Social Network Content Creation Levels Off

I read some pretty interesting stuff on Mashable yesterday about how content creation on social networks appears to have plateaued. A study performed by Forrester shows that while involvement in social networks has increased, the amount of content created by users has not.
The Forrester study breaks up consumers into seven distinct profiles of Conversationalist, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators, Inactives, and finally Creators. In the case of Creators, the study found that the number of Creators dipped slightly in 2010, from 24% to 23%.

Source: Mashable.com

What this most likely means is that many people who are joining social networks nowadays are more spectators than they are producers of content, and that's fine. I think people get a little over excited when they mention the people will take the power out of hands of current content creators (TV, radio, newspaper, etc.) and place it into the hands of everyday people.

There's no disputing that the rise of the internet and social networks have allowed ordinary people like me to become content creators in our own right, but not everyone is interested in creating content.

We should also take into account that the amount of information shared across the internet is truly astounding. With so many outlets for news and content, people are more likely to syndicate or share content across the web rather than produce their own. I imagine that I'm the nth person to write about this very same story.

Maybe Ashton Kutcher Isn't So Influential After All

When it comes to social networks, some of the numbers thrown around are truly astounding. Everyone knows that Facebook recently eclipsed the 500 million users mark, Twitter has 145 million users, and Linkedin is not far behind at 75 million. But some of the truly astounding numbers come via Twitter, where popularity reigns supreme. A man much smarter than me (Brian Solis), sums it up best when he writes,

" For better or worse, Twitter introduces the notion of popularity, whereby the numbers of followers and also the friend to follower ratio we possess indicate ones stature within Twitterverse. As I’ve said over the years, popularity does not beget influence, but the egosystem and all who define it, do in fact reward and nurture it."

 Did you know that celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears have more Twitter followers than the countries of Israel, Sweden, Switzerland and Ireland? Kutcher has close to 6 million followers, which is a lot of influence for someone who makes mediocre movies, and is famous for marrying Demi Moore.

Or is it a lot of influence? A recent study conducted by scientists at Northwestern University concludes that celebrities who have brought Twitter in popular culture, are actually largely ignored by their followers. Instead, it's less known "experts" who are wielding all the influence. These lesser known "experts", are actually experts in their respective fields whether it be social media, music or rock climbing.

It makes sense if you really think about it. I follow celebs like Kanye West and Fabolous for purely entertainment value, but most of the time I do not keep up with their tweets. I don't see much dialogue being generated from what Kanye had for lunch. This quote from the lead researcher on the study, Professor Alok Choudhary stood out to me:

"A lot of people think that just because you tweet a lot means you may have influence or you are important. But there are a lot of junk tweets.
"Our premise is that influencers are those that dynamically change the opinions of people on specific topics, or the topic of the moment.

So just because Ashton Kutcher is popular and tweets a lot is not an indication by itself that he is influential. I would think people more like Seth Godin or Brian Solis would be more influential, because they are impacting the way people think by tweeting valuable, relevant content.

When I first started using Twitter, I thought it was simply a tool for the inane to spew their thoughts. But as I used it more and gained more followers, I realized that I could ignore all the chatter and find the information I needed. When I became more knowledgeable about Twitter, I became obsessed with the popularity aspect of it; I started following random people in an attempt to acquire more followers, and I would tweet only about myself.

But soon I realized that this was ill-advised. I wasn't getting any interaction with any of my followers because I wasn't offering them anything valuable. So I began tracking conversations and initiating conversations, as well as tweeting articles, blog posts, and other information people might find interesting. Those two things got me more followers than my previous methods.

So in sum, its not about how many followers you have, but rather if you're engaging with others on Twitter and offering them something useful.

[Via Telegraph]

In An Instant

So media outlets have been abuzz today with the news of Google unveiling new search features. Early this morning, you could count me as one of the uninterested.

It's not because I don't care about what Google does, its just that with school now back in session I have many other obligations to attend to.

One of those obligations is blogging. (Sorry I'm late! I didn't have internet in my apt. last night and the library was so far away!) I was writing a post for My iWriter when I realized that I needed a picture.

So like everyone else who needs something and needs it now, where do you go? Google. I typed in google.com into the address bar, typed in blogging into Google and wham! I was hit with instant search, my eyes almost popping out of their sockets!

How glorious a concept! As if searching Google wasn't fast enough, now I get to see my results as I type. I need some time to process this information.




Ok done. I'm trying to think of the implications of Google's new technology. Obviously users will now be able to search better and faster. Instead of typing in various terms hoping for certain results, now you can see where the results are going and change accordingly.

For a blogger like me this is great. I can get my search results super quick, cutting down the amount of time I need to search the internet for things such as pictures, links, etc. While the time it takes to load search results normally is minimal, this is a huge advancement. With the advent of the internet, humans nowadays are accustomed to getting their information quickly, and this is even quicker.

I was in class while writing this so I don't have time to fully ponder the implications, but this is a good start. What do you think the impact of Google's new technology will be?

I was reading PR-Squared the other day when I came across a post titled, "Which Social Media Marketing Agencies Will Thrive in 5 Years?"


I thought to myself, Well that's a strange train of thought. Why wouldn't social media agencies thrive? 


The author makes the argument that every Industrial Revolution is essentially a story about battling for control. It points to historical examples such as the oil, railroad and telephone industries and to more modern examples such as cable, search engines (Google) and even social media (Facebook).


As a history major, I of course understood that veracity of this argument, and it disheartened me for a little bit.


But after sitting down and thinking for a while, it actually gave me some hope.


You see, I've always wanted to start my own business, and now is really a great time to do so, especially for social media.


Mentioned in the post was the fact that many PR and Advertising agencies are trying to hoard social media expertise and add it to the list of services they already offer. While this may be true, I do not think that this is necessarily bad news. This means that social media is becoming even more important which is a good thing, meaning more jobs and opportunities in the communications industry.

But as the post mentioned, early on in industrial revolutions there are little barriers to entry, and only as the revolution becomes older do we see more consolidation.


So now is about as good of a time for me to start my own social media advertising, public relations or marketing agency. I could easily set it up with little cost: I already have a name, all I need is a logo, a website, some business cards and some clients. 


Although I am busy at school this year, I could do it right now and work part time from my room. I could enlist the various student groups on campus and other nonprofits in the area. Who knows, maybe I could turn it into something big. Whether I'll go through with it or not remains to be seen. (I have to get over my fear of failing first.)


What are your thoughts about this topic? Are you thinking of starting your own social media agency? Discuss.

Strategy Is Key

These past few days I've truly begun to realize how much work social media is. Running three blogs, being active on Twitter and Facebook; it's not easy.

My social media strategy is basically just "winging it" right now. I write blog posts at 3am, tweet sporadically and in bursts, and post a scattering of Facebook updates. I still read other blogs everyday but I haven't commented on one in about in about a week.

Now I know what those talking heads mean when they say you need a social media strategy. It just makes sense to have everything organized instead of haphazardly employing social media, which can be detrimental to your brand.

I don't have enough motivation right now to properly devise a social media strategy, but since school is starting next week I'm hoping I'll be able to stick to a more consistent schedule.

First, I need to establish how often I will post content on my blogs.


I think I've figured out how the breakdown is going to go. I think that I will update my own personal blog, SunofSam, daily. I read numerous blogs and news outlets daily so there is always something interesting to talk about.

This blog, I think I will update every Tuesday and Thursday. Two days of posts should be enough content related to social media to satisfy me and you right? Correct me if I'm wrong.

And as for My iWriter, who knows. Maybe once a week? Twice a month? I think I'm going to use my Tumblr blog to showcase some of my other writing. I've written some short stories and my Tumblr blog seems like a good venue to showcase them.

Second, I need to establish a certain level of daily social engagement.


A blog can only expect to grow as much as it engages with its readers and other blogs. I need to structure my posts so that they are more conversational and I need to comment on other blogs more often. I'll say five comments a day. That seems like a good number.

By commenting on other blogs, you may even increase your readership as readers are more likely to visit your blog and the author may do so as well.

Next, I need to tweet less information about me, and more about we. I've come to realize that to be successful on Twitter, you need to be engaging. When rape allegations about Julian Assange emerged this past weekend, I took to Twitter and began reacting to tweets I found interesting. What happened next was an extremely interesting discussion about conspiracy theories used by the CIA to discredit opponents.

So my strategy now will be identify two trending topics on the day and start five meaningful conversations for each. You'll be amazed at what engaging with fellow tweeters will do for your following.

Lastly, I need to be more active on Linkedin. I have over 130 connections and I'm a member of 7 groups but I've yet to really engage with others. At worst, engaging on Linkedin would be another way to drive traffic to my blogs, and at best, I might learn more about social media.

This isn't the most concrete of social media strategies, and I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but this is the first time I've actually sat down and thought stuff through (It's also 3am and I'm struggling to stay awake). I'll be revising it as I go along and I'll fill you in on any updates.

What does your social media strategy look like?

How I'm Building My Personal Brand Part I

One of the most important things I've learned this summer was the concept of personal branding. It simply had never occurred to me before to think of myself as a brand.  

According to Dan Schwabel, personal branding is essentially how “we market ourselves to others.” Personal branding is all about how other people perceive us; how do we define ourselves, what differentiates us from everyone else, and what value do we provide to others?

Personal branding is especially important when it comes to job searching. In order to differentiate oneself from the crowd of other job seekers, one must market themselves effectively.

As I enter my senior year, I have invested a significant amount of time in my personal brand and it’s showing. Here is the first step I took:

Start a blog.

It could be about anything, but preferably in line with your passions. Personal branding is about defining what you do well and are passionate about, and a blog is a big step in this direction.

I started my first blog a month ago, with the intention of branding myself as a communications professional. I wanted to show potential employers my excellent writing skills, my creativity, and intelligence. All traits which would help me succeed in advertising, public relations or marketing.

At the beginning, I would Google my name but the same three outdated results always came up, and they had nothing to do with the transformation I was undergoing at the time. So I began updating my blog daily, publishing about 5-7 posts a day. I also engaged with other bloggers by commenting on their posts, contributing to the conversation and establishing myself as knowledgeable.

After a month of blogging and related activities, the top ten search results on Google belonged to me! I At first it took a while for Google to crawl my page, but due to the fact that I regularly post content, my posts now show up on Google a day after they are posted. 

How has blogging helped you with personal branding? Post your comment below!

Also stay tuned for the next step I took towards building my personal brand.

Three Lessons Blogging Has Taught Me So Far

I couldn't have anticipated the impact that blogging would have on me when I started less than a month ago. It seems like an eternity since then - I've learned so much about myself, blogging and writing and there's still light years ahead of me.

I initially began my own personal blog SunofSam for practice. Over the summer, a friend and I cooked up the idea of starting our own music blog, which in turn morphed into starting a pop culture blog. I was extremely excited by the idea, creating style guides and strategically thinking of plans to market it around campus and on the internet. However, what kept me up at night was the fact that I had never blogged before. I wasn't sure if people would like my writing, if it would be entertaining, funny etc.

I figured that blogging would be easy. I assembled a brain trust of people I knew around me to contribute and I figured that since we were are all socially connected with various groups of people, getting readership would be no big deal. I figured that we would just use Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to push our blog and be big in no time.

Thank goodness I started my own personal blog because I was setting myself up for disappointment.

Lesson number one: Blogging is not easy.

Actually, it's quite easy for anyone to blog; all they have to do is post some opinionated drivel on a page and call it blogging.

But all types of quality writing, blogging included, require research, dedication, time and practice. I realized that it wasn't just easy for me to sit down and write a post about a newspaper article I had read. I had to do research, find a picture, proofread, and then there was the actual writing. People forget how hard it is sometimes to master the blank page. How do you start that opening paragraph? What am I trying to get my audience to understand? Does my headline draw people in? And then while writing you might find that your post morphs into something else, requiring you to change everything. So after completing a series of posts, I often began wondering where all the time went.

Since blogging consumed so much of my time, I realized that once school started, and with other blogging assignments soon to come, I would have to create a schedule. The way I was going about blogging was simply getting ridiculous. I would write well into the night, completing about 7 blog posts for the following day. And then I might write even more if I saw something interesting I didn't see the day before. This was simply unsustainable over the long haul and even after one week, I was feeling a little burnt out.  

Lesson number two: create a blogging schedule that works for you.

Determine how often you are going to post, what days, and try and write your posts beforehand. You'll thank yourself later.

As I stated before, I was setting myself up for major disappointment when I expected to just waltz into the social media landscape and have an impact.  

Lesson number three: crafting a social media strategy requires patience and experience that I didn't yet, and still don't have.

I remember creating a Facebook fan page for my blog, and inviting my 600 plus friends. I expected a good chunk of them to "Like" it and then read my blog posts, and in no time average hundreds of viewers. Guess how many of the 600 have actually responded to date? Only about 50.

And I expected to be an Influencer on Twitter as well, only to realize that I had no clue how to use it. And even when I felt that I was making headway into understanding Twitter, I'd be lucky if I got one click from Twitter linking back to my blog.

There are many sites, guides and gurus who claim there is a magic formula to get you 1000 readers in a day, or whatever. But fortunately for me I decided to throw myself into the fire and got burnt a little, which was all for the best.

I could continue on about all the things I've learned from blogging, and I probably will in another post, but I didn't want this to be a self-help post for blogging. I don't have the experience yet to write one of those.

What I hope to convey through my own experience is that creating quality and engaging content requires time, hard work and strategy to get that content into the hands of readers. I hope that beginning bloggers reading this will be able to relate. What is your experience?