Last week at the Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer, I was struck at how many amazingly deep and brilliant conversations I had with so many people. Well this is to be expected, you might say, when you spend a few days in the company of such social media smarties as Ann Handley, Beth Harte, David Armano, Jay Baer and Amber Naslund.
But here's the thing; most of those great conversations didn't happen with these people. In fact, they were with people that most of you probably haven't heard of. Heck I hadn't heard of many of them till I was introduced to them at the event.
And that's been gnawing at me for days. To be fair, this isn't unique to the Mixer, I noticed the same thing a couple of months ago at Social South, meeting and talking with people that have a 'low profile' in the social media space, yet being blown away by how smart they were. I kept asking myself 'why have I not heard of this person before now?'
I think/fear that the answer lies in how we determine the value of ideas in the social media space. I'm afraid that too many people are determining who is 'influential' based on how many followers/friends/readers they have. Which is a contributing factor, to be sure, but it's not the end-all-be-all for defining and recognizing people that put forth thoughtful ideas.
And what's worse, I think too many people are thinking if THEY don't have X number of readers/followers/friends, then they don't have the 'right' to share their ideas. That their ideas aren't worth sharing. I think when we call Chris Brogan a 'rockstar', I think some people will look at his 30K blog readers and 100K Twitter followers and think that means they must NOT be a rockstar, since they only have 500 readers and 200 Twitter followers.
If so, that's damn tragic. I've always said that the greatest thing about social media is that it gives everyone a voice. And I've always thought we do ourselves a disservice if we don't have the chance to hear as many voices as possible. This was a big reason why I started The Z-List three years ago, to help give deserving bloggers more exposure.
So how do we change this and bring more voices into the mix? I have some ideas, but definitely want to hear yours as well:
1 - Spend less time identifying the 'rockstars' and more time focusing on the great ideas. I am as guilty of this as anyone. I want to make sure that everyone knows how smart my friends are, but by labeling them 'rockstars', we are unintentionally ranking people. If David is a rockstar with 20K followers and 15K blog readers, the unintentional message may be that your ideas are less valuable if you only have a fraction of his followers/readers.
2 - Stop focusing on numbers to determine influence. I get why this happens. It's quick and easy, it's score-keeping. You can quickly compare your number of readers or followers or comments to someone else. But it isn't always (ever?) accurate. Is it an absolute that if I have more Twitter followers than you do that I am more influential there than you are? Or if you have more than I do, that you are more influential than I am? Of course not.
3 - Listen closely to new ideas from new voices, and magnify both when you hear them. So many of us complain about the 'fishbowl' mentality in the social media space. A great way to counter that is to bring new voices with fresh takes into this space. Introduce your network to someone they might not have heard of previously. Yes we all know who the 'rockstars' in this space are, so show us who's next.
The bottom line is that this space won't grow and reach its full potential unless we can continue to have fresh voices with fresh ideas being brought into the fold. If you want to be viewed as a 'rockstar' in this space, then IMO you have the responsibility to promote others more than yourself. You have the responsibility to see that the great ideas, no matter who has them, are brought to the top. And please, let your ideas stand on their own merits, don't think that they are less valuable than someone that has more friends or followers than you do. You've earned the right to be heard just as much as the rest of us have.
I say it's time we all got to work, what say you?
UPDATE: I've created a 'What's Next In Social Media' list on Twitter, a group of people that are really smart, that you might not be following yet. You can find it here -
http://twitter.com/MackCollier/what-snextinsocialmedia
Link to original posthttp://www.theviralgarden.com
LoriFazio said:
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Mon, 2009-12-28 07:30 — LoriFazioLisaPetrilli said:
I agree with you (and with Mack!). What I'm learning from working with a number of CEOs and CMOs is that they read and pay attention to (this is, of course, a generalization) blogs and content from people who they respect for their experience, who communicate their ideas clearly so that the audience can glean the most from it and apply it in the course of their business, and who they want to "spend time with" because of their respect for them as individuals - which comes through from their passion and the way they treat their readers and colleagues.
My nuanced perspective is simply that while I want everyone who wants a voice to have one and to have the courage and confidence to express their ideas, I also wish for them the mentors they need to help them express those ideas as clearly and passionately as those who are looked upon as leaders have learned to do. Then there's a chance that we'll have a plethora of "rock stars" to look to and learn from.
I think that would rock. :)
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Sun, 2009-12-27 23:10 — Lisa PetrilliEstebanKolsky said:
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Sun, 2009-12-27 22:36 — Esteban KolskyLisaPetrilli said:
Perhaps a nuanced perspective from someone familiar with the challenges that CEOs and CMOs face when it comes to embracing and adopting social media strategies…
I believe that the “rock stars†mentioned in Mack’s post and in Ari’s comments have earned their status, and would still be magnets for followers and readers even if they were just now entering the social media arena.
Why? Because they’ve got the essential elements that create a true rock star: real talent, a kick-butt product, and stage presence – of which the later is almost impossible to learn. I agree that there are a number of truly brilliant and innovative people out there with much to share and the potential to be “rock stars†like Mack, Chris, Beth, Ann, David et al.
My perspective is that having innovative ideas is not enough, and that each of us should aspire to excel in these three areas the way the established “stars†already have.
What does that mean? The talent to communicate your unique ideas clearly and succinctly so that your target audience will make it a priority to take the time to read and listen to them. The wisdom and depth of real experience helping CEOs and CMOs (or whomever your customer/target audience is) to wade through the social media options and develop strategies that best meet their company missions, visions, values and goals. And the stage presence shown via poise, confidence, kindness and a genuine desire to see others succeed that enable us to work as effectively with naysayers and skeptics as we do with our collaborators.
Let’s face it; in any company there are a plethora of employees who have brilliant and innovative ideas. The ones who become stars are those who can communicate those ideas effectively, have real substance to back them up, and are uniquely able to take the stage when called upon – in whatever form that takes - and perform flawlessly.
I have learned immensely from the current “Rock Stars†and will continue to do so in the future, yet am also extremely open to learning from others who show that they are just as talented in all three areas. I say let’s challenge ourselves to be as great as Mack, Chris, David et al are in all three areas – so that we earn our status the same way they have!
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Sun, 2009-12-27 21:56 — Lisa Petrilliariherzog said:
What I like about this strategy is not whether it is wrong or right, but that you are willing to try new things and not mind “risking†any status you have in the Twitter/Blogosphere...
And therein lies the rub, Mack. If your so-called "rockstars" did what I did and essentially deleted their accounts, zeroed their follower numbers, and started fresh, would they still be rockstars today? Of course they would be -- but only to those people who either 1) already knew their names and followed their thoughts on blogs and other social media channels, or 2) just discovered them.
But let's look at the bigger picture which you hint at in the above. Who are Beth Harte, Amber Naslund, Chris Brogan, and you? Who am I? Approach a random stranger on the street with a list of these social media rockstars and nobody would be recognized. Agreed? Thus, I'll argue the rockstar is someone reblogged and retweeted and echoed enough times but the rockstar is truly unknown in other circles, as Danny Brown recently illustrated.
I've met Chris and Amber and Dave Armano and Ann Handley and they are not rockstars. They're no different than your next door neighbor. What's so special about that one neighbor when you have a block-full of other neighbors equally worthy of praise if you take the time to know them and what they can offer you?
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Sun, 2009-12-27 20:09 — ariherzogEstebanKolsky said:
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Sun, 2009-12-27 19:47 — Esteban KolskyNilsMontan said:
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Sun, 2009-12-27 10:13 — Nils MontanPost new comment