Be Available

Social media means different things to different people – and there are various difference scenes and circles in the landscape.

I think that “being available” is all that is needed to a mommyblogger / Twitter Whore (or “conversations and communities”) type of social media user…. and it is important part of the social media equation. Being available can be very trivial and time consuming if you've got serious product to push, and tons of code and content that require your focused attention.

The people I regard as powerful, top gun social media influencers (i.e., Maki @ DoshDosh) are brilliant minds who produce and/or consistently discover amazing content and memes that spread all over the Web. They succinctly graph and define this new media territory for the rest of us, and they consciously push the culture and standards to the next level. I want to figure out how they do it. This fall I am launching a blog called “Social Media Rockstar”… to explore the characteristics and best practices of powerful social media users from all the different tribes. Check it.

I think you have missed the point here. The reality is that as a BEST
PRACTICE, social media folks need to be available. There are many ways
to be available, I have decided that I would prefer to be physically
available. I dont hide behind a screen name, I dont pick and choose
what I put forth. I provide it all, always. Does it take time, of
course it does.

You live in a world of SEO and find the SEO experts interesting. I
have no idea who DoshDosh is or the “amazing content and memes”
created. Does that mean he is not an influencer? No, but at the end of
the day, arent your “rockstars” making themselves available through
Twitter, through content, through concepts and ideas?

How can one be social, if one is not available for interaction?

What, no link to me? Bah!

In all seriousness, this being available thing…it's nothing new. But it's new to people who grew up on the idea of being an avatar/screen name/handle/identity other than their own. Blame AOL. Blame the movie Hackers.

I'm being serious.

Most of the successful people in Internet-land have been “available” and operating under their real names for years, because that's…what you do. I “grew up” in the Linux/Free Software/Open Source culture where your real name was essential to being part of the “web of trust.” My PGP key is out there somewhere, signed by people I've met in real life, albeit years ago.

Putting your phone number out there is nothing new. Search for my name and you'll find phone numbers and pager numbers that would have reached me as far back as 1999.

I used to be the top google hit for Andrew Feinberg. I haven't been for a few years now since there are a few doctors and CEOs who share the name, but I'm pretty high up.

And I did it without SEO, and have been available the entire time.

I live in a social media world and I find “social media experts” interesting. There's a lot of people who claim that title, and it means very different things to different people… as you touched on in a blog a few weeks ago.

I think there's a “social” side to social media, and there's a “media” part of it. I think you have to be good at both to be a serious player. I think being available is very important… but it's not “all”…

Some people don't work on many projects and they just sit around all day and are totally available.. typing random thoughts into Twitter, sharing what they had for breakfast or other personal rants on their blog, being warm to everyone who interacts with them. These people are so darn “available” that they amass attention and some degree of influence… getting thousands of Twitter followers, etc.

But I don't think they have much to offer the social media sphere and they ultimately aren't that powerful…

I think the people who are most powerful are the people who WRITE the top news and content stories, CODE the apps / blog themes / tools , and the people with the advanced information consumption and processing skills (and social connections) to FIND news and break it to the right people (like TechCrunch newsroom gurus or the top Digg mavens),

all that takes a lotta skillz + creativity + brain power…. More than just being available.. although being available never hurts.

p.s. I'm not trying to diss your contribution to the social media best practices tag game, I just get irritated with some very visible and “available” people who seem to have virtually nothing to say / add / share to the social media universe other then their own noise, smiley faces and grumbles.

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You hit it dead on!

Exceptional brands deliver a brand experience beyond their basic product offering. How? They listen…they respond (they make themselves available). If you want to deliver a better brand experience, you have to be responsive…you have to be engaging…you have to be “available.”

You hit it dead on!

Exceptional brands deliver a brand experience beyond their basic product offering. How? They listen…they respond (they make themselves available). If you want to deliver a better brand experience, you have to be responsive…you have to be engaging…you have to be “available.”