Shouting Into a Crowded Stadium

We either tout or pan Social Media, but one thing is for sure, we are always talking about it — on Social Media.

What bothers me most about SM is that it is in no way what it’s purported to be . . . a bunch of us chatting and sharing our thoughts. It is many people shouting at each other, not so much in anger, but thinking we need to do that to be heard. Voices, voices, voices.

I think the first recognition is that you likely have two types of followers: your true followers, who listen to what you have to say and want to interact with you — perhaps 1% of your audience — and those who are are following you because they get something from you. The former are like friends you have in the real world, and the latter are more like people you would shy away from — they take but never give.

Ask the takers for something . . . nada. Ask your following friends for something; an opinion, a suggestion, a warm word . . . something comes back.

Why is this important? Because we tend to think that “with all those people out there, there must be someone who can . . . . “Not so fast, buddy — now you’re annoying me”. I call this “shouting into a crowded stadium” .

So if you are looking for a receptive audience in SM, you had better be into porn, political craziness, or vicious rumor. Believe me, I’m not pushing sour grapes because I’ve been on SM for over ten years and I have tons of followers. I have over 11 thousand on Twitter and over 9 thousand on LinkedIn — I will not…