Ian M Rountree

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News Flash: People Still Failing the Social Resume

January 26, 2010 by Ian 4 Comments

Back in the Game on FlickrAbout once a week, I get invites to be friends with people on Facebook. Some of them I take up – mostly, at this point, they come from people I know. A number do come from people I’ve either forgotten, sadly, or people who have decided to engage me – and please, by all means, engage me! – but it’s not always done right.

Not everyone who reads my blog comments, much as I wish they would. It’s a great way to introduce yourself, I refuse to use nofollow on my links so you get some free Google-juice, and I absolutely do reply. However, because not everyone comments, their other efforts connecting with me might be a little hamprered by a lack of introduction. There are really easy ways to get around this; let me view your profile, find me on Twitter, or send a message with the invite explaining your reasons for adding me. Logical, right?

Ovr the last few weeks, I’ve hd half a dozen people try to add me to Facebook – if you’re reading, I’m sorry, but I had to hit the ignore button for two simple reasons: I have no idea who you are, and your profiles are set to friends only. This is important, because if I can’t find out who you are (and I’m not wasting my time in Google playing with your name because hands-on privacy trumps public-facing information) then I don’t feel like I have any means, reason, or motivation to connect with you.

I want to connect with people. I hate hitting the ignore button, but spending all my time recently removing followings from Twitter because of the unironic use of “MLM” and slap-dash flooding of messages, so anonymous, uninforming invitations are just as annoying – recently, at least – as constant invites from my existing friends to play games on Facebook.

As long as you actually want me to converse with you, and you’re not trying to buff up your numbers, I’ll follow you. I’m a bit loose like that. But that’s not the key point; getting anyone to connect with you isn’t enough, it has to provide some utility to both of us.

I’m just learning about how effective social proofing is. Scratching the surface is enough to understand that there’s huge power in having connections, in knowing the right people – and trust me, if you’re reading this, you’re the right people. Businesses are learning, too, that people who have social proof can be so much more valuable than a trained drone with a degree. There are a lot of networks like LinkedIn, Brazen Careerist, and others which bank entirely on this concept – and they’re winning.

If you do it right, you can use Facebook and Twitter to win, too. But that’s a big if.

There’s no manual for Twitter, because it’s so heavily democratised, that it’s impossible to tell anyone they’re doing it wrong. It’s like telling someone with a Swiss army knife that using the saw to cut their steak is wrong – it’s not, and it shows your ignorance in the saying so. There may be no wrong use of the service, but there are failing methods by which to communicate and make that first impression.

Making the wrong joke at the wrong time is a good example of this. I know I’m guilty of it, and others have said the same. But how we react to these instances is just as telling of us no matter which side of the joke we’re on. When I make bad jokes that make people snark at me, I stop following them. Mark Dykeman recently wrote a great post about how he chose to hold his tongue – good on him for doing so. Esteban Contreras (@socialnerdia) recently direct-messaged me when he didn’t get a joke I made – another totally awesome reaction. Getting past the hiccup is more important than the hiccup itself.

Where it falls apart is people not being mindful of the effect their actions will have on their followings. The author who sniped at me isn’t going to see me reviewing his book any time soon. I made the bad joke, but he did the yelling. The people who invited me to connect on Facebook, but left me no avenue by which to do so (one had even blocked messages from non-friends, double no-no) are also losing this game.

You may not be able to do Twitter wrong. But, as a wise android once said, it’s entirely possible to commit no errors and still lose. It’s all well and good to be aware of the social contract, social media’s effects on business, and attempt to build your own living resume (I really like the CV better, Curriculum Vitae really sounds more fitting in today’s world) through our actions online. But unless you’re going to take a unified approach, make yourself available in a very thorough way, you’re going to find that the walls you create with your conscious sensibility hamper your ability to break out of the box.

Mostly because it’s one you built yourself into.

Photo by Hryck Owian.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: digital resume, esteban contreras, Facebook, mark dykeman, mlm-fail, social media, social proof, socialnerdia, twitter

Five Questions with Mark Dykeman – An Interactive Review of The Dip

January 9, 2010 by Ian 17 Comments

Caution Dip!
Photo by Krossbow

Last week I got the audiobook form of Seth Godin’s The Dip through iTunes – it was on for four dollars, how could I say no? – and finished it over about three days of on-foot commutes. I’ve since been trying to come up with a good way to communicate some of the lessons in the book.

Regular book reviews give me the gyp. I can’t write them. If you want a better example of a synopsis review, see Brad J Ward’s sum-up – he did a good job. I like the Dip. I like its message, I love Seth Godin’s writing. But I always have trouble with book reviews, because I look so hard to find application more than just assessment.  So why not do something entirely different. Why not an assessment, then an example?

The assessment.

Godin is very good at adding value to simple concepts, but it still feels like you only need one page to write this book. Never quit is a stupid piece of advice, because sticking with things that aren’t working for you is a waste of energy, effort and capital. Godin uses the term Strategic Quitting very often in the book, and talks a lot about the things that are legitimate reasons for us to quit, and the irrational, reactionary reasons why most people quit and then, in true Godin fashion, he wraps it all up with a very simple message.

Being prepared to quit for good reasons (and knowing the reasons why you quit) is of infinite value in any endeavour. This is because, until you reach those limits- the ones you set for yourself when you plan, you’re never going to give up and you’ll eventually become (as Godin says so many times) The Best In The World.

The example.

I’ve been reading Mark Dykeman’s Broadcasting Brain for just under a year. It was one of the first blogs I happened upon when I was looking into doing this very thing myself – and I consider myself very lucky to have found it. Mark’s writing is incredible. The angle from which he approaches life is at once pragmatic and inspired; he gathers massive numbers of ideas for blog posts, and recently crowd-sourced a lot of wisdom about doing work better in the coming year. However, this is now. The dip was then. In August, Mark wrote a perspective on his previous two years of blogging, and it was a visible sign that he was leaning into a big personal dip. Or, perhaps even better considering the awesomeness he’s been producing lately, August may have been the end of the Dip, and the Mark Dykeman we’re seeing now is on the other side, on the hard hill upward, reaping all the benefits of his experience crossing the dip.

Here are the questions I asked Mark, and his responses. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Reviews Tagged With: amazon link, audiobook, book review, interview, mark dykeman, positive, quitting, seth godin, strategy, success, the dip

Looking Forward

January 6, 2010 by Ian 10 Comments

It’s amazing to see how the paradigm shifts after an arbitrary date.

At the end of December, there were too many “Best of” and “A look back on” the previous decade stories to count. I tried to be forward looking; it appears I was ahead of my time. The tide turned, and some people are doing some rally brilliant things relating to moving forward, making headway. Here are a few I thought were worth sharing:

Mark Dykeman, always a source of poignant points, ambitiously aggregated a massive dose of advice a few days ago about “How to do work better in 2010” – and, I have to admit, I’m busting at the seams with glee that I made the cut. I’m about halfway down, somewhere between Seth Godin and Chris Brogan (though that sounds intensely high-handed) – absolutely worth a look, very snackable and, to the point, useful perspective. Some god action in the comments, too.

The always pragmatic Justin Kownacki put together a list of “10 tips for making new year’s resolutions you might actually keep” as a reminder to keep doing what you’re doing and improve my increments in a way that is consistent with your own highest good. Number five on the list is my favorite.

The world’s Strongest Librarian, Josh Hanagarne, shot for a goal a bit too early in the year. But we’re all sure he’ll keep after it; more proof that this is a “perseverance” year.

On the design side, The UX Booth has an interesting post from David Leggett about resolutions for bloggers which should deffinately be listened to. Especially for those of us working at creating a better in-site experience for our readers – especially with what Google has in store for SEO in the next little while.

There are a number of great posts detailing action words for the year. Chris Brogan had his Three Words up a few days ago, and Amber Naslund at the Altitude Branding blog did a Four Words post in the same vein. I like the idea – I’m not doing it this year, but might consider it for 2011.

Yes, I’m looking that far ahead. Are you? Why not?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 2010, 2011, amber naslund, ambition, best of, chris brogan, david leggett, design, forward thinking, improvements, josh hanagarne, justin kownacki, looking forward, mark dykeman, rebranding, resolutions, the future

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