While I'm not on the 'lists' like +Robert Scoble is, I have grappled with the pressure of having followers at all and the responsibility that comes with it. Once you reach outside your friends and family, there seems to be some sort of implied responsibility to what you do online. Companies and brands for sure need to be aware of this, but what happens when it occurs to people?
I see so many more influencer lists of people – not companies – that this conversation takes place daily hourly in my head. While "we" have collective power online, there is no denying that there are individuals that rein power/influence over much broader sets of people or ideas. While I have people in my social graph that I consider influencers / experts in a particular niche, they wouldn't have the same affect to the masses as say Robert does.
I'm often asked (usually multiple times a day) how my follower count got so high. I will hit a half million followers in Google+ in a few days. I actively work in my presence here for my own goals. But what do the followers GET me? If I don't know what the hell I'm doing – it only gets me recognition for the sake of followers. Robert knows what he's doing (it appears that way from the outside anyhow). He has a very specific reason and need to do what he does online and tactics to get the followers to meet his end game.
He's not corrupt. I suspect he's saying this totally tongue-in-cheek. I can tell he doesn't want what I call 'phantom followers' – the ones that follow you just because you are famous / internet famous. They don't add real value to Robert, and they don't add real value to me. I think Robert understands that because of his elevated status in the tech/startup/online world he has access to things and people WE don't. The gravity of the responsibility can be staggering. This I know to a lesser degree. People all want and expect things from you that you may not have designs on. It's difficult to get pulled in a million different directions by a half million people.
To be completely honest, I was on the fence about Robert in the past (I didn't dislike him, but I wasn't a fangirl either). NOW I get him, as much as one can from the outside anyhow.
He's not corrupt, he just has the weight of the totality of the social net on his shoulders 😉
Reshared post from +Robert Scoble
The corruption of Robert Scoble
This year at Davos I'm not working as hard as I did last year, when I interviewed 22 people live using audio. Last night I was spotted at the piano bar by +Bloomberg News's +Tom Keene who tweeted I don't just attend the piano bar, I sit up front and make the most of the experience: https://twitter.com/#!/tomkeene/status/162470374687252481
This is my fourth year to Davos, and was my first time to the Piano Bar (at a restaurant in a hotel, there's a great single-player piano guy, I might post video soon about that). The bar is the unofficial party spot for Davos. There's a rumor that Mick Jagger might show up tonight (he made it to several parties last night and was one of the major topics of conversations at the piano bar).
So, what did I learn last night? Dropbox CEO +Drew Houston could be a professional singer. I took video of him too, which he begged me not to share online. That might cost him.
Speaking of Tom, and getting to the point of my corruption, there's a shuttle system in Davos for attendees of the +World Economic Forum. Yesterday when I got in Tom was interviewing the CEO of China's biggest airlines.
Of course Apple and all the stories about mistreating workers and taking American jobs came up. http://www.techmeme.com/120126/p1#a120126p1 for more. The New York TImes is doing a series of wonderful reports. The CEO explained how China is in a different place than Western Countries and explained that they will go through the same process the west went through in the Industrial Revolution. +Tim Bray who works at Google and was one of the inventors of XML just made the same point. http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2012/01/25/Class-Struggle-in-China
I reminded Tom that not all American jobs were lost. I looked at the CEO and asked him how many planes his company owned. 350. Most were Boeing jets. I said that's the way we keep manufacturing jobs in America: we make things that people want. That said, making a 747 takes dramatically fewer people than making an iPhone (everyone should visit the Boeing factory up in Everett, Washington — it really is the best corporate tour in the world).
So why have I been corrupted? I used to be a much better user advocate than I have been lately. I used to be much more concerned about lockin, fairness, and all that. Lately I've become much more cynical.
I had hoped that social media would lead to a meritocracy, where the best ideas would float to the top like the ice cubes in my drinks last night were. But instead we've ended up in a world of suggested user lists and Klout and, at DLD, while Jack Dorsey, who runs Square and product at Twitter, was on stage, +David Kirkpatrick asked who had the most followers in the audience. Once again reminding us that this world has been corrupted (the number one person in the room was on the suggested user list over there, and was gifted hundreds of thousands of users).
So, I find myself cynical now. Corrupted, even, as I see tens of thousands of new followers here on Google+ because I've been added to this list again.
What does that cynicism and corruption lead to? I find myself far less sympathetic to Twitter than I would be otherwise. They messed up this world which could have been so great. Last night as I walked to dinner +Loic Le Meur and I noted that Twitter's engagement and following counts have slowed way down when compared to Facebook and Google+. If Twitter had built a meritocracy I would have been much more angry about what +Vic Gundotra is doing by putting Google+ results into Google's search engine.
+Dave Winer explains that this feature creep is creeping him out: http://scripting.com/stories/2012/01/23/weNeedAnExitFromGoogle.html I might have joined him if I wasn't corrupted. But instead I'm taking advantage of Google's reaction to its fear that Facebook is taking over the world. Not unfounded, I might add. Lots of conversations here in Europe about how powerful Facebook is. Some governments, like in Germany, are actually going to push laws (I think they are way overstepping, and if I hadn't been so corrupted I might actually care to speak out on Facebook's behalf) that really try to box Facebook's business model into a place where Mark Zuckerberg doesn't want to be boxed into.
Which brings me to Forbes top social media influencers list. http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2012/01/25/who-are-the-top-50-social-media-power-influencers/ I'm #6 they say.
In earlier years I worked a lot harder to get and stay on these lists. Lately I've been just, well, corrupted and more likely to go to the piano bar to have fun. That said, this morning I'm feeling, well, a bit guilty about my corruption so I'm asking myself "what should I do with this influence?" I think the answer might come later today when I meet with an NGO that's using technology to help get food distributed around the world. Maybe that will cleanse my soul. Detox my veins.
Or maybe I will just give into my corruption and show up at the Time Magazine party and look for some free food and drinks. It's fun work being corrupted, but someone has to do it!
Embedded Link
Who Are The Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers? – Forbes
Who are the most influential people in social media, the power influencers who have grasped what the social media revolution is all about? Here's a list of fifty people who have very substantial socia…
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Its almost as if you are the leader of a small country and your citizens await your next fountain of knowledge.
I could understand how those numbers could give you a feeling of power or a wonderful achievement.
On a personal level im not sure if i could handle what seems to be a great responsibility but then again to have so many people interested in what you say is a mark of how your ideas and thoughts affect others in the world.
+martin james that's exactly why it can be stressful. Strangely, there is no feeling of power, only responsibility for me….
I got the feeling that the thread was not so much a start of many replies as a short explanation about how lynette feels about her responsibilities.
+martin james oh, I get that too, but in some ways you'd think that anything that 500K people are reading would generate comments/response.
I guess the reality is that only some small percentage of those people are seeing the thread in real time. So it's not like you're really broadcasting to 500K all at once, although I can see how it could certainly feel that way and create some anxiety.
Yes…could turn into a case of..How the mighty have fallen…lol
wow , half a million ! lol ….
I can agree with the weight of implied availability/responsibility. Being in the field I am in, this is an enormous burden and one I struggle with frequently.
Good read. I "get" this too. I'm far removed from the lofty follower counts mentioned in this piece. However, given my role, I'm amazed at the numbers I have, also, I might add, driven to that level by the "Scoble Effect."
It's really interesting that you have half a million followers, but 20 minutes into this thread and only 4 comments. (and, I don't mean anything negative by that remark). I'm curious about what it means to most people to "follow" someone, or what they expect out of it?
I guess I follow a lot of people, too without commenting all that much. I just like to see what they have to say. That said, I don't think there are any people I follow that I think of as being responsible to me for what they say and do here. Of course that doesn't mean you don't feel responsible anyway… </ramble>
Lynette, I understand completely. I can relate. It is a responsibility and it can be frightening. I don't have Robert's numbers but I have a loyal following. I make it a point to be WYSIWYG on and offline. But at times, people will put you on a pedestal (for whatever reason) and the minute you say something shocking or that they disagree with, they want to criticize or try to tear you down. I don't hide or back down or censor myself. But I do have to be cognizant of how I carry myself because lots of eyes are watching…always. I knew what I was getting into when I started writing, hosting my radio show, speaking at events, doing media interviews and getting so deeply involved in social media. Sometimes I get psyched out because it's the "what if's" that bug the hell out of me. What if I say something offensive? What if people don't like my commentary? What if people took my joke the wrong way? What if I didn't share enough information to educate people? It's enough to drive you bananas. I think we need to create a support group! lol
+Brian Titus Sounds to me something like what she describes Scoble as taking care to minimize among his followers. I dunno, though. I've never cared for him & never followed him, so I really can't say much about him.
Lynette discusses things I find of interest, from a perspective that I have a certain amount in common with and is a good writer. She is not in a field I am in, so she points out the highlights of stuff that I do find interesting but am by no means an expert in. She also actively started & promoted Women of Google which itself is a great resource for me. (She may have an unfortunate tendency to use audio materials as well, but one must make allowances for the shortcomings of hearing people 😉 )
Anyway, I don't know what other people think following means, but there are some people I follow because I enjoy what they post but I don't contribute much if anything. For example some of the photographers in my streams — I love seeing their pictures, so I follow them, but I really don't have much to say because my photography know-how is basically limited to "aim and push button". Other people I follow because they are a source of news – they essentially curate a stream of news I can go and read and/or make comments of my own. And then there's people I follow who are interesting, who do a mix of things, and I comment fairly frequently on their stuff.
Also, from the "following" side of things, my experience of +Lynette Young on G+ does not make me feel like I'm in a crowd of 500K. There are a few posters where you do get that feeling (Guy Kawasaki, Wil Wheaton, Robert Scoble come to mind).
It think it speaks well of Lynette that her posting style does not feel as though she is over-thinking or sanitizing her message to assuage such a large crowd. However, from her side of it, I can certainly see how she feels such a daunting responsibility.
Anyway, keep doing what you're doing Lynette, it seems to be working…
i blame the woman of gplus for your followers . makes me jealous . i post interesting stuff and cool stuff but do i get that many followers ? lol .. wish i was born a hot lesbian .. i'd be way more popular 😛
+Brian Titus I'm actually really happy to hear you say that, thank you. One of my 'fears' is that I will get swallowed up by some sort of fake internet celebrity thing (which I've been told I am but adamantly deny with every hair on my head – it's all in perception, not reality). When people think they are famous for any reason at all (Snooki anyone?) they get different a good deal of the time. I am who I am 😉 Any real celebrity online that only vomits out their own agenda and doesn't actively participate in the conversation is not someone I would value to follow. I MAY be of value to them though, to push up their 'numbers' or buy a record.
And I do censor my stuff, I'd be cursing like a sailor if I didn't <wink>.
Well I don't censor all the time. The occasional expletive flies out and I make no apologies. Sometimes a cuss word (in moderation) is the best way to drive a point home.
And I have my own issues with celebrities who come on and push message so they can get you to buy their stuff, but never ever responds to the very people they need to help them. As much as I love & respect Oprah Winfrey, she is offender #1 with this.
< Still trying to figure out Empire LOL .. thanks +Lynette Young
Seems to me people on G+ more than elsewhere are into following for the sake of it. Not everyone mind, but quite a few.
if you don't follow people on g plus your stream is empty . there is incentive to follow masses .. lol
That list is bullshit, anyway. 😉
< soon to bug +Chris Pirillo about that damn empire site . 🙂 …..lol