Amen to that…

Micha, I am new to Social Media and have had a difficult time trying to figure out what attracted me to Twitter and at the same time made me feel so frustrated. You have put a name to my frustration and it is called “narcissism.” I also saw Twitter as being cliquish. I did not think about the “Pecking Order” aspect of society.. Am not sure if I will be staying in Twitter.

I asked a fellow Twitterer why no one seemed willing to stop for a moment and give me some direction…He stated, “Look how much your asking and your not bring anything to the table for leverage,”

I stated yesterday in a Tweet…”Social Media is difficult…I feel like a shiny metal ball inside of a Pin Ball Machine. Words are uttered but are they heard?”

I do have a blog and a website that is primarily dedicated to both humanitarian and women's issues. I did not list it on my profile because my heart is in my work…I wanted to test the waters in the Twitter Village first.

All I can say is how sad…
How sad for us!
Such a brilliant vehicle devoid for the most part of the finer most treasured qualities of human nature…Mentor-ship, empathy, charity, compassion, unselfishness, selflessness,on and on.

When I first started Tweeting I would say….”Farmer in Africa needs seen-Mill in USA has surplus-Fed X will deliver-Astute Twitter user makes it happen!! Wish this is what made Twitter's wheels turn.

Thank you for sharing your insights Micah, you remind me so much of my brother.

Be Blessed and good writing!!

Amen to that…

Micha, I am new to Social Media and have had a difficult time trying to figure out what attracted me to Twitter and at the same time made me feel so frustrated. You have put a name to my frustration and it is called “narcissism.” I also saw Twitter as being cliquish. I did not think about the “Pecking Order” aspect of society.. Am not sure if I will be staying in Twitter.

I asked a fellow Twitterer why no one seemed willing to stop for a moment and give me some direction…He stated, “Look how much your asking and your not bring anything to the table for leverage,”

I stated yesterday in a Tweet…”Social Media is difficult…I feel like a shiny metal ball inside of a Pin Ball Machine. Words are uttered but are they heard?”

I do have a blog and a website that is primarily dedicated to both humanitarian and women's issues. I did not list it on my profile because my heart is in my work…I wanted to test the waters in the Twitter Village first.

All I can say is how sad…
How sad for us!
Such a brilliant vehicle devoid for the most part of the finer most treasured qualities of human nature…Mentor-ship, empathy, charity, compassion, unselfishness, selflessness,on and on.

When I first started Tweeting I would say….”Farmer in Africa needs seen-Mill in USA has surplus-Fed X will deliver-Astute Twitter user makes it happen!! Wish this is what made Twitter's wheels turn.

Thank you for sharing your insights Micah, you remind me so much of my brother.

Be Blessed and good writing!!

I think you could also track a similar history for blogs. First, blogs where used to share ideas – but over a similar timeline, blogs also become tools of individuals and businesses to position and market themselves. I guess a key difference is that blogs are whatever the author makes them to be – but online communities are supposed to be *communities.*

It seems that many people retreat to online communities because of the
ability to “be who they want to be,” or to “reinvent” themselves. They
build “personal brands.” Marketers enter these online communities to
pitch brands and products. How can that reality be real? You have
members of an online community that are effectively being something
they arent, being sold things based on emotion and false representation?

And when the status given online is attempted to be transferred
offline, its causes disruption in the offline community. Leading to
the destruction–or at the bare minimum, damage–to that offline
community.

But, my point is still valid. Much like SEO drove web design (and in
many ways destroyed web design), social media drives online community
involvement, but not enrichment. In fact, because these online
interactions create almost a class system, with the “elite” and the
“not so elite,” the community no longer exists to improve itself, but
rather for the benefit of the few.

And, while social media does lead to many more one-to-one interactions
offline, it certainly doesnt improve offline communities.

Would I have met people (like you) that have improved my life without
social media? Of course not…but has social media improved my
community? Minimally at best.

In addition, the effort to save Podango isnt an example of the “power
of the community” rather its an example of the effectiveness of tools
like Twitter and other social media to accelerate the dissemination of
information and speed communication.

The injection of marketing into online social communities have
destroyed those communities. (yes, I know they are businesses. Yes, I
know that marketers have done this for years.) Twitter has become a
place where more often than not, people are shrilling their products,
or “building their brands.”

But, more importantly is the transition of online “brand equity” to
the offline world. The assumption that one has social standing in his
real community because of the standing provided online is how social
media is destroying community. Not only online, but offline.

A common counter-argument would be the “tweetup” where “offline and
online meet.” But, those events come with pre-selected social order.
They are not examples of community. They are examples, again, of the
ability of twitter and similar social media tools to facilitate the
dissemination of information and speed communication, which as a tool,
is fantastic, but as a community builder extremely poor.

I certainly dont need a “pick me up” (although I appreciate the
attempt). This is simply my observations of the negative side of
social media.

However, one person's trash is another's treasure, as the saying goes. I have found that if I am on the outside of the community I was a lot less tolerant of what appeared to be idle chatter. What I found was that by observing the idle exchanges people did have meaningful exchanges. As such, I am much more tolerant of what at first might appear to be idle chatter.

In support of you point on using followers as currency, I would say this is prevalent – and natural. Humans almost always seek ways in which to value things. It is some unspoken rule that helps establish dominance or subservience – who should lead and who should follow. Many held to the belief the Web would allow a break from human behavior, but how can it when human's built it?

My point is simply that cyberspace echoes life, and this should not surprise. However, what it can help us take one step away from prejudice; not a total departure mind you. And so it is that while one form of community is indeed dead, another better community is being formed. What social media must now endeavor to do is reduce the barrier to entry for the 'normal' person – enticing them to stay – not trying to weed them out. MySpace and Facebook are accomplishing this in the grander scheme of things – whereas services like FriendFeed, Twitter, and Plurk still have an element of artificially valuing the participants.

In other words, my use of Facebook is passive (for the most part). I do not attempt to exert myself, and as such my network is fairly small – reserved for people I actually know in the offline world. Whereas I make a much more exerted effort on FriendFeed to participate – which has paid off with some of the most interesting content. When Twitter became more fun for me was when I quit caring about who I was following or who was following me – I simply existed, consumed, and interacted at my discretion. FriendFeed and blogging, in general, become the most fun when I quit caring so much about how often and what time of day I was saying something. I now relish the content my “friends” are publishing because it helps educate me.

Thus, a community has formed that I am a small part of… happily consuming content and hopefully offering my small part of contribution.

Again, this was a very insightful post, and has given me much food for thought. Thank you.

Back in '04, I naively signed up for a MySpazz account on the suggestion of my ex-fiance (that should have been an indication to run away right there). It was a tough time for me. My mother was dying, and I was increasingly isolated from my “real life” friends and life due to the strains of caring for her alone. Late at night, I would get online and try to find like-minded people. Occasionally, I'd write a light-hearted blog. Until my mother actually died, few online “friends” had any clue what I had just been through. I started writing a real blog after that…an open diary that I started as a way of working through my crap…later, it became my way of continuing to talk to friends–and even a way to talk to my mother. Putting stuff out there, in the universe, was important for me–given my past of not being open to anyone. In any case, I got a lot of attention on MySpace. Too much attention. People I didn't know would recognize me in the neighborhood. I had stalkers–including that old ex. It was creepy. So, I went private and started cutting back on what I shared. Earlier this year, I shut down for good because people were just plain awful after a while–misrepresenting themselves and being completely ridiculous. I took some time away from all social media, then opened a twitter account. I stayed because I could get back to just doing it for me. The social part was secondary. I have made some connections there, but how deep do they go? I dunno. I also started my own blog. Surprisingly, and sadly, most of the people who read my blog on MySpace, did not follow me there–though they still proclaimed to be such dear friends and to love my writing. The reality is that they didn't care about me at all. I was just another attraction of a silly site and a way for them to waste time without being too inconvenienced.

In many ways, I love the potential of social media. It's true–you can meet just about anyone. You can connect. But I've found that most people aren't that honest online. They omit things…more things than people do when it's face-to-face. “Real life” has accountability built in. Online communities usually don't. It's pretty easy to leave anonymous comments or hide behind fake names. You can be anyone at all. Who knows what's real and what's not. It's hard to rely on people and trust them unless you've spent a lot of face-to-face time with them–and even then, there isn't any guarantees.

I'm really cautious now about who I let into my “real” life. I might joke with them or converse with them, but there is a certain wall I've built to insulate myself. I met my boyfriend from an online connection, but our relationship developed offline. It was just a tool for us to meet. As for friendships, none of the people I was close to–who I met on MySpace–are still friends. Mostly, I think they never made it to real life friend stature because the connections were ultimately too week. Real relationships come when someone is there for you, every day–because they want to–not because they're bored and avoiding work.

My point was that the tools permit you to create your own public space of random interactions between those you are loosely connected to, a space in which those connections are permitted to naturally flourish or wither, as time and interactions naturally dictate. This is something we just do not get when our contacts information lives in static databases where we're not chatting with one another. I see this as a potentially massive revitalization of community, not the death of it.

As to making a business out of explaining the potential to others, not only did that move into my life as an irresistible force, it did so for reasons well beyond business, that I hope will become apparent in the coming years, my dear. Hint: not for reasons of self-aggrandizement or enrichment.

Whoa! Talk about a bailout! At least we all *know* where the money is going as Adam has been completely transparent about it. It feels so good to have a CHOICE when it comes to a bailout plan. Give a little. Give a lot. Give nothing at all. Ignore it or tell someone else who might care. Do absolutely nothing at all and risk nothing. Participate and gain new friends and followers. It's a win-win situation.

Adam and several of us are working to spread the word round the clock, round the world to help save the studio so that Liana can return to the place where she has contributed so much to so many already. Save the cheerleader, save the world? Save the studio, save the community investment is how I look at it. People actually get together in person and meet and work at this studio. For people who are not local, they use social media tools and technology to network and communicate. Since Liana's health took a turn for the worse, they (Adam and others, with Liana's hospital bed blessing) are opening it up even more now to the public as a not-for-profit to get out from under the current stranglehold which is trying to bury them.

I know dude, I feel you on this post, I really do. (and it's not the first time) But, I couldn't help but point you to this in hopes that it might give you the pick-me-up you might need. Not saying or implying, but just sensing it. I don't even disagree with you, but I just felt I had to tell you about this as an example of where community and social media really came together.

I just had to tell you about this, not just because I'm trying to also bring awareness, but because I believe it's the perfect example of keeping the Community Alive through social media. So, all hope is not lost.

Here are some links to tell you more about it. Leo Laporte, Mashable, TUAW, and many more have linked to it and posted on it.
http://mashable.com/2008/10/17/podango-producti...
http://dailytechtalk.com/2008/10/a-call-to-arms...

Adam is pledging to stay up and broadcast straight through till Monday or until he reaches his goal, whichever comes first. I'm not sure if the stream has been recorded or not or if it's just going to be a straight live feed for the next 24 hours.
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/save-the-studio

Anyhow, I thought you might be interested in what was going on. I scrolled through your past tweets, but it was hard to tell if you were aware of this “event.” Only one way to find out, right?

Damn you Micah! Why do I end up writing some of my most passionate shit in your damn comment boxes!!
ha ha ha
All the best to ya! (((hugs)))