Thanks To Google +1 Is My New Emoticon!

In our fast paced world of micro messages and real time communication we are always looking for ways to save keystrokes and characters and express ourselves as efficiently and effectively as possible.  Hence the popularity of the simple Facebook "Like," the ease of a RT (retweet) on Twitter, and of course the almost ubiquitous smiley emoticon.  :-)  Thanks to Google I have a new favorite emoticon: +1

A Two Stroke Engine of Encouragement

This morning, as I am often wont to do, I sent out a "Good Morning" tweet to the world, but I added a simple, "Hope your day is a +1" paying homage to Google's newly announced "social" tag.  After all, it is a way to imply something positive in only two keystrokes - less than the word LIKE, or LOL and even shorter than the average emoticon.  ;-)  Almost immediately I received a +1 on my tweet from the iconic Twittizen, @Iconic88.

Soon the +1 meme began to spread and @carissaO chimed in as well and @Iconic88 cleverly suggested that Google should add a +1 button to the Android keyboard.  I say +1 to that suggestion, and I think I will continue to use +1 in my tweets to show positive encouragement.  Perhaps Google is listening and we will see a +1 coming soon to an Android device near you...

What do you think?  Do you give this blog post a +1?  Will +1 pivot its way into your daily vernacular?
 

6 Reasons To Read "Six Pixels Of Separation"

A few months ago I received a review copy of "Six Pixel's Of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone." by Mitch Joel, President of Canadian Digital Agency, Twist Image. I knew of Mitch as I have visited and read his blog, and I am separated from him by less than six degrees through a number of my friends who know Mitch well and even consider him a mentor. As you may infer from the picture, I started reading Mitch's book at the beach over the summer and intended to get my review out before the book's publication. Despite my good intentions, life intervened and I just now was able to finish reading the book. I have good news, and I have good news. The good news is "Six Pixels Of Separation" is a great read, both informational and inspirational. And the good news is, since I am late to the table with this review, "Six Pixels Of Separation" is available now , and you don't have to wait if you take my recommendation to read it (Amazon affiliate link below).

Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.

The underlying theme of the book is that "everyone is connected," and through a very effective conversational style, Mitch takes us through analysis and examples that, if you're listening, will lay the groundwork for an effective and successful path toward making the most of the social media driven, mashed-up, on-line world we live in, whether you are a business owner, an employee or just sowing your own oats to build a personal brand and make your digital mark. Rather than go step by step through the book, I thought I would just present six tidbits to give you a taste of some of the topics and insights that Mitch pixelates on. There are far more than 6 notable concepts addressed in the book, but here are a half dozen thought provoking headings and/or quotes that should give you a sense of the value within the pages.

6 Reasons To Read "Six Pixels Of Separation"

1. "In a world where we're all connected, one opinion quickly turns into everyone's opinion."

2. "Be curious about everything, but ruthless in what you get involved with."

3. "Part of building your audience will involve ethical link-baiting."

4. "Transparency is easy. Credibility is hard."

5. "Connecting is not engaging."

6. "Content is everything. Everything is content."

To learn more about Mitch's take on these and many other ideas you'll have to get your hands on a copy of the book, and I recommend that you do. Some of these concepts you may think you know, or you may think you have heard them before, but there is great value in reading Mitch's passionate, proactive and practical point of view.

Posted via email from Kiss My SASS!

It Doesn't Take A Village When You ARE The Village!

Becky McCray was one of my early Twitter friends and for over two years we have not only enjoyed many online exchanges but we have actually had the pleasure of meeting in the "real world" a few times. Becky is truly a delightful person and she has built a solid following and a great name for herself as a Small Business expert with her popular "Small Biz Survival" blog. Here is the part I find incredibly cool:

Becky lives in Alva, Oklahoma, population 4,848.

Becky also lives in Twitterville, and HER population there is 4,852.

That's right, Becky's personal "community" on Twitter is now larger than the entire population of the town she lives in. Every Tweet Becky sends out has the potential to inform, entertain or influence an audience that is larger than her entire home town. MUCH larger if you consider the power of re-tweeting.

Now, perhaps this is not as eye-popping as I am making it sound. Surely Ashton Kutcher can make the same claim as the 3,373,626 Twittizens that follow him far exceeds the population of Ketchum, Idaho, where I believe he often resides (population 3,234). However, Becky McCray is not one-half of a globally know Hollywood couple. Becky is a small town, small business owner, who, without Social Media, could not have dreamed of having the circle of influence and reach she now commands. Becky is one of us!

I suspect that many of the residents of Alva, Oklahoma live their whole lives without leaving and certainly without interacting with thousands of folks from cities and countries all over the world. "Social Media" has given Becky (and all of us) the opportunity to broaden our horizons and enrich our lives through a bigger community... one that has no borders and no boundaries - only bits and bytes and great people like Becky McCray to make it interesting!

It doesn't take a village... WE are the village!

Photo Credit: (cc) Shashi Bellamkonda Social Media Swami Network Solutions

Jungle Fever (Social Media Style)

Based on the success of his first Social Media Jungle held in November, Jeff Pulver is bringing his one-day Social Media Jungle to the 2009 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show). With a bigger venue comes a bigger agenda, and for the January 7th event Jeff has assembled a stellar group of discussion leaders. I am very pleased to be able to participate again and look forward to leading a discussion of how businesses can "Turn Their Social Media Addicts Into Assets!"

Here is how Jeff describes Social Media Jungle CES (and you can see the full schedule here):

"The Social Media Jungle at the 2009 International CES brings to light how the advent of social media is changing the way we work and live. Sessions include state-of-the-industry updates and a candid look at how social media disrupts the workplace by empowering companies to lower burn rates. Plus, learn how companies can motivate consumers through social media to drive product sales without increasing costs."

This will be a pretty intense day of conversations and a great day to catch up with some of the people involved in the social media industry.

Everyone in the room will have the assumed role of discussant and will be counted on to contribute to the conversation.

If you are planning to be in Las Vegas for CES we hope you will also be able to expand your expedition to include participating in the Social Media Jungle.

Registration costs: US$ 295 / 395.

To register - visit: CES Registration page

View this event on the CES website.

Photo Credit: © HenningManninga - Fotolia.com

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A Cold Beer Is Better Than A Cold Call!

I don't know about you, but I hate making cold calls. I do it when I have to, and I'm actually not bad at it, but I hate it nonetheless. The good news is that Social Media gives us the tools to avoid ever having to make another cold call. Used properly and creatively, the information flow and personal data available via Social Networks is invaluable for business development. As a self-professed Social Media "addict" I work hard to put my addiction to good use for my business. Here is one of many examples of how I have used Twitter and other tools to build a worthwhile business opportunity.

TRACKING DOWN AN EBEL GENIUS

I work at Myxer, and we provide an outstanding platform and large audience for content creators who want to reach their fans with mobile entertainment. Tens of thousands of Indie bands and artists use our free service to create and share ringtones of their music with their fans. I am also an avid podcast listener, and through podcasting I became a fan of the talented musician Matthew Ebel whose music was frequently featured on podcasts I listen to regularly including Adam Curry's Daily Source Code and CC Chapman's Accident Hash. A while ago, I thought it would be great to get Matthew and his music on Myxer and started looking for ways to reach out to him. Then I saw this Tweet from CC Chapman flow by on my Twitter stream:

PUTTING THE "PAL" IN PAYPAL

I had some interactions with CC on Twitter before, so on a whim I decided to see if I could use CC to get an introduction to Matthew. Using PayPal, I sent $10.00 to CC Chapman with a note saying something along the lines of "if you can introduce me to Matthew the first beer's on me!" It worked! Soon I saw this Tweet from CC:

FROM BEER TO BUSINESS

Shortly thereafter I was able to exchange emails with Matthew, thanks to CC, and so a connection was born. Over time, we did indeed get Matthew's great music on Myxer. In fact, this past summer we participated in a fun and timely experiment with him by sponsoring his Electric Bicycle project on Block Island, dubbed the MyxerCycle. To memorialize his electric bike project, Matthew put together a great 5 part video series about the MyxerCycle which you can see here.

I hope this helps quench your thirst for some examples of using Social Media for business and, at least in this case, proves that a "Cold Beer call" is much better than a Cold Call!

If you have never had the chance to see or hear Matthew Ebel, here is a fan-created Music Video (and link to a free Ringtone) of his popular song "Drive Away" from his aptly titled, "BEER & Coffee" CD. Cheers!

More from Matthew Ebel at Myxer

Beer Glass Photo Credit: Okea - Fotolia.com

Learn Baby Learn: Turn Your Social Media Addiction Into An Asset

They say it is a jungle out there, but this past week the jungle was in Melville, NY. Specifically, Jeff Pulver's first ever Social Media Jungle was held on November 13th, and I was fortunate to be one of the 50 or so participants and one of the 15 discussion leaders. I am careful to say "participants" rather than "attendees" as this event was unlike a typical conference. Everyone in the room actively contributed to the discussions inspired by each presentation. The day was thick with rich content and thought provoking questions and answers. I am honored to have shared the floor with the other presenters including Jeff Pulver, Chris Brogan, Jeremy Epstein, Leslie Poston, Howard Greenstein & Dean Landsman, Nelly Yusupova, Brett Petersel & Oz Sultan, Steve Lubetkin, Jonathan Yarmis, Ben Grossman, Jamie Thompson, and Justin Oberman. Kudos to Jeff for organizing a very special event, and congrats to Jeff for already landing a commitment to hold a second Social Media Jungle event at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2009!

LEARN BABY LEARN

As someone who is arguably addicted to Social Media, in my presentation I tried to give a real world example of how I use my Social Media addiction (specifically to Twitter) as an asset to the benefit of the company where I work, Myxer. I break the essence of using Social Media for Business into 5 key actions represented by the word L E A R N.

L: Listen. Social Media provides you with the tools to be the ultimate eavesdropper and be a fly on the wall to virtually thousands of conversations. What should you listen for? Your name, your company, your product, your industry.

E: Engage. Social Media provides you with the tools not just to listen, but to easily step into a conversation and engage with strangers. With that in mind, you must be REAL and be OPEN.

A: Accept. Now that you have listened and engaged, you need to accept what is being said about you, your brand, your company, your product. Take the feedback to heart because to the world at large, their perception is their reality, whether you agree with it or not.

R: React. What you do next is important. Are you going to be defensive or helpful? Remember, just as you started your Social Media exchange as a fly on the wall, there are others now listening to you, and seeing how you engage with your "followers."

N: Nurture. Social Media is all about relationship building. That first random encounter can, over time, become a valuable and rewarding relationship. Nurture your Social Media connections and you will build an army of evangelists for you, your brand, your product, your company, etc.

Thanks to Sanford Dickert, you can see a video of the entire presentation below. I have also posted the slides on Slideshare.

How have you turned your Social Media Addiction into an asset? Please share your view in the comments.



Blocks Photo Credit: Heath Doman - Fotolia.com

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It's A (Social Media) Jungle Out There!

This morning I had the pleasure of shooting the breeze over bagels with Jeff Pulver. Among many other accomplishments, Jeff has recently made a name for himself as the host of more than 30 breakfasts in 17 cities around the world this year. Although he has thousands of followers on Social Networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Jeff has cleverly brought the engagement and interactivity of "tagging," "poking" and "writing on one's wall" to the off-line "real" world at his live breakfast events.

Today it was just us Jeffs so we dispensed with the need for name tags (especially since they both would have said "Jeff") and we dove right into a healthy discussion about life, liberty and the pursuit of social media happiness.

Jeff is planning his first "SOCIAL MEDIA JUNGLE" event in Melville, Long Island in November and I asked him to talk a little about why it is a jungle out there and how his events can help us on our own expeditions.



What do you think? Do you need to be Tarzan to succeed in the Social Media Jungle?

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Dad-O-Matic: Where Every Day Is Father's Day

Hello, my name is Jeff and I'm a Dad (Daddict?)

I am the father of three (and master of none...) The greatest joy of my life has been to watch, participate, influence and, to the best of my ability, guide ZEO (my nickname for the clan - short for Zachary, Ethan & Olivia, in birth order) as they have grown from tiny bundles of cute, to teens and young adults. Today they are truly wonderful citizens that make me enormously proud on a daily basis. If everything else I do in life should fail, I can sleep well at night knowing I have done my part in bringing three great additions into our world.

With that in mind I am very pleased to have been invited to be a contributing writer for a terrific new blog created by Chris Brogan. As one of the original "Rock Stars" of the world of blogging and social media (and an extremely good person, a true "Mensch,") Chris has assembled an impressive squad of Geek Dads to share their views and experiences on fatherhood and parenting. I am honored to be among them and invite you (actually, I encourage you) to visit Dad-O-Matic and enjoy articles, reviews and opinions on a wide range of topics and from varying points of view, all with an important common thread: being a Dad.

I hope you will read my first contribution to Dad-O-Matic, The BUXX Stops Here!, as well as the other great posts from the rest of the Geek Dad Squad!

UPDATE: I will continue to add links to my Dad-O-Matic posts here:

The Real “L” Word

How To Tell A KILLER Scary Story

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Social Media Is NOT An Industry

I've been making a concerted effort to leave more comments on the blogs I read, and recently I commented on a post called "The Future of Social Media: Hope Or Hype?" at Jason Falls' great Social Media Explorer blog. My comment touched on some discussions I recently had at a breakfast with Jeff Pulver, where we were discussing different real world applications of "Social Media."

HYPE, HYPNOTISM OR HYPERBOLE?

Social Media is fun and addicting, so it is no surprise that the active participants love to talk about it, examine it, analyze it and obsess over it. Hell, here I am writing about it. Guilty as charged! But what is Social Media? As I wrote in my response to Jason:

Hi Jason. Great post. I think the reason this Hype question even exists is that "Social Media" is really NOT a standalone industry or sector, even though many folks are trying to position it as such. IMHO Social Media is not an industry.

Well, if it is not an "industry" what is it? I continued:

Social Media really refers to a set of technology driven tools and services that simply allow us to do what we have always been doing -- interacting and engaging with friends, family, associates and customers -- but with Social Media we can do it in a much more efficient, easy, cost-effective and far reaching way. Faxes were better than snail mail, and email is better than faxes, but they all enable us to communicate and exchange messages with others. Social media is like that on steroids, making it almost ridiculously simple to engage with an almost unlimited number of folks, removing all barriers of time, cost and place. Social Media provides the ability to listen and engage faster and better than ever before, and EVERY industry can use the tools and services... not to be a part of Social Media, but to leverage Social Media as a part of what they are already doing, to do it better!

Clearly, I believe there are tremendous personal and professional benefits to using Social Media, but the key is not as much being "active in Social Media" but rather, how can you make Social Media become a part of your activities.

What's your take? Is Social Media an Industry? Please add your thoughts to the comments, and if you like reading this blog, please subscribe by email or RSS.

Photo Credit: Paul Hill - Fotolia.com

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Six Sassy Bits About Twitter

I am a big fan of Twitter. Some may even say I am addicted to Twitter. Certainly, Twitter was a strong influence and inspiration behind the launch of the INVITATIONS Social Networking Rehab Facility. In the past several months, as Twitter has continued to gain traction, the number of folks following me has more than doubled. With that in mind, I thought I would take a few moments here to re-visit some of the things I have written about Twitter over the past 12 months. So, if you are new to this blog, or new to Twitter, here are six blog posts that will hopefully inform and entertain any new Twittizen:

TWITTER MADE A MONKEY OF ME (April 2007)

Well, perhaps I allowed Twitter to let me make a monkey of myself... And, as you will soon learn, this is not the first time I have been a monkey! It all started when I signed up for Twitter and began following and befriending folks I knew, including podcasters I admire and have communicated with...such as the proverbial prince of podcasting, the Podfather himself, Adam Curry (adamcurry in Twitterspeak). There was no reason for me to suspect that the "Twit" adamcurry was not the "real" Adam Curry... (READ MORE...)

TWITTER MADE A COMIC STRIP OF ME (April 2007)

Well, I must say, I am all a-twitter. The infamous "Comic Strip Blogger," A/K/A "CSB" caught wind of my "TWITTER Made A Monkey of Me!" post and turned me into a Comic Strip! (In case you are wondering, I am the monkey on the LEFT!)

TWITTER IS THE NEW "DISCOVERY CHANNEL" (April 2007)

I have mentioned how Twitter Made a Monkey of Me and Twitter Made a Comic Strip of Me but the real thing Twitter has done for me is to become my primary "discovery channel." It may be R.I.P. for my RSS reader! Why scour scores of subscriptions when I can have the latest and greatest pushed to me live and on the fly? Twitter has become my best way to discover. Discover cool websites....discover blogs, podcasts, even breaking news... It has been an amazing and inspiring resource... (READ MORE...)

I LOVE LUCY (and TWITTER) (September 2007)

Yes, Twitter is like an episode of I LOVE LUCY...
(to find out how, read on...)

GONE FISHIN' (IN THE TWITTER STREAM!) (January 2008)

I remember fishing with my Grandfather. City boys we, our idea of fishing was standing on the pier with a Popeil's Pocket Fisherman, using store bought frozen shrimp as bait. We had more than our share of stories about "the one that got away"... but we also had many successful hauls of the hook. The pier was always there, and anytime we wanted we could grab the rod, toss a line in and see what we might be able to reel in. So what does "goin' fishin'" have to do with Twitter? Because, dropping by the Twitter stream is a lot like tossing a baited line in the water, never quite sure what, if anything, you may catch... (READ MORE...)

TWITTER INTELLIGENCE (IS NOT AN OXYMORON) (February 2008)

The phrase "Military Intelligence" is often jokingly referred to as an oxymoron. (I used to think "oxymoron" was some sort of bleach product I should be using to get the stains out of my laundry -- now, with "oxymoron!") Regardless of your position on Military Intelligence, I would like to take a moment to examine what I will call "Twitter Intelligence," and how I use Twitter to be less of a Moron. (READ MORE...)

So there you have it. Six Sassy Bits About Twitter... What have you written about Twitter over the past 12 months? Please share your opinions and links to YOUR favorite bits about Twitter in the comments below. And if you are not doing so already, please follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sass.

All The World IS A Stage!

When William Shakespeare (or Sir Francis Bacon, if you prefer) wrote the words, "All the world's a stage..." I doubt he imagined just how prescient a statement that would be. Whereas the Bard and his Troupe would have to venture from Stratford-upon-Avon to broaden their performance reach, today one need only post to the Internet and indeed, all the world IS a stage!

CASTING A WIDE "NET"

For years I have given public presentations for business and for fun. The fun part has always been presenting to students, whether it was a classroom full of my own kids' peers at "Career Day" or whether it is at the University of Miami Business School where I have been a volunteer guest speaker in the "Starting New Ventures" class for the past four years, I have always enjoyed speaking in front of small groups of 25 - 100 or so folks. Today, there is no reason to limit your presentations to the lucky few who get to see you live. Today there are no shortages of ways to record and share your live event (look what Laura Fitton is doing with MediaCasters.TV and Jeff Pulver with his Pulver.TV to interactively extend live events beyond the span of those in physical attendance). These are exciting times that would likely bedazzle even the Bard himself!

I recently presented at the University of Miami on a Social Media For Business panel with Alex De Carvalho and Carlos Granier-Phelps that was hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum. There were about 50 students, alumni and others in attendance, all of whom had paid $25 for the evening (including drinks and hor d'oeuvres - a good thing since my presentations ALWAYS seem better after the audience has had a few drinks - ok, not so much at the elementary school "Career Day.")

SLIDESHARE AND SHARE ALIKE

A few days after the MIT event, the presentation came up in a Twitter conversation and Francine Hardaway asked me if I had posted my presentation to Slideshare. While I had heard of Slideshare, I had never really checked it out. I told Francine I would post my slides, and I did. (I had to jigger with it a bit to add links for the embedded videos and record a narration to fill in the gaps from my "live" presentation, but it wasn't too much trouble). Within hours, the presentation that I had given to an audience of 50 had been seen by more than a few hundred, and the number of views and downloads continues to grow.

What a great concept! Why limit your thoughts and views to the circle around you? Why not share your slides, and thus your thoughts and ideas, with anyone and everyone who may take an interest. Slideshare is full of wonderful, intriguing and inspiring personal and professional presentations on just about any imaginable topic. Not only is it a great way to ensure that all the world is your stage, but it is a great resource for information, ideas and inspiration when it is your turn to get up in front of a crowd.

I intend to continue to post any presentations I give, and encourage you to do the same. In fact, if you have used Slideshare before, tell us about it and give the link to your presentation in the comments below!

Here is the presentation I prepared for the MIT Enterprise Forum:

| View | Upload your own

"Stage" Photo Credit: Boguslaw Mazur - Fotolia.com

Update: The person we hired using the "Work's A Beach"Recruitment Video in the presentation is J.C. Hutchins. You can read about how he got his job from Twitter here.

Social Media: I Can See Clearly How Blurry It Is!

It's all getting blurry... In the world of social media, our network(s) become our friends and our friends become our network(s). The business of social networking becomes the socializing of our business. It is increasingly difficult to separate who we are from what we do or whom we work for. After all, if you embrace the transparency that makes the web work so much better, it is nearly impossible to lead a double life online. We are who we are, and all of our Blog posts, Twitter Tweets, Facebook Updates, Utterz utters, Seesmic and YouTube Videos, Flickr photos and the entirety of our daily digital droppings shapes our persona in the eyes of "the community." The lines between personal and professional are dotted and not solid. This is not a bad thing. After all, we spend the majority of our adult lives working and our life's work experience invariably helps shape who we are and how we behave.

A SEPARATE PIECE?

It was not too long ago that I tried to keep my personal online presence separate from my professional online presence. While I did not hide the fact that I work at Myxer, when I did Myxer stuff online I felt I should keep it separate from this personal blog, and vice versa. Little by little, as I found my social network expanding I increasingly encountered people that, aside from being "social" with, I could actually be doing business with. I realized that there were potential partners in them thar social networking woods! So slowly but surely, I have eased a little more of my work life into my social networking and without question my social networking life has eased its way into my business. This has been encouraging, fun and productive on both sides of the fence as I continue to explore ways to appropriately use social media to expand my business, and at the same time leverage my business to expand my social network.

WORK'S A BEACH!

Most recently, I have been having a lot of fun creating short videos as part of my social networking. Whether posting them on Facebook, Utterz, Seesmic, YouTube, or my Social Networking Rehab parody blog, I have been finding video to be a great way to satisfy some of my creative urges. Along the same lines, the other day I took a short video on the beach with my Treo smartphone, and turned it into a silly "recruitment" video for Myxer, since we are actively hiring. On a whim, I posted the video on YouTube and sent the link out on my Twitter stream. Within minutes, in addition to some encouraging comments, I actually received resumes sent to the "HR" email address at the end of the video. A social media video, posted to the Twitter stream, proved to actually be an effective tool to attract potential employees. The lines may be blurred but the results are clear: Social Media and business can and do work together!

How have you incorporated your social media life into your business (or your business into your social media life)?

Send "Work's A Beach" To Your Phone. Click the button >

Video by Sass. Photo Credit: GJS - Fotolia.com

You're So Vain (You Probably Think This Blog Is About You)

Variety may be the spice of life, but VANITY is the spice that seasons the blogosphere. Face it, you can't spell B L O G G E R without E G O! It takes a certain amount of self-love, self-confidence and self-centeredness to put your words out there for the world to see. Frankly, few of us would be doing it if we didn't have enough of an ego to believe our words, thoughts, creativity, opinions and observations were worthy of note by others. We want to be noticed, recognized (literally and figuratively) and we want to be heard.

Thanks to technology advances an individual's ability to create and distribute their own content has been democratized. It is the proverbial power of the pen and press on steroids. Whereas man has always been able to create with a scroll and ink or a canvas and paint, the audience was limited. Today, with the same ease we can create something that can literally have infinite global reach. Someone in Australia can read this right now, as simply as someone in the house next door (of course the person in the house next door is probably stealing my Wi-Fi signal. My Mate in Australia is a "legitimate" reader!)

THIS TIME ITS PERSONAL

We have entered the age of Personal Brands, where being master of your domain (name) is as important as your wardrobe and hygiene choices. Parents are choosing child names based on the availability of theirkid.com (and I used to think "GoDADDY" was an odd name for a Domain Registrar... Bob Parsons is a genius!) Contrary to popular belief, we are NOT what we eat. We ARE what shows up when we Google our names! Lifestreaming, Liveblogging, JustinTV, just in time to make an inordinate amount of content available using cool, free and easy tools.

Micro-blogging is making Macro changes to the what, where, why, when and how we communicate and share our opinions and our lives. In social media, everyone is like your first college roommate... a stranger whose life is suddenly exposed to you bit by bit as you spend more time together, sharing more and more tidbits of both the mundane and the meaningful. Over time, the bits (and in our case, bytes) of information shape your perception of the person and make them "real" and before long that stranger is no longer strange, and in fact, has become a friend. Is that any different than what happens on Twitter and Facebook? By the time you go to an event or a "Tweet Up" and meet someone you have been following or have befriended for a while, you are already virtual roommates and well on your way to becoming true friends.

TREES FALLING IN THE WOODS

Now that we have such a powerful and simple ability to reach an audience (and an audience is someone who is listening to YOU, whether it is one person or one thousand). If you write in a blog, Tweet something, or Utter something, or post a video on Seesmic or YouTube or Write on a Wall on Facebook and SOMEONE responds, then you have succeeded and your ego will have been stroked. But is Social Media like trees falling in the woods? If you post something on your blog and the comment meter remains on "0" does that mean nobody can hear it? How does that make you feel? Do you gauge your Twitter tweets by how many @yourname responses you get? Do you feel disappointed or even slighted if you craft a clever 140 character mini-manifesto and see it drift away with the current of the Twitter stream without making a single @you ripple? Honestly... I do! Thanks to our egos I think we all crave feedback. Perhaps even a negative comment is more satisfying than silence. Perhaps it is our ego driven nature that has unconsciously built the infrastructure of Social Media and on-line "community" around channels of linking, commenting, tracking, sharing and re-posting. What do you think?

So, now that we are "roommates," please feel free to stroke my ego by commenting on this blog post and sharing and linking to your heart's delight! And yes, this blog IS about you!

Photo Credit: Albo - Fotolia.com