ConnectSmith » Social Media

Connectsmith Uncovers The Original Top 10 List

Kurt Smith — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Although it seems that the top list is a relatively new phenomenon, the first top ten showed up long before blogging or the Internet existed, like around 1450-1500 B.C. That’s the best guess as to the date when Moses descended Mt. Sinai with the stone tablets containing the original top 10 list, the Ten Commandments. After Moses had received the two tablets he promptly smashed them, thereby making the first top 5 list but that is a story for another day.

Scientists have recently discovered a recessive gene that make some bloggers more predisposed to creating top 5 and 10 lists than the general population. This helps explain some of the abuses with top 5 and top 10 lists, but doesn’t fully answer the question as to why they are more popular than ever. It seems that there is a primal urge that some people have to let the world know what their top 10 main courses at Olive Garden are or their top 5 Molly Ringwald films. This urge leads to lists that are created just to be created, and in turn they become worthless commodities with short shelf lives.

If you really want to connect, don’t make a top 5 or 10 list, but tell me your thoughts as to why you like or dislike something. Let’s discuss, argue, and laugh about why you think the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band ever or why I think Gayle Sayers is the greatest running back who ever lived. Or, if you really want to mix it up, how about throwing a top 8 list at me? Maybe you could only come up with the top 8 uses for pesto and found no need to add a 9th. That would impress me.

The bottom line is that nobody knows for sure what the top 5 or 10 or 20 is of anything so take all of these lists with a grain of salt. And if you can’t help yourself , and absolutely have to create a top whatever list, make sure it is tied to your values and core beliefs, and not what the crowd thinks. And please, tell me why – don’t just post a list.

But please, keep them to yourselves, because If I catch you taking the easy road and posting a top whatever list, I am going to post the top 5 reasons not to visit your site.

To Tweet Or Not To Tweet … ESPNs Answer

Kurt Smith — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

A new front has opened in the ongoing war between Good and Evil. Yesterday, the web was a buzz with the news that ESPN had released guidelines for social media participation by their employees. Not surprisingly, all of the pro Twitter/Facebook marketing crowd were quite upset by this and went on and on about how it would hurt ESPN. They all quite predictably argued that this was not how social media works, it was big brotherish, socialist, and many other descriptions along the same line.

As this happened late yesterday afternoon, I anticipate more similar comments today from the rest of the pro Twitter / Facebook crowd. One of the arguments commonly used for getting companies to embrace social media is that it allows direct communication with consumers and puts a face/name to the company. Another is the low cost to start as most of the applications are free to use. The marketers who make their living convincing companies to jump on the social media bandwagon have a list of reasons as to why this is the future of marketing. While I don’t necessarily disagree with this, most of their case studies are with smaller companies or individuals. But for a multi-media giant like ESPN, will establishing a corporate policy for social media real effect their business or brand?

The interesting thing is that without either written or video content, there is not much to comment about. As ESPN is a content creator and provider, is it really unreasonable for them to force their employees to follow certain guidelines regarding the distribution or re-distribution of content? There are many other huge companies who have already implemented these same restrictions on their employees but because they are not ESPN, it didn’t get reported.

As social media evolves these are issues that will have to be debated – what right do employees have to Twitter or Facebook using company generated content or information? How do you separate your personal persona from your professional one? How do you protect confidential information from being leaked? Basically, how do you protect your brand?

This is just the start of what should be a really interesting ride as these and new challenges pop up in the clash between social media, marketing, and the corporate world.

Is This A Comment Or A Conversation?

Kurt Smith — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:35:00 +0000

According to Technorati there are about 1 million blog posts daily and that number greatly increases every year. One of the tips that is often mentioned by the social media gurus is to comment on the blogs that you visit. The reason they recommend this is that it is a first step in getting you noticed by linking your sites to sites you visit.

I have just started leaving comments on the blogs and sites that I visit. I would guess that I have about 25 that I follow daily and another 75 or so that I visit at least once a week. I always read the comments that other have left and for some reason never felt the need to jump into the discussion. If you have a blog or are thinking of starting one you need to realize that to really take part in all the web has to offer you need to jump in and start fully participating.

A few months ago I had a really interesting conversation with a group of friends, some who have been involved in social media for the past few years and some rookies. We argued about if leaving a comment equals an invitation for a conversation or was it just a comment. The part of the group that considered themselves social media savvy argued that is was a conversation and the rest of the group said no way, it was just a comment. I see it both ways, you can leave a comment like¨nice article, I liked the pictures.¨ Or, ¨I disagree that purple is the best color for a baby´s room. ¨ To me, the second example is an invitation for a response or a conversation while the first is just a comment.

The most important thing is to start participating and don´t worry if you are starting a conversation or just leaving a comment, either is fine. If you don´t participate, your chances of getting noticed in the increasingly crowded www are slim.