, in similar manner to TwitPic, but for surveys and polls. I gave him some ownership of SocialToo, we built it out, and launched all features of SocialToo, officially to the public in November.
TechCrunch featured a survey Guy posted on our first day of launch, and we knew it was an instant hit. In just a month we have garnered near 5,000 subscribers on the service, and I expect that to at least triple in the next month.
GM: Do you foresee premium services down the line?
Jesse: Yes, we will be building on a Freemium model. The base features that are currently there should remain free. Our target market is small to even large businesses that want to better track the relationships of people that follow them on the social networks they belong to. We’re establishing a new concept I call “relationship metrics”, which tracks statistics around the relationships you create, along with another concept I call “relationship retainment”, helping you to retain the relationships you build. We’ll provide premium features on top of an already rich feature-set that will support these concepts.
GM: You managed a function for me by running a script that followed back for me over 1500 people in a matter of minutes – do you plan on offering something similar to users down the line? What about a script that does the opposite – unfollowing everyone for someone so that they could ’start over’ on their follow lists?
Jesse: Unfollowing *everyone* is a novel idea – I’ll think about that one, but I could certainly imagine that being a feature. To answer to the function we ran for you, the answer is yes, and hopefully in the next couple days. There is a chance that will be a one-time pay feature*, or perhaps at least a donation of some sort. We’re a completely bootstrapped company, so I’m very eager to start monetizing some of this! A family of 6 is not easy to support as an entrepreneur! (*again, this feature has been implemented since our interview, for a small one time fee of $5 ~GM)
GM: What are your plans for SocialToo.com in 2009?
Jesse: Expect some interesting partnerships with other products and services. I’m not going to say what right now, but we’re going to be launching some unique services that will make these partnerships much easier, and will provide a wealth of information for other products and services. Expect some interesting monetization strategies – in particular around the SocialSurveys themselves. There will always be a free option, very similar to what we provide now, but I have some ideas that could be win-win for our users and us as a company.
My hope is, as we become profitable, to hire several more people and build out the statistics much more than they are currently. I’d also like a much more solid and feature-rich Survey product. There will also be several new products released – remember, our goal is to be your “companion to the social web”. Whatever we can do to further complement your experience on the social networks you belong to, we’ll be working to do so.
Oh, and Twitter will not be our only focus. Very shortly, as soon as we solidify our focus around Twitter, we’ll be expanding features around the other networks we support (Facebook and Identi.ca), along with some new networks we haven’t yet announced. Keep an eye out for that, as I think that is what will make this service very powerful.
GM: How do you deal with people who are saying that “automation” or “robots” don’t have a place on Twitter?
Jesse: Those people are right, based on the way they use the service. People that don’t mind “automation” or “robots” are also right. Personally, I don’t enable auto-dm (except when I’m testing new features, which is happening currently) for my personal account [@JesseStay]. At the same time, I think it’s appropriate to auto-dm for our company’s @socialtoo account. We thank them for joining SocialToo and tell them how to contact us. I don’t think that’s any different than an auto-responder for new subscriptions to any new service. We’re just doing it through Twitter.
Some people have thousands of followers however. Getting a new auto-dm every minute gets annoying, especially when many of them are generic and meaningless. It’s my intention to provide solutions around this as well – our goal is to stay flexible enough to where we can satisfy the way multiple types of users use these Social Networks. For instance, I’m testing a feature right now which we may or may not release, in which you can opt to not receive SocialToo-generated auto-dms. That may or may not be released, but it shows that I am aware of the other opinion. We’re also working on better ways to make the auto-dms much more personal, and more real. For instance, I’ve found when you mention a person’s real name in the dm they are many times more likely to start conversation with you, and appreciate the message. People should have choices, depending on the way they use Twitter. At the same time we all have a responsibility to be responsible, and considerate of different types of users that may be overwhelmed by such features. There’s no wrong or right way to use these services.
There’s no wrong or right way to use these services… How many times have I said that? Yes, I have my preferences too – but in the end, telling someone else that how they use a service is “wrong” because it’s not how you do it? Is like telling them that they should like spinach because you do and they shouldn’t like kumquats because you don’t. Automation isn’t the end of the social aspect of networks like Twitter – used correctly, it’s something that just gets us to the socializing faster.
After talking to Jesse, I changed my policy. I now have an auto-DM set up – it says “Nice to meet you <<firstname>>. This *is* an automated message, but only to say I will check out your Twitter shortly” because I’m all about transparency. I’m not going to pretend it’s not an automated message – any more than I pretend that you’re talking to me when you reach my voicemail. But I do think it’s nice to acknowledge to someone that I’m not just going to ignore them just because I’m not online 24 hours a day.
Am I using the auto-follow feature of SocialToo right now? No, I’m back to my old methods of adding manually. Which means I need to quit writing this and get to back to my inbox. Thanks for reading (if you did) this lengthy post. I really think we’ll see people adapt to the automation tools the same way we have to voicemail and call-waiting… but until then, we may have to slog through a few unwanted DMs.
Even a Chatterbox like Me Listens…
November 22, 2008
Okay, you’re probably reading that headline and thinking: ‘Chatterbox? GeekMommy, you hardly post regularly let alone frequently!’ and if we’re talking about this blog, well, guilty as charged. I’m trying to remedy that. But that last post of mine hit such a nerve that I was a little afraid about what to follow it up with. So I’ve been sort of, well hiding procrastinating. Waiting for the right escape route motivation.
But back to that chatterbox thing. Yeah, I was checking my stats over on Twitter tonight using Tweetstats and realized that even though I’ve toned it down a notch, I’m still one of the noisiest birds on the block over there.
Then one of the people I read and heed the most when it comes to anything on Social Media, Chris Brogan [@chrisbrogan] posted this brilliant piece on where to start if you are just getting in to the whole Social Mediasphere – If I Started Today.
How I wish that piece had been around when I first started trying to figure it out! It’s kind of like a shortcut on bypassing the early, awkward stages and getting right up to on-ramp speed.
But at the end of the, as he usually does, Chris asked for input from his community. Since I happened to be up right as he twittered it (who me? insomnia? nahhh) I noticed that he had left out the thing that I consider the most important part of learning how Social Media works – Listening.
It doesn’t surprise me that Chris forgot to add it initially – I think he does it so naturally it’s like breathing with him. Surprisingly, a lot of people jumping on the Social Media bandwagon these days think it’s more about being heard and don’t understand the power of listening. But Chris and pretty much everyone else I’ve learned from* over the past 18 months sure gets it. Listening is key.
Sometimes, because I’m so chatty (or noisy as some would say) people make the mistake of thinking I’m not listening. Then I end up repeating something back to them they said a few hours or weeks earlier and they seem stunned. You see, as much as I love to talk, share and inform, well… I love learning even more. You learn from listening, observing, and paying attention.
Granted, sometimes when I get excited about something you pretty much have to use a crowbar to get a word in edgewise – but rest assured, when you do get that word in? I’m actually listening to you, not just planning out what I will say next.
And that’s the most important advice I would give anyone wanting to know how to start in Social Media. Listen. Read. Get the rhythm of the conversation going on around you. That way when you start talking? You’ll have something really worth hearing.
Speaking of what you have to say? I’m listening!
*I’d list all of those folks I learn from but we’d be here forever – however, that is totally fodder for another post… hm. ~GM
Tweet like a Nightingale, Not like a Magpie
November 19, 2008
I spend a lot of time on Twitter. More than I spend just about anywhere else on the Internet. Over the past year and a half, Twitter has become more of a home to me on the web than any place before it ever has. Last January, Laura Fitton (@Pistachio) posted a blog called Twitter is my Village that sums it up beautifully. Twitter has a vibrant community – and a vocal one.
If something happens in the offline world, odds are good I can find more information about it, faster, on Twitter than I can by searching other sources or turning on the television. Whether it’s natural disasters or breaking news, somone on Twitter is posting about it. The same goes for online events too. No one who uses it regularly would dispute that.
So when something comes along to impact my Twitter village, be it positive or negative – or even as yet undetermined – I check it out as quickly as I can.
About a month ago, someone mentioned Magpie. So I did what you probably did if you haven’t checked it out already and followed the link to see what it was.
The short story is that Magpie is a 3rd party service, unaffiliated with Twitter, that pays people to allow them to insert advertising tweets into their twitterstream. The user gets to determine frequency. The default is 1 magpie ad for every 5 normal tweets. This can be adjusted up as high as 1 for every 20, or as frequently as every other tweet. The user gets paid based on 2 things – desirable keyword frequency and number of followers. Because of that second one, Magpie cautions potential tweeters “So keep your followers happy and don’t risk annoying them with too many magpie-tweets.”
In today’s pressing economy, that probably sounds really appealing. I mean, earn money just by doing what you do anyways? Cool!
But if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
One of the things that sounds really appealing is the amount of money that Magpie promises if you sign up. You go to the signup page and it says to put in your Twitter ID to see how much you can earn. I put in GeekMommy and wow!! For those of you not used to thinking in Euros – I did the conversion. It says I can make up to $9,539.45 a month!! That’s up to $114,473 a year! I should quit my day job and just be a magpie!
Yeah. Right.
Still… even if I made a fraction of that, it might seem tempting. I mean, I’m not independently wealthy and my 401k is just as unhealthy as everyone else’s.
The thing is, what I realized as soon as I saw it was the part of it where the user controls how frequently s/he lets Magpie put tweets in their timestream – but that there’s no way for me to turn the volume down as someone who follows these people. I have only two settings – on or off. I can follow or unfollow. Those are my choices.
If hundreds of the Twitterpals I’m following are using Magpie, even if they only set it to one every 20, that doesn’t keep me from seeing hundreds in a row. Potentially, thousands, since I currently follow 4,000+ people.
I find a picture is worth a thousand words in this case.
If logging in to twitter to see page after page of this in hopes of coming across a non-Magpie tweet were my fate, this would leave me with 2 options: quit following those people, or quit using Twitter and go to another microblogging platform.
I was trying to explain to someone else that it’s the metaphorical equivalent of being told that I might have to watch an hour’s worth of commercials on TV before I’m allowed to watch part of the show I want to see and even then, there’s nothing that says I won’t get 5 minutes into the show and be subjected to another 30 minutes worth of commercials. I’d either switch networks or quit watching television.
So what am I seeing? My village is divided. Some are taking Magpie for a ride – thinking “hey, it’s only once every few tweets” and some (like me) are unfollowing those who are using Magpie. It reminds me of a small town council fighting over whether or not you should put advertising on your barn.
I’ve been rather a rather vocal opponent. But that’s because I can only see that in the long-term, this monetization scheme will change how I use Twitter. Because if I follow those using Magpie, I won’t be able to just sign on and find out more about those wildfires in California, or who Obama chose for Secretary of State – not without wading through the ads. If I unfollow those using it, the benefit of twitter definitely decreases for me.
And you? What do you think? Is it a good thing and I’m just over-reacting? Or is it something you see as a negative trend? Weigh in. I’m listening.
N.B. It has been pointed out to me more than once that I misspelled nightingale in the title – apparently, I tweet like Florence Nightengale, not a songbird! I’d change it, but that would break any links to it, so I’m afraid it stays a testament to mommy-brain! NEW: according to friends in my comments, the new WP plugin I added should fix that, so changing title to correct spelling.
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