louisgray.com - Latest Comments in louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Katew — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:31:49 -0000

To me, 2, 4, and 8 are key to getting more people interested in social media (outside of Facebook and, to some degree, Twitter). #4 is really the most important. Until those people who are not interested in trying every new social media site that comes along are shown concrete benefits, they won't bother trying new ones because it's too much work. Needs must be met and they must be met in a user friendly way. I hate to think of people in the mainstream as being slow or late to the game. I often just think they're like cats -- they're not going to move unless you give them a really good reason to do so. Until then, they're going to sit right there on that newspaper you left on the table last week, thank you very much.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Julian Baldwin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:53:41 -0000

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:09:25 -0000

Fair point about the concentration of tech bloggers

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Stupid Blogger — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:24:45 -0000

Broadening the scope of the blogosphere *requires* "permeating more sectors of interest', as you put it. It's not just an option, it's the only way it will happen. The truth of the matter is that the current bloggy, social media community is for the most part one dimensional: we talk about stuff that 90% of the rest of the world doesn't care about.

Being a blogger doesn't mean you're a tech blogger, but I'm laying down odds that most are. Or worse, you're a blogger who blogs about blogging. Either way, the public at large doesn't care about such topics and don't want to follow the tweets or FriendFeed of such an author. The only way to reach them is to write about what they know, like, and understand.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:22:26 -0000

Benedikt, please see my comment to Sol Young above. I think you're on to something.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:21:41 -0000

Sol, good points. However, as this whole area continues to grow, as you indicate, it will be more than a blogosphere. Nothing wrong with that.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Benedikt Köhler — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:49:46 -0000

The potential of tomorrow lies in people who probably will not see themselves as bloggers at all. If the tools are easy enough (your first point), the "blogosophere" will be increasingly populated by ordinary people who just enjoy writing about what they are doing or what they are interested in.

Maybe tomorrow people who are blogging have no more in common than yesterday's people who are writing letters or who are using the telephone had?

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Marco — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:05:54 -0000

another great guest post - LG just might have a career ahead of him as a blogger talent scout!

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Sol Young — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:04:50 -0000

I think what you're describing is the natural movement of the blogosphere to the mainstream...

The growth of blogging is automatic. We're moving towards each blog becoming a FriendFeed... An aggregation of one's activities and therefore a mashup of the services one subscribes to.

This page alone has MyBlogLog, FEEDJIT, FriendFeed commenting, Twitter status, and a list of your other subscribed services (that are probably working on blog widgets as we speak, if they don't have them already).

The cost of entry to the blogosphere is no longer the knowledge of administering a server and the ability to juggle UI with Perl, PHP, or Python. Today the cost to speak one's mind and share knowledge is the ownership of a computer or mobile phone and submitting a username and password.

We're seeing micro-blogging adopted by the non-blogging community (Twitter). We're seeing micro-video blogging pushed to the cellphone community (CNN iReporters). And now we're seeing a general trend towards connectivity and sharing in new location-based applications (Loopt, etc).

The blogosphere is going to grow automatically through new services that enable the mainstream to present valuable information and share their lives.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Walter Schwabe — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:29:22 -0000

Great post Mark, lots to absorb and contemplate...for some up-to-the-minute meaningful, not-so-meaningful and down right meaningless tweets...twitter.com/fusedlogic

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:53:21 -0000

Heh, that's OK ChangeForge. It happens.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

ChangeForge | Ken Stewart — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:47:27 -0000

Nuts... I suppose it would help if I would check the author - Greatest of apologies Mark. I did not intend to offend.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

ChangeForge | Ken Stewart — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:45:50 -0000

Louis, very well stated... I am currently pursuing 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7... and I am a firm believer in 5, 8, and 9... I have found that in using this as a networking tool - it is most wonderful, and the opportunity to pay it forward is a big theme I buy into. Every chance I get to be nice to another blogosphere resident is another opportunity for me to influence the balance those in opposition seeking to undermine and destroy...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:36:45 -0000

Thanks dvdand. I suppose that Robert Scoble's post did indirectly influence my post, but I was trying to find my way out of the echo chamber and suggest something else of importance.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Dilip Dand — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:13:13 -0000

Mark, Great artilcle! This article really takes off from Robert Scoble's rant on how Tech bloggers have failed their audiences. If you read these two articles in sequence, they make a lot of sense. I like the section about looking out to non-tech folks for ideas. I really think the next set of leading bloggers will be people who can talk about utiliziing these cool technologies to solve interesting problems.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:11:09 -0000

Hell, I feel a similar need to say something "significant" whenever I write online. Of course, I tend to undermine it occasionally by writing without using my filters (or brain), but still. Reputation management is a necessity, unfortunately.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Mark Dykeman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:00:47 -0000

Or maybe we need to use the Tip Jar widget on everything?

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Maria Reyes-McDavis — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:48:40 -0000

Fabulous post, you've really put it in perspective.
Thanks for the tips!

Maria Reyes-McDavis
Marketing Masters Guide

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

Hutch Carpenter — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:45:39 -0000

Great post Mark. Regarding #5, staying engaged. I think the hardest part of that is the feeling of having to be "enlightening" in your every comment. That's a heavy burden. Sometimes, quick snippets are fine. The message with one little bit of perspective can go a long way toward staying engaged with readers. Robert Scoble is a good example of that. He's got it down to an art.

Re: louisgray.com: Nine Ways to Enlarge the Social Media Audience

awilensky — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:42:50 -0000

Your list:

pontifications about A-Lists, aggregators, egoism, elitism, monetization, commercialization, capitalization,

Omits: capitation

The donut chart should be fertilized with a 1 dollar per service per month tax, that shall be put on deposit, to be invested in crude oil futures, with the profits being reinvested in real world applications that have a working, professional constituency.