Posts Tagged ‘plurk’

Remember when you were a teenager and you experienced something that seemed so once in a lifetime? And you knew, you just knew deep inside, that it would never happen the same way again. It could have been a great vacation, a fun time with new summer friends…or yes, even a summer romance.

Many people in social media talk about “shiny new object syndrome” or my favorite from Scott Monty—GMOOT—you know, when the powers that be demand that you “get me one of those!” But my experience with Plurk is not that.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Plurk evangelist. Or was.

I like Plurk A LOT and I actually quite like and enjoy the user interface. But more than anything, I really like the people (well, the people I friend and who friend me) most of all.

Here’s the thing…

I can’t, with a straight face, continue to say I am a Plurk Evangelist because I so rarely use it these days. It’s not that I don’t think it’s a viable social networking tool, heck no! It’s just that I don’t have the time to dive into so many great conversations…and that above all else I miss tremendously.

Jennifer Leggio’s recent post, ‘Plurk dissolves into a social networking ghost town’ hit me like a running start punch right to the gut. I didn’t like what she was saying. I didn’t want to hear it and I wanted to tell her that she’s wrong. Jennifer dissects Plurk like a new shiny object, but it’s her job to be analytical and objective. She wonders how Plurk can be used as a business too and dismisses it as not being sustainable or viable. I can’t do that. Plurk to me is the people, NOT the tool. And through Plurk I have hired three vendors/partners that I might not have known otherwise (last time I checked that is business, is it not?!)

Plurk is my summer romance and I won’t let anyone tarnish the memories I have of the hours (and I mean HOURS) of long conversations, the super smart Plurkshops, the kidding around and silliness and best yet, the truly wonderful friends that I cherish. Those experiences can’t be taken away or forgotten.

I will continue to use Plurk, you bet your bottom dollar. But I just can’t use it like I once did, that’s all.

And because words don’t often times communicate what I really think/feel, here’s a video version (4:44):

[Image: PBase]

A recent post by Kami Huyse and my own stream of followers prompted me to write this post. In Kami’s recent post, “Painting by Number: Bringing Blog Content to Life by Coloring the Canvas,” she lists the below rule:

Learn the rules and then break them intelligently: Every community has a culture, until you know and respect the culture, you can’t start breaking the rules.

I am not talking about blogging, but microblogging…sites like Twitter and Plurk. (We can debate the term microblogging another time.) I have learned from being on Twitter that the rules of culture and etiquette, among other things, for the most part, expect a reciprocate follow to a follower.

Well, I am breaking that rule…intelligently.

Here’s the thing, as more people and companies become aware of Twitter and Plurk, they don’t take the time to see what the culture is like. By not taking the time to do so, they don’t see that most folks on Twitter are real people with real names. And from now on I am not following them back.

Here’s why:

The other day, after checking out a follower’s profile (to make sure they weren’t a spammer, etc.), I followed them. Then response I received: “Thanks. You can check out my website here [link] to learn all about me and what I blog about.” What the…?!

Another favorite: “Thanks for the follow. Be sure to follow my company too. And check out our site.” Ah, sorry, no. How about we chat first?

And my #1 favorite: “Thanks. If you don’t subscribe to my blog, be sure to do so today via RSS.” What am I, just a number to you?

Today as I was going through my followers, I was greeted by all kinds of avatars (some creepy), crazy names, and one-line descriptions (if any). It was very enlightening.

Here are are some tips to people and companies who want to join the conversation on Twitter, Plurk, identi.ca, etc.

• Use a name, a real name, somewhere. If you don’t want to use a name, I suspect you aren’t ready to engage in social media or a conversation. I can’t have a conversation with “BugGurlz” (okay, I made that up, but you know what I mean.)
• Don’t use Susie234 as a name, spammers do that.
• Use a photo of yourself, not an avatar. Okay, well, I can deal with an avatar if I have other proof you are human and not a spammer (as in a real name somewhere and a description).
• Fill out the description. And not just a one-liner (”I am a blogger.”) Tell us who you are and what you are about; otherwise, why should anyone follow you?
• If you are a company, designate a real person to your Twitter/Plurk/identi.ca account and let them have a voice.

I feel at a disadvantage. You know my name, what I do, what I am interested in and all about me (or at least what I share on Twitter & Plurk). I am asking you to reciprocate. You might be a real person with whom I could have a great conversation with or perhaps a business relationship…but we will never know.

Trust me, being real will benefit you more than me—really.

Update 10/9/09: Matt J. McDonald over at A New Marketing has a great post that includes a checklist to brand your Twitter account. Be sure to check them out!

Recently, the New York Times ran an article called Brave New World of Digital Intimacy that dives into how relationships have changed now that interaction with others-and our lives- are shared on-line via applications like Facebook and Twitter. 

According to the article, ‘social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does – body language, sighs, stray comments – out of the corner of your eye.’

A lot of updates are limited to 140 characters and applications like ping.fm make it easy to broadcast daily minutiae across multiple applications at the same time. There seems to be an assumption that broadcasting equates to participation in social media and its applications. It certainly makes it easier, right? Instant communicate to all networks with one push of the enter key. 

But is communication with the network the same as conversing with the network? Connie Reece recently asked the question “are you conversationally tone-deaf?” and explained that one-way conversation (i.e. broadcasting) does not equate to a social media best practice. 

Social media leaders, who understand the importance of conversation, leave different update statuses on different applications like Twitter, Plurk and Facebook. Why? Because they use the applications for the different purposes they serve. Perhaps Twitter for business, Plurk for friends and Facebook for the combination of the two. Time consuming? Yes. But importantly, they realize that their communities are different on each networking application and conversations on each will be different. 

The article goes on to say that, “…this is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update-each individual bit of social information-is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting.” 

But, that’s not entirely accurate. The portrait being seen is the one painted by the broadcaster. They control what is known about them. Without any meaningful conversation, whether on-line or in person, it is truly impossible to know that person. Basing relationships on what broadcasted messages they leave behind can lead to potential parasocial behavior. Conversation is an art. It takes practice and is time consuming. Having ambient awareness isn’t enough to develop a meaningful relationship. And as more people start using social media tools to broadcast and not converse, social media will become no more than traditional marketing utilizing on-line tools. 

Ultimately as marketers it’s important to understand that broadcasting via social media tools will not help to engage customers, partners or employees anymore than newsletters and e-mail marketing do (i.e. one-way conversation). Ambient awareness does not truly provide the body language, sighs, stray comments that are only apparent during a real conversation. The only way to get to understand your customers, partners or employees and their wants, needs and goals/objectives is to have a traditional conversation. No tool or amount of broadcasting can replace that. 

What’s your take on ambient awareness?   

[NYT article hat tip: Alan Wolk]

[Image: iStock]

What’s a Plurkshop? Plurkshops are community driven workshops on lots of different topics. Organically fostered on the Plurk social networking community, they’ve evolved into great and insightful discussions with engaged participants on a number of topics, from social media to marketing to blogging. Created by the community, for the community, Plurkshops hopes to tap the widsom of the amazing people using Plurk.

Last week I had the honor of kicking off Plurkshop #8, Social Media: It’s the Conversation Stupid!, which was hosted by Tim Jackson (MasiGuy). The Plurkshop lasted over 1-1/2 hours as had 675 responses! Some of the topics included:

• Do brands CREATE a conversation or RESPOND to one that has already started? (served up by the servant of chaos himself, Gavin Heaton.)
• So why don’t companies want to converse?
  
• What are the positives of being a part of the conversation?
  
• And the negatives of not being involved in a conversation about your company?
  
• How does a company empower more people to engage in a conversation? (great question from Plurker @MikeTempleton)

The conversation ran far, wide and deep. So check out the Plurkshop and conversation for yourself…it was anything but stupid!

Interested in hosting a Plurkshop? It’s simple, first join Plurk and get involved in the conversation and second, touch base with Plurkshops and drop a note.