They say those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. Cleaning out my office I ran across this June 2000 copy of Alley Cat News
with this great ad by a high-flying Dot.com law firm (now defunct as well).
As Silicon Alley experiences a rebirth and we move into the Social Media Bubble, take a look at some of the Dot bomb leaders. How many of today’s high flyers will still be around 10 years from now?
Let’s be honest here: we are all flattered when someone chooses to tweet or retweet our content. It tells us someone thought it was not only good enough to read, but good enough to share. It’s part of the Twitterverse dynamic.
I suppose I like being thanked for retweeting someone’s content. It’s nice, but very often it happens as part of a bulk “thank you.” What follows is a series of still more TY tweets saying the equivalent of “you’re welcome” that I have to work my way through because the thank-ers included the whole list of thank-ees. Does that whole process feel as hollow for you as it does for me?
There is an old SEO saying that “the Internet hates dead ends.” A “thank you” alone is, to a certain extent, a dead end. A one-way acknowledgement. So I propose an alternative:
What if we stop thanking people for retweets or mentions on Twitter?
Instead, try to find their content to promote or retweet. Yeah, I know it takes a little extra effort, but doesn’t it make more sense? Isn’t the ultimate goal of social media to make connections and engage more? Who’s with me?
I saw this tweet recently and it got me to thinking. Life is more shades of gray than strict black and white. A recent perusal of my Twitter stream gave me pause to consider what it is I have to say and what value followers may find in my tweet stream. In a word, eclectic. I am fascinated by…well…just about everything. In particular, with people who know a lot about something. I ask a lot of questions.
With quite some time on Twitter (I’ve been on since 2009), I look back on my journey in life and career, and my digital media footprint. I feel that transparency is the key to creating value, digital or otherwise, so please forgive my introspection.
When I first started Twitter I was a principal in an IT managed services firm. Today, I run a consultancy focused on innovation and business strategy. But that’s only of a piece of the picture.
So, here it is. What you get if you follow me on Twitter:
For me, it all starts with technology. Thirty-five plus years of playing with computers is gonna leave a mark. So I tweet about technology. Mostly as it impacts small businesses, but with a smattering of enterprise and consumer.
This is a broad one. I am fascinated by how we interact in this digital age. This includes buzzwords like “social media”, “crowdsourcing”, “gamification” as well as their impact on business, employment, entertainment, and communication. Also includes generational aspects: Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Gen-Y, Millennial. I came up with my own term: pervasive communications. I love to dig in to what motivates people. The answer is not always obvious, but always interesting.
Lately I’ve been digging into communications. In particular, how businesses, organizations and other communities interact. The age of broadcast is over for brands and it’s now necessary to adapt and evolve the communications ecosystem. I call this corporate narrative. I wrote an introductory thesis about it in Brands, Narratives and Story Worlds.
This is a potpourri of pop culture, entertainment, and sports. I’m a Mets/Jets/Knicks fan. The legion of doom. You’ll see lot’s of complaining during the appropriate season.
I love music. I have eclectic tastes in music. I like to share some tasty gems that move me. Perhaps you’ll share back?
I think our education system is broken, plain and simple. So I tweet and retweet a lot from people who are thinking outside the box to make it better. I am particularly interested in the convergence of entertainment and education, and the transformational potential of transmedia.
I am a serial entrepreneur. I’ve done startups. I’ve helped/guided/cajoled startups. I tweet about business strategy. Sales, marketing, public relations, customer service, operations – it’s all on the table. Even more, I am interested in innovation. What can we do that hasn’t been done? What solutions can we find to some of the worlds toughest problems?
I am fascinated by the incredible impact of something that is difficult to measure. In an era of pervasive data and metrics I am curious to see how the influence measurement genre plays out. I coined the term Influence Measurement Optimization™ of which Marcio Saito was the first certified practitioner.
I am a fairly active tweeter. I average 50+ tweets a day. I like Twitter chats. These are high volume, free-for-all conversations that generally last an hour. It’s like crack for my ADD personality. Try one. You may like it. You may find me in #custserv, #HBRchat, and #influencechat, to name a few.
I am gregarious by nature. It’s why they call it social media. ‘nuff said. I have a sarcastic sense of humor. After 20+ years my wife still rolls her eyes. Don’t feel bad if you do as well.
What do I look for? Challenge me. Educate me. Commiserate with me (Mets/Jets/Knicks). We may not agree, but I only ask that you treat me with respect, as I will for you. Oh, and I don’t auto-follow. Please say “hello” (thank you Sherree Worrell).
Hope this helps.
(Note: Special thanks to Jill Twiss for the inspiration.)
Update: For a smattering of what I’ve been tweeting about recently, check out my Twylah page. Want your own? Send a tweet to @twylah and cc: @berkson0 or request an invite here.