Encore: Connect Don't Collect

This is Social Media, Right?

I’m not a shopper but once in a while I get the urge to venture out for that item I’ve researched about online. I used to buy a lot of music and I would lose an afternoon flipping through thousands of vinyl albums ending the outing with a handful of new treasures.

I try to do this at least once a week. I like to find out more about these people who followed me back and see why we’re connected.

Just stop writing on a wall or tweeting for a moment and read some profiles, click on a few websites, allow yourself the fun ride of learning more about those around you. Then go back to home base and click through another profile.

The Power of Us

I have lost count the number of people who ask me “what are you up to lately” while it is explained in one form or another on over twenty social media profiles. They simply didn’t take a moment to find out for themselves. And I'm guilty of doing the same.

Take the time to find out the magic that may be behind those associations. Sift through someone’s pages, discover how they portray themselves online and you may even get a business idea or two. You may even want to contact them in person.

Connecting at the Speed of Light

Find a moment and move outside of your tight circle of real friends and examine what others are up to and you will discover some very cool people. You may even lose track of time doing something fun.

There is endless chatter about sustained engagement and two-way conversations but are we really doing it? Pick five people in your network whom you don't converse with on a regular basis and get to know them. Collecting all those albums was a pointless exercise if I didn't listen to the music.

Stop and look through their profile, visit their website and read their bio. You will meet some interesting people you didn't know you already knew.

Kneale Mann

image credit: letstravel
originally posted: October 2010

Facebook Goes For Gold

Looks good 'on paper'

The news hit just as the last morsels of Holiday over indulgence was digesting.

Goldman Sachs earmarked $450 million for their top private clients to invest in Facebook. The social networking juggernaut is currently "valued" at $50 Billion. This would just about get them into the Fortune 100 save one itsy bitsy issue - actual revenue.

This was not something new to the world of VC and high-tech.

During the heady days of 1995-2000, billions were made and lost on paper in some cases in a matter of hours. The dot-com boom bubble bust caused stock speculation
to go off the charts.

Simply by owning a sexy website address, guys in basements were suddenly living the high life in posh offices in Manhattan. The problem was that most had no ability to make actual money on any actual product or service. This is not unlike the vast majority of start-ups today that have the coolest neato gadget solution for something we don’t even know we need. Many embrace the strategy that Google will eventually buy them.

But we’ve learned our lesson, right?  

Dot-com billionaires continue to live among those who lost their shirts before even owning a shirt because there wasn’t a shirt in the first place. The wasteland of marble floored office complexes and Herman Miller chaired boardrooms collected dust faster than they could collect revenue.

Despite the ever increasing appetite for online social networking, many are looking at the Facebook | Goldman Sachs relationship cautiously and with significant concern.
If a website lost its speculated net worth in a matter of days during the dot-com bust, even the almighty Facebook can falter under its hoodie laden wonderkind.

Person of the Year

Facebook CEO and 24% shareholder Mark Zuckerberg saw his bottom line almost double in 24 hours. His estimated personal wealth is in the $15 Billion range.  All the while, tech investors continue to hope for a Facebook IPO and it is doubtful Goldman Sachs will be waiting patiently.

What are you thoughts?

knealemann | email

image credit: googleimages

Re-posted on social media today

Connect Don't Collect

Have you ever done something so fun 
that you’ve lost track of time?

I’m not a shopper but once in a while I get the urge to venture out for that item I’ve researched about online. 

I used to buy a lot of music and I would lose an afternoon flipping through thousands of vinyl albums ending the outing with a handful of new treasures.  

This is SOCIAL media, right?

I did that online this morning except it wasn’t music shopping, it was profile reading. I try to do this at least once a week. There’s no sense collecting friends, followers and connections like dusty trinkets on a mantle, I like to find out more about these people who followed me back and see why we’re connected.

Just stop writing on a wall or tweeting for a moment and read some profiles, click on a few websites, allow yourself the fun ride of learning more about those around you. Then go back to home base and click through another profile.

The Power of Us

I have lost count the number of people who ask me “what are you up to lately” while it is explained in one form or another on over twenty social media profiles. They simply didn’t take a moment to find out for themselves. And I'm guilty of doing the same.

We are connecting at the speed of light, clicking and following in an instant. 

Take the time to find out the magic that may be behind those associations. Sift through someone’s pages, discover how they portray themselves online and you may even get a business idea or two. You may even want to contact them in person. Shocking!

Find a moment and move outside of your tight circle of real friends and examine what others are up to and you will discover some very cool people. You may even lose track of time doing something fun.  

There is endless chatter about sustained engagement and two-way conversations but are we really doing it? Pick five people in your network whom you don't converse with on a regular basis and get to know them.

Collecting all those albums was a pointless exercise if I didn't listen to the music. 

Stop and look through their profile, visit their website and read their bio. You will meet some interesting people you didn't know you knew. 

Are you ready to discover who’s out there?

knealemann

image credit:  flyphonic

Social Media: A Twelve-Step Program

Change Takes Time.

Our humanness can work against us. We make mistakes, none of is perfect yet we expect it of others.

We get a new thing and expect it to be perfect every time.

Amber Naslund wrote a great piece recently about how we are quick to complain while our desire grows for business to embrace the social web.

We ask that companies become more inclusive, interactive and social yet we are fast on the send button the moment there is a slip up. If the gadget we first heard about a week ago does not perform to our highest standards of excellence, we say it’s a failure.

And we do that to ourselves.

This has become even more prevalent in the social channels many of us spend time navigating. We look around and see confidence and we don’t know if we can live up to that scrutiny.

If you have gone through, going through or know someone going through a twelve-step program, you know it requires time, work and dedication.

Here are twelve steps to enhance our online experience...

• Ask a lot of questions.
• Recognize that our information is ours to protect and grow.
• Know that our voice is just as important as anyone else’s voice.
• Grasp that others' opinions are just their opinions.
• Have patience.
• Understand there is no one way of doing it.
• Accept we are all just trying to figure it out.
• Acknowledge that we have to work at it every day.
• Trust our instincts.
• Agree that our expertise is just as vital as anyone's expertise.
• Recognize it takes time for others to get to know us.
• Comprehend we are not too late to join the conversation or start a new one.

What would you add to the list?

knealemann
Let's create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: no12cirencester

Privacy | Real or Imagined?

The quality of being apart from company or observation.
Merriam-Webster

If you ever go shopping, enter a bank, drive on a road, walk down a street or sit in a restaurant, you are giving up your privacy.

Not only can others observe your actions but you may actually be on camera.

We are being photographed and filmed dozens of times every day from almost the moment we leave our home.

But most of us don't give it much thought. It is a way of life and since no one will do anything sinister with the information, we seem to be okay with it.

Privacy is dead and social media hold the smoking gun.
Pete Cashmore | Mashable

If you are on a social networking site, your information could also be stored on hundreds of other external sites and applications in virtually any language without your knowledge. That means your information could be available to the more than 1.8 billion people around the world who are online. And you should assume that’s the case.

One example is Facebook Places.

If you don't want that activated, go to account settings, notifications, scroll down to places and un-click the boxes. If you haven't changed your privacy settings in the last few weeks, it is currently activated and Facebook didn't ask if it was okay with you.

One way to monitor yourself online is to set up Google Alerts on whatever phrase you want and you will get a daily email with the results.

Another is to ensure you register your name domain if you can get it. You don’t have to build a website but you should reserve that piece of real estate before someone else does it.

The ability to seclude and reveal selectively.
Wikipedia

The U.S. Army has one of the most extensive digital engagement policies around and one line says it all – you are always on the record. Know that, understand that, grasp that and you won’t be surprised if your information is shared – with everyone.

It is also a good idea to review all of your profiles once a month to ensure nothing weird is going on. And do a vanity search on your name regularly to see what may be out there with your name on it.

The state of retirement or free from intrusion.
Dictionary.com

You can triple bolt your front door and never leave the house, but as soon as you step where others hang out – on or offline - you may be watched.

I didn't even begin to discuss the latest wave of location based sites which will continue to multiply. Yeah, I have some work to do.

So does privacy still exist?

knealemann
Create experiences not campaigns.

image credit: bbc