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« A revelation in social relevance and people-powered “found” engines — Facebook not on same Page as their users »
Gimme less network noise and more social media signal!
Monday, 10 August 2009 — by Wayne Smallman
Who do you trust to deliver relevant, accurate news and information? Friends, right? Thing is, on the social web, a “friend” can be almost anyone. And over the coming months, we’re all going to find out who our real friends are…
Depending on your take on social media, you’re either going to agree with a stern nod of your head, or angrily shake it, accompanied with much gnashing of teeth.
I know lots of people on the web, via StumbleUpon, Twitter, Facebook etc. I “know” people, but knowing isn’t the same as “liking”. I have friends. I like them. Why? Because I know them.
However, knowing and liking someone wouldn’t be enough to draw me into a brawl involving them and someone else. If they did wrong, I’d wade in and I pull them apart from the other guy. Later, when the dust settles and the blood is wiped from brow and split lip, I’d tell them what I thought, which they might not appreciate.
So what was the point of that short insight into my working class background? If you send me an article and expect me to just vote for it and then share it within my social network, then you’d be wrong.
I have rules for social media, the same way I have rules for almost everything else in life.
Back in early 2008, I had a need to commit to pixels my social media voting policy, which drew several very clear lines in the sand. Afterwards, some people who’d previously considered me to part of their reserved social network cut me loose. Why? Because I’d made it very clear I’d have no part to play in their without-even-thinking-votes-for-the-sake-of-it clique.
Also, I stopped sending my articles to certain people because I became aware that they weren’t even reading what I’d written. They just voted for and shared without a thought, which is meaningless. To do that trivializes my efforts and is arguably disrespectful. I wouldn’t and don’t do that, and I expect the same in return.
My totally uncompromising rules nearly always rub someone up the wrong way. But it’s a question of trust, and the value of that trust. It’s also about professionalism.
If you just vote up and share anything that comes your way, simply because you were asked to by someone you “know”, what value do you add, apart from nothing? But it gets worse — those articles you’re promoting into your own social network will show up as trusted sources of reading material by the people in that social network, be they friends, acquaintances, or just the people that you “know”.
In the coming months and years, this micro-blogging burping will most likely result in certain people being evicted from many a persons’ social network, because their noise is also your noise.
It’s happening right now. Back in late July, I wrote up my thoughts on this very subject, and within the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen some high profile people begin the process of trimming their friend / follower lists, right back to just those they know personally.
And as people look to refine the mean quality of their social networks even further, those that lower that quality will be the first out of the door.
All those people are doing is adding more network noise at the expense of the social media signal…
Recommended reading
- My 3 rules for Social Media voting
- A revelation in social relevance and people-powered “found” engines
- 3 steps for the social media beginner
« A revelation in social relevance and people-powered “found” engines — Facebook not on same Page as their users »
What you said is true, but, as of this time, that is how the social media and social networking is being used (or wrongly used). Hope this can improve in the future.