Comments on: Social Media Narcissism Sucks

By: JoeMescher

JoeMescher — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:29:48 +0000

Pop me an email or DM with some evenings that work for you and I'll be happy to grab a beer/talk about branding with you John.

Whether you realize it or not, you've already taken some incredibly important steps to building yours via the #vtsconetweetup you hosted. I am very impressed by how many people showed up, but not surprised. You possess the most important branding tool that can't be 'copied':

Genuine interest and care about your community.

Cheers!

By: JoeMescher

JoeMescher — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:27:12 +0000

Ah, to thank or not to thank, that is the question!

Generally I don't thank people for RT's. Not for any particular branding purpose, I just don't think the process endears me to anyone, and it can come across as overly generic.

One example is the people who thank multiple people in one tweet. That just smacks of impersonality. Sometimes I thank a particularly thoughtful RT, but again not every single person gets a note.

Speaking of practical, we'd never get any work done if all we did was thank RT'ers out there

Excellent question Mitch, thanks for dropping by!

By: JoeMescher

JoeMescher — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:23:22 +0000

Poachers and folks who rely on complete automation are only hurting their own brands in the long run. As far as using material created by someone else without giving the proper attribution, that's downright illegal. Good comment Lara!

By: JohnCVermont

JohnCVermont — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:08:49 +0000

One of these days, when I can provide you with a Vermont beverage, I would like to hear more of your thoughts on “personal brands”.

Good thought-provoking post…no surprise there.

By: Mitch Lieberman

Mitch Lieberman — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:04:45 +0000

Good stuff Joe – I agree, a little introspection every now and again is a good thing. Many of your points can be applied to standard business communications as well. Am I rambling, what is my point, why did I write that…

The nice thing about Twitter, is that it does 'self-police' a bit as well. If your community, does not like what you are saying (not usually one tweet) then they will opt-out of your stream. That does send a bit of a message. This does become a little harder to monitor after a certain number of followers though.

A follow-up question: Many folks 'thank' for RTs, some thank publicly, some privately. Those who have a brand, tend not to thank, those trying to build their brand do…just an observation. Any thoughts?

(BTW – Joe/SMC always thanks

By: laradickson

laradickson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:33:14 +0000

Thanks for bring this up. Luckily its easy to spot and unfollow 'poachers' – those I see retweeting without a RT or even a source credit, and sending others' articles through their own traffic monitor. The worst are the ones who might be sending along good content (links I already get from the original source on Twitter!), but never seem to have anything to say for themselves – no articles or thoughts of their own. Unfollow: check.

One thing for certain – there is no shortage of Social Media “tools” out there…