DISQUS

Danny,

Solid content as always. The first point you made is the best; blogging - like anything else worth doing - is a commitment. No shortcuts here! But when you dedicate yourself to it (or build a team to help you inside a company), the rewards can be great. I'm not buying the "blogging is dead" stuff. I think there's tremendous value in it, for individuals and businesses, and it's something I'll always be passionate about.

Cheers,
Amber

Independence to me is more than just freedom of professional career, though that's a big part of it (and a big reason why I up and quit my comfy corporate job a few years ago and have never looked back). True independence to me is knowing that, no matter what happens, I have the strength to stand up when I get knocked down.

The self-confidence thing isn't the easiest part, and I think we have self-confidence in different proportion in different areas of our lives: work, relationships, etc. I know that I have to work on mine every day.

But a big part of both of those is being surrounded by people who challenge and inspire you. Interdependence, indeed. I'm so happy to call you my friend and a colleague I admire the hell out of. Don't forget that grappling hook.

I'd trade any day the scale of reaching masses of people for the long-term impact of carefully building relationships and loyalty within and among the people who want to be talking to you. The trick, as you point out, is that there's no reverse gear. You engage, you stay there. That's the promise you're making by being present and accessible in social channels.

You wouldn't suddenly just disconnect your phone because it rings more often. You don't just turn off your email when people start reaching out to you (though we might like to). Answering the question about WHO should be behind these interactions isn't about who can best recite the brand messages, but rather who can make the commitment to be available, accessible, and connected to the customers when they reach out, and who can help be the bridge between them and what they need from the company. Sometimes people can just lend their voice on occasion (like a CEO). But the inner workings of the listening and engagement grid have GOT to be woven into daily functions, even if we're redefining them. In fact, I think we *have* to be redefining them.

Nobody ever said that this stuff was going to be easy, or wasn't going to take work and some reinvention. But the payoffs for committing to the right intent and the long-term mindset are immense.

The best part of all of your recommendations is that they have two things in common: context and relevance. Twitter is an organic community that thrives on connections that make sense, not connections for their own sake. For any kind of news outlet or corporate presence, it's exceedingly important that there be personality, context, and a level of engagement that rewards the followers for their attention and time.

I love being part of this community, and I'm especially excited when I see establishments like the Trib really understanding how to embrace and build relationships with their readers to make the news and information they share more relevant.

Solid advice from a common sense perspective. Thanks for not making it about numbers, but about an engaged and interested community.

Danny,

This especially matters a bunch: "Simply put, don’t always go with the flow - genius is never the norm."

It can be so very easy to follow the pack when it comes to social media, or business for that matter. But stagnation is the enemy of innovation. Reminds me of my fave Emerson quote: "Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail."

Yes, there are sound practices that can form great foundations, but what excites me most often are old ideas taken to new places, and I see it happen in this space all the time.

Cheers,
Amber

Dunbar's number also operates on the assumption that 150 is a static number. Not only do I agree with you about being one of many *other* people's 150 (exponential is far more powerful than linear), the fabric of my network is very fluid. People drift in and out of the more active core of my network, based on lifestyle, geography, and need. So if 150 is to be believed (and I don't buy it), at the very least, the makeup of that 150 can shift and evolve over time.

It's not either about having a collection of people so much as it is a collection of purposeful relationships. My network of people is most powerful where the relationships have strong, purpose-related context, as opposed to just a mutually shared experience (like I went to college or a conference with that person). The strength of connections of those nodes in your network - and how that fabric evolves - will reflect the intensity of that context, either personally or professionally, at any given time.

Thanks also for mentioning that network cultivation takes effort and work. Amazing how often that point gets missed.

Hey Steven,

I can certainly never fault you for mincing words. :)

I think Twitter pimping and blog stat pimping are a result of the same insecurity. Folks want to be validated by *attention* instead of *interaction*. It's a hard habit to break when we've been brow beaten for years that more = better (especially those of us in the worlds of marketing and communications). But the beauty of that system is that the number whores eventually out themselves, and they either end up in their own little circles of other number zealots, or they take their ball and go home because no one is paying attention anymore.

Some of it takes care of itself. In the meantime, just keep on doing *your* thing. :) Appreciate the shoutout.

Amber

Well first off, thanks for the props. And by all means let’s teach people that for a bargain price, you too can substitute hard work and experience with a twelve hour stint. I mean social media is all about shortcuts and easy answers, isn’t it?

In seriousness, I’ll take someone with practical knowlege and experience any day over a “certification” that anyone with a visa card and a laptop can buy.

And you shaved. Or you didn't. Because, hey!

UseGrayMatter: This bit is particularly of note:

"People who blast “urgent” messages at inappropriate times are saying more about their lack of manners than their expectations of your immediate response."

That's quite true, and a very fair statement. So maybe the discussion is about this aspect, too. If your point about personal responsibility to draw boundaries is solid - and I think it is - we also need to have the conversation about not just expectations, but common courtesy, perhaps?

What if you do your level best to establish boundaries, but those aren't respected or acknowledged as acceptable? How do we accommodate the fact that everyone's boundaries are different? Yes you can only change yourself, but it sure can create quite the firestorm when you draw a line in the sand and tell others that they just need to deal. Is that good business?

Collectively, the world is moving at an unprecedented pace. It's easy to say "just slow down and let people know limits", but in practice it's often not that simple or straightforward. It's about the trend overall toward breakneck speed, and while each person has their individual aspect to sort out, I think the conversation as a whole - especially when it comes to scale and business - is worthy of discussion.

Frank and UseGrayMatter, I hear where you guys are coming from, but I have to say I don't think this is just something Chris is discussing in reference to himself. It's more endemic to our plugged in world, and it happens to those of us who aren't Chris, just on a smaller scale. Chris only has his frame of reference to draw from, but it's not just him (as you can see from plenty of the other comments from moms and business people alike). I hear it from colleagues and friends all the time.

I want to be accessible, but I'm also human. And it's less the notion of people demanding answers so much as they're asking to be heard and acknowledged. That's the real trick. I'm not Chris, but I too struggle each day with living up to my aspirational self - the one that's always responsive, available, pleasant and helpful. I don't care if you're Chris or you're me. We each have limits, and they're in direct proportion to the size and scope of our universe.

Whether we like it or not, expectations HAVE changed. And not only do those who are being tapped for their attention have a responsibility to manage that, but when we're in the position of asking someone for their attention, context matters. If I'm your wife or your sister, I'm hoping that I'm nearer the top of the list than the dude who needs a product sample from you. And I'd expect you to put me in the same queue.

@DJ I sure did talk about comic books. Yep. I'm a girl. I love comic books, have for years. Sue me. :)

There's an element of the comic culture that I think translates so well to all of this social media stuff: storytelling. Comics are graphic stories, and the web is like one giant storybook to me. I'm constantly reading, seeing, absorbing...with both sides of my brain. We comic nerds love debating the undercurrents of our characters, the holes in our plotlines, and speculating about where it's all headed.

Comics move fast. They're in frames, digestible chunks that can be absorbed as such. And to me, much of the beauty of social media is that we can consume the story in frames, issues, and watch as it all morphs in front of our eyes.

But back to Chris' post topic and Mick's comments: comic heads always manage to find commonality in one another. It's uniting in a world when so many other things are divisive. And comic book shops have always had that "come on in and hang out for a while" vibe that so many other retail experiences don't have anymore. It's not transactional, it's social. And it's awesome. Long live our nerdy little hangouts. (Is it Wednesday yet??)

There's a big element in all of this that's about indirect career growth, too. Ego and insecurity are tricky bastards, and it takes serious commitment to stare your career in the face and realize it's not entirely one dimensional.

Not everything that furthers your career puts you in the spotlight. It's a bit like thinking like an artist, I suppose. Layers and editing. Promotions aren't always the best thing for someone who thrives on getting their hands dirty. Titles don't mean jack. A stellar client roster means nothing if you have no substance to show for it.

We spend a lot of time lamenting the opportunities that don't ever seem to find us, but few of us have the stomach for grasping at the ones that may just slip by unnoticed because they don't arrive in a stretch limo. If you can't find the self-discipline to carefully manage your own career as meticulously as you would expect a business to steward you as an employee, you're going to continue to wonder just what happened when you weren't paying any attention.

I, um, usually hate leaving "yeah" comments, but ... yeah.

I write constantly. Somehow. Words are *my* mechanism of choice when it comes to communicating, so I practice using them all the time. Even when I'm talking, I'm framing things as though I'm writing them. I break things down into chapters or sections in my head constantly. And I get that same spaced out look all the time in conversation because I'm either visualizing the words on paper, or mentally putting them in boxes for later. It's habitual. When you do it enough, it just becomes something you do rather automatically (if that's the way you think in the first place).

That said, I'm a big proponent of riding the flow of writing. Sometimes it comes in large, rolling waves and I'm up until 3 in the morning getting it out (otherwise I can't sleep anyway). Sometimes it feels like I'm forcing it, so I leave it be. But tapping that flow gets easier once you're tuned into it. And somehow, the more often you're willing to take inspiration as it comes, the more often it shows up.

Thanks for sharing this, Chris. I'm sure it's helpful for those who are trying to cultivate their writing habits, but it's equally validating for those of us who have one cobbled together, warts and all.

Hi Laura! Happy birthday to you! Best wishes to both you and Justin this year for happiness, laughter, and all good things. Cheers!

Amber

<abbr>Amber Naslund’s last blog post..3 Words For Each of Us</abbr>

Ken, nice job on this. Listening continues to be so underrated and often overlooked when companies are getting started in social media. In fact, in the big social media blueprint, *participating* actually comes toward the end. Listening and laying other groundwork - like assessing risk, taking the temperature of your culture, considering scalability and other things - have to come first, otherwise the participation component is bound to fail.

We're eager to jump in and start talking first, because we're worried that if we don't, no one will hear us or someone else will get there first. But sustainable social media means treating it with the same gravity as any other business endeavor, and preparing for it by understanding the landscape fully is the best investment of time and effort you can make in your work.

Thanks for continuing to put the focus on practical aspects of social media implementation. We need more voices of reason in this very noisy space.

Well, hell. You know I don't have much more to add here. Click this, you lazy junkclicky spamtastic DM craplicious bot-types. And no, I'm not coming to your life-changing seminar or accepting your "gift" of a crappy ebook I didn't ask for, or asking my followers to follow you. Eva.

If you can't manage to introduce yourself and have a conversation like an adult, I'm doing the equivalent of hanging up the phone on you. It feels every bit as intrusive as a telemarketing call during dinner, and if you can't be bothered to say hello in a moment that feels conversational in the first place, I doubt I'm going to find you much interesting anyhow.

Amber

Ken, nice job on this. Listening continues to be so underrated and often overlooked when companies are getting started in social media. In fact, in the big social media blueprint, *participating* actually comes toward the end. Listening and laying other groundwork - like assessing risk, taking the temperature of your culture, considering scalability and other things - have to come first, otherwise the participation component is bound to fail.


We're eager to jump in and start talking first, because we're worried that if we don't, no one will hear us or someone else will get there first. But sustainable social media means treating it with the same gravity as any other business endeavor, and preparing for it by understanding the landscape fully is the best investment of time and effort you can make in your work.



Thanks for continuing to put the focus on practical aspects of social media implementation. We need more voices of reason in this very noisy space.

And herein lies the rub for many a project, an organization, an idea.

With all of these roles comes responsibility and the ability to let go. To trust others. The muddling happens when the visionary refuses to acknowledge that the creators and executors have the chops to make it happen. Or the creator wishes they were the visionary, and can't let go of their ego long enough to realize someone *else's* vision. Or the worker can't see beyond their functional role and understand how it drives the bigger engine.

Defining the roles isn't the hard part. It's embracing whichever is truly yours. It's taken me a long time to learn that I'm the creator. I'm not the one with the big idea. But I'm the one to take the big idea and make it real. Deconstruct and disassemble it. Knowing that is great, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having moments where I felt inadequate for not being the visionary. Like I'm missing a gene or something because I can't crank out groundbreaking ideas.

Visionaries - at least successful ones - are often the ones that ultimately realize they need an army behind them. But rarely do you hear an executor saying "gee, I wish I had someone else's great idea to implement". So how, then, do we encourage others to own and believe in their *piece* of the vision? The challenge to me is not just in finding the workers to make the vision real. It's in finding the visionaries that can translate their passion well enough to make those workers want to embrace their roles in the first place.

Dude, You're not nearly as weird as you think you are. I also might have gone to culinary school had life been different, but restaurant hours SUCK. :) Thanks for being a good sport and sharing. I love knowing all these interesting things about people, especially those I've yet to meet in person. Good stuff. :)

Amrita, some beautiful thoughts here, especially those about critics. There's a big difference between being panned for the sake of it, and receiving a critique that can better mold and shape your direction. It's also quite easy to tear down the work of others while offering up little of substance yourself.

As a musician, another favorite "skill" of mine is improvisation. In charting new waters with social media and business, sometimes you have to learn to adapt and improvise a bit until you find what works. Few things are certain, and at the speed of today, "rules" have a short shelf life. I'm a big believer in understanding the need once in a while to vamp your way through a few bars until you hit your stride.

Really enjoyed your perspective. Thanks.

Dude, You're not nearly as weird as you think you are. I also might have gone to culinary school had life been different, but restaurant hours SUCK. :) Thanks for being a good sport and sharing. I love knowing all these interesting things about people, especially those I've yet to meet in person. Good stuff. :)

Ah, Chris. I love the voices you called out above; many of them on my radar but a couple not, so thanks for that. My favorite for the year is probably Shannon; her strength of voice and curiosity always (always) gives me a new perspective.

I'm also loving Adam Cohen's blog, A Thousand Cuts. He's newish, but he's got his feet on the ground and his head in the game. I can't wait to see what he comes up with this year.

Thanks for including me, too. I enjoy the challenge of my blog, and I'd probably be writing it even if no one was listening. But this year, I've got a new fire lit under me, so look the hell out. Cheers. :)

Scott - plain and simple, you're just about awesome. Here's hoping that 2009 brings us the chance to meet and share a toast. It's been my pleasure to get to know you a bit on the crazy interwebs, and I'm looking forward to more fun and friendship in the coming year. My best to you and yours. :)

Titles and descriptions are for others to understand what you do in simple terms, but it's all about context. And anyone can assign themselves a title or a masthead or plug a bunch of fluffy words into their bio. It's what we do, what we achieve, that defines us. When I'm asked "what do you do?", my answer is always "that thoroughly depends on what you need me to accomplish." And those who really and truly achieve rarely stay stagnant long enough to fit in any one box, anyway.