Today, a colleague of mine asked me for a recommendation on which blogs she should be reading to learn about social media and the social web.
As she's just getting into this space i wanted to make sure that i'm giving her good suggestions with easily digestable content which helps her to understand the space and the latest innovations as well as help answer any questions she may have.
So, i started looking through my blog roll to see what i could find....
......and i made a quite shocking realisation...
...the majority of blogs i read on a daily basis will be completely pointless and utterly baffling to my colleague.
Why is this? For the simple reason that the blogs, the content and the authors are really quite cliquey in many cases.
The same kind of people (me included) read the same blogs, we comment on the same blogs and we write about the same content, but recently i've noticed that the content is becoming more and more niche and the circles tighter and tighter.
We've been preaching about the decline of critical mass and the rise of niche, in-depth relationships between brands and consumers but i fear this has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Many of us now move in small 'social media' circles, spouting the same 'social media' arguments and lingo and we're losing touch with the outside world and what it means to be a strategist or a planner or a marketeer.
It's taken me trying to recommend local blogs to a colleague which has woken me up to this and i'm very bothered by it
I, for one, am going to try and broaden out my content and make it more reader-friendly...
I may fail miserably but it matters to me that i keep an open mind and don't fall into the social web trap of running around in opinionated, ego-driven circles....
I, for one, am going to try and broaden out my content and make it more reader-friendly...
I may fail miserably but it matters to me that i keep an open mind and don't fall into the social web trap of running around in opinionated, ego-driven circles....
6 Responses to "Do you wanna be in my gang?" (Leave A Comment)
June 21, 2009 at 11:36 PM
http://www.psfk.com/ is a well needed break from 'social media' subscriptions in my Reader list. Like the mix it throws up.
June 21, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Great find - thank you!
June 22, 2009 at 6:56 PM
I know what you mean, I'm in film, yet my blog is predominantly social media and advertising oriented. I'm trying to reconcile between having a specific focus and writing about all the things that interest me. My blog is only 2 months old, so this post brought an important consideration to light. No point talking in an echo chamber when there's a PA to the world freely available.
June 22, 2009 at 7:07 PM
@returnon I've decided that i'm going to stop writing for a particular cicrle and just write about what interests me and what i think is valuable...
Then i guess it's up to other people whether or not they want to read it :-)
You should write about your passions and your interests, regardless of what others think.
It's your opinion and your blog so own it.
June 23, 2009 at 1:41 AM
I don't know whether my content would be seen as broad or not, but blogs allow you to write for something completely niche and completely full of inside jokes if you want.
I think you have a good point about new players coming to the game, but not all blogs have to be tailored to them, so only change your stuff if it's really what you want to do.
June 23, 2009 at 1:54 AM
Hi Zac
You're completely correct about a blog being your own personal space to write and say whatever you like and whatever you're interested in.
I guess my perspective is about remembering why I started blogging in the first place.
I wanted to be a resource to others and to start and maintain conversations with as many people as possible and to learn from them and share ideas.
What i was in danger of becoming and what others have already done is to shrink down the appeal and relevance of their blogs to a small niche circle who do share 'inside jokes'....which is fine, if that's what you want. But then you might only share learnings with that small group and limit your exposure to new ideas and new ways of doing things...
My blogging idol (and i think yours too?) is Seth Godin. He is forever relevant and resonates with millions of people, not tens of people, yet his content is still personal to him and interesting to him.
I simply asked myself if i had swayed from my initial blogging objective and i had. I don't need another closed social network group, i want to share content and ideas with anyone and everyone which means my content needs to be more open...it's about finding a balance.
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