Influencers, Followers and Friends - Oh My!

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This week I was made aware of a public vote for Twitters top “Influencers, All-Stars, Mavericks, Game Changers”. Here is how the website describes the vote:

“The NOW Awards recognize celebrities and ordinary people who are making Twitter matter. From media and politics to technology and business, these game changers embody the qualities that are making Twitter and the emerging NOW internet a growing force in the world.

Include #140Conf, the word “vote” and your All-Star Tweeter’s username in your tweet. And remember, anyone can vote for anyone and there’s no limit to nominees. Vote for one, five or even 20 game changers!”

There is also a great little overview of what #140conf is all about, written by my friend Misty Belardo, HERE.

I started seeing these #140conf hashtags on Twitter and the next thing I knew I was receiving votes myself! Of course, I had to go and see what it was all about, at which point I came to realize that I was in the top 40 nominees! I was completely blown away, because I only started using Twitter in April of this year and, although I have about 6,700 followers at this point, I definitely don’t see myself ranking anywhere near those “big time” people with tens of thousands of followers. Of course, it didn’t take long for my humility to be overtaken by my competitive nature and I began sending out tweets encouraging my followers to vote for me. After the initial rush of the competitive juices, though, I settled back into the community spirit of Twitter and began encouraging people to vote for their personal favorites, not just me. In fact, I went through the list of nominees and voted for quite a few of my own favorites who I follow. It was at this point that I was reminded of the powerful potential for real interaction and community in social media and how it can so easily be rendered worthless by the high school popularity contest mentality that often arises.

This got me thinking about the various titles, such as those used for these nominees, which are used in the social media landscape. On Facebook we have “Friends”. On Twitter we have “Followers”. On Digg we have “Fans”. Leaders are termed “Influencers” and “Rockstars”.

Is social media unwittingly watering down the true meaning of these words and affecting our relationships in the offline, real world?

FRIENDS

I just reached 200 friends on Facebook. But I know for a fact that most of them I have never had a conversation with in which I heard their voice. I haven’t seen them in any way other than the photos they have chosen as worthy of sharing as a public representation of who they desire to portray. I’ve never shaken their hand or heard them laugh.

The first definition Webster’s gives reads “one attached to another by affection or esteem”. Yes, many of these “friends” I have on Facebook are people that I esteem. But affection? Some, yes. But most are more like acquaintances, which is the second definition in the dictionary. I don’t really know them, and they don’t really know me. At least any more than I make available on my profile. Is this the new “friendship”?

FOLLOWERS

At the time of this writing I have about 6,700 followers on Twitter and I follow about 2,400. I am consistently blown away that this many people are interested in what I have to offer on Twitter. Yes, I provide a lot of valuable resources and links in the areas of web and graphic design, SEO, and social media. But anyone can do what I do in finding these things, and many do. Why in the world would almost 7,000 people pay attention to MY version of this stuff? I am still clueless.

But here’s the funny thing: with all those followers I only have 40 votes in the aforementioned #140conf NOW awards. And the current top nominee, the amazing and wonderful @hennartonline, has 448 votes while she has over 4,000 followers. What could this all mean? What does the number of followers really amount to when you look at statistics like this?

Webster’s says a follower is “one in the service of another” and “one that follows the opinions or teachings of another”. Interesting. Is that what is happening on Twitter? Do I have 6,700 people that are “in my service” or who “follow my opinions or teachings”? I don’t really know about all that. I know I get retweeted a lot, but…

INFLUENCERS

Realistically this term is interchangeable with the word “Leader”. Truly a leader is one who influences others in one way or another, so either term will serve the purpose. But the bottom line is that there are major influencers in the social media realm that were previously influencing almost no one in the offline world. I can attest to being a relatively small-time representation of this. Before my involvement in social media I was an unknown but still moderately successful freelance web and graphic designer with a small circle of real friends and my family in my sphere of “influence”. But in the past few months I have developed my social media influence to the point that it has grown my freelance business significantly, increased my website traffic by over 600%, and expanded my connections within the design community and among other peers to immeasurable heights! Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not! Has it impacted my “real life”? Definitely!

But my question is: why am I now an authority and an influencer in certain circles when just a few months ago I was not? What does this rapid rise mean to the depth or strength of the influence that I have? And more importantly, what does this mean in regards to the “big time influencers” who really are shaping the social media landscape and even the world?

I mean, after all, I’ve only received 40 votes.

I’ve heard it said before that all it takes to be a leader is to have someone following you. But if the definition of follower has been denigrated to clicking the “Follow” button on a Twitter profile, or the “Add A Friend” button on Facebook, and it is no longer defined as someone who truly is influenced and impacted by your opinions, philosophies or teachings, what does that mean for our global culture and society?

I am anxious and curious to hear your thoughts. Please share in the comments and let’s learn from each other.

Oh, and if you haven’t voted for me yet…oops. Sorry about that. Blasted competitive nature!

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Comments ( 19 )

[...] Influencers, Followers and Friends – Oh My! | bkmacdaddy designs [...]

Viral Marketing Power : Viral Marketing added these pithy words on Oct 14 09 at 3:26 am

Very thought-provoking, Brian. I think that our generation (those who came of age before the tech revolution) can probably keep this in perspective a little better than those coming up now, because we grew up with the true definition of these words being our reality. However, our children have a more difficult time of it, because their reality is today. I don’t know that there is an answer here, but I am very appreciative that you are addressing the subject, and I am curious to see what other responses you receive.

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Thanks Susie. Absolutely us ‘old folks’ have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the true definitions of these words. I’m hoping to hear from some younger people who maybe have other opinions and insights. Of course, I’ll take yours too. We gotta stick together! (PS you should go get yourself a Gravatar! Then you can have a cool little picture on your blog comments too! )

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Susie Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
hmmmm…maybe I will…sign up for the gravatar I mean. And just for the record, I’M not the one that called us ‘old folks’

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Susie added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 12:30 pm

Here area a cpuple of points that came to mind when reading this post:

1. Why do you think you became an influencer on Twitter. Did you do things in a away that others were not doing?

2. I agree with the comment from Susie. People who did not grow up in a pre tech world have a completely diferent frame of reference on ‘the real (offline) world’. The distintion between the two is blurred more now than ever before in history.

It’s strange and shocking that those old sci fi movies are coming true (and new sci fi , read: ‘Surrogates’). We are very close to being ‘plugged in’ (well perhaps bluetoothed more appropos!)full time to our online world. Groceries, booze and sex can all be ordered online and delivered offline – ans since ‘friends’ are no longer to be found improvisationally, they can easliy and conveniently added to our lives now as well.

Hey did you hear that spinning sound? It’s Aldous Huxley rolling in his grave!

~~@donpower~~ ~~– Don Power~~

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 9th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Don.
To answer your first question, I honestly don’t believe I AM an influencer on Twitter. I have some numbers that are bigger than other Twitter users, but they are also VERY much smaller than many others too. I’m sure there are some that follow me that I influence, but I wouldn’t put that title on myself – or really accept anyone else doing it – based on the newest definition of it, or the old one. Maybe I’m a lower case “influencer” but not a Capitalized “Influencer”? Either way, I don’t know what has caused this or what I have done the same or different than others. I really just have figured out what works for me, enhances my experience and provides some value for others (I hope).
Great point about the sci fi predictions too! I completely agree!
Thanks again!

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Don Power added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 12:48 pm

Excuse all the typos above!

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Don Power added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 12:49 pm

Wow. What a thought provoking post. I really enjoy your writing.

I was also nominated somehow to that #140Conf. The moment I saw that, it didn’t feel right. I haven’t told anyone that I’m on there, and have secretly hoped people wouldn’t find out.

I was a cheerleader in high school, and this takes me back to those days when popularity meant more to us than real friendship and substance.

I am also not on Facebook. I’m not interested in gathering a bunch of “fans” or whatever it’s called. LOL

Again, I do what feels right. It feels right for me to engage on Twitter and build real relationships with people that I have a genuine friendship with. That feels really good to me.

Oh, and about that #140Conf, just for the record, I think everyone “matters.”

Thank you again for such a great post. I really enjoyed this!

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I totally understand your thoughts on the #140conf. I decided to approach it more from a community spirit aspect and went through the nominees, voting for each one that has had a positive impact on my Twitter experience (like you!) Instead of hoping to compete or somehow end up winning (yeah right, like THAT would happen) I found it another way to say thank you to those nominees I appreciate and admire.
I’m not a big fan of Facebook either, but I decided for SEO purposes I should go ahead and set up an account (which is why I got on Twitter too.) What’s interesting is I bet most of my “friends” on Facebook came via Twitter! So it enables me to interact with them in more than 140 characters. I try to post a status update 2-3 times a day there but I also learn a little bit more about some of the people I interact with in other arenas, like Twitter.
All in all, I know you and I are on the same page. In the end, we know that EVERYONE matters. Period.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!

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Diana Adams added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 12:52 pm

Good questions, as always, Brian. Not sure the answers are ever going to be black and white.

For me, the people I’m connected to offer me far more than I feel I offer them. They provide encouragement and advice – and often balance. I love that my world is larger and more brilliantly flavored than it ever has before – and that comes with being open to the possibilities of friendship.

Thanks for sharing your ideass – good luck on the voting

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Hehe…Thanks for the well wishes on the voting but I’m over my competitive need to win or place (I think!) Instead I hope it can just be a way to support and encourage people I appreciate and maybe discover some new faces.
I think you’re so right about the answers not being black and white. I guess that may be part of my point – our world is getting more and more gray. Don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…
Thanks as always for taking the time to read and share!

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Julia Rosien added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 1:42 pm

Great post, Brian.
I had a similar experience re the #140c nominations and when I started seeing my name show up, I had no idea what was going on. At first, I was humbled and honored to have been nominated. What a lovely thing for so many of my friends to do. I, too, quickly searched for and nominated my personal favorites.

But then, the whole process started feeling just not quite right to me. I started getting DMs from people asking me to nominate them, and then bugging me when I didn’t do it right away. Then, I started getting DMs from others, asking me to vote for them. THEN, to top it all off, I started seeing people cajoling others, in the public stream, lobbying for votes. Blech. It just reeked of high school antics at their very worst. Kind of like people who get a #ff rec or a nice compliment and RT it a million times.

Whatever the heck happened to graciousness. And who cares how “popular” you are. If you are genuine and true, don’t you already have a degree of confidence in your relationships, status, influence, etc. Who needs to get votes to prove anything? That’s kind of like saying that he with the most followers wins – which we all know is bullshit.

Then, as a marketer, I realized the brilliance of Jeff Pulver. I had no idea the 140c conference was in LA and had absolutely no intention of going. But, after being nominated and then cajoled by many of my West coast Twitmigos, I actually considered attending the conference. Jeff has created a way of creating buzz about his event that makes it top of mind for many. And, he has probably garnered some additional attendees, as a result of the collective influence of those nominated, that he might not have otherwise enticed.

So, let’s recap – high school-esque popularity contest combined with brilliant marketing strategy – and who, ultimately benefits? Why, the conference organizer. And what about all those poor souls who actually felt it necessary to lobby for support and votes? Doesn’t it all just feel kinda smarmy?

Okay, sorry. Not intending to cast aspersions on your competitive zeal and, of course, you know I think you’re the MacDaddy of all MacDaddies – but this kind of thing – just not my style. I was so not into popularity contests in high school and I am still, thankfully, not there.

Great thoughts, my bro, as always. And thanks for sharing.

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Nice novella, Shelly.
Most of my response is in the separate comment below, but since it was not only addressed to your comment I wanted to keep it on its own.
I really appreciate your insight and your willingness to take the time to share. It’s kind of ironic in this case because you were the first one I heard about the #140conf vote from. All in all I think we can view the voting however we choose (popularity contest, encouragement to others, etc.), but I think we would all agree that it is wrong to get frantic, emotional or upset about the results. In the end, the numbers – whether votes, friend or follower counts, or whatever – are irrelevant, which is one of the points I was trying to make with this post. Hopefully that doesn’t get completely missed.
Thanks again for contributing to the discussion!

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ShellyKramer added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 2:24 pm

Hmmm…I’m beginning to think I should not have framed this post around the #140conf vote. It’s really not the main point but it seems to be on people’s minds enough that it gets the focus. Maybe there should be another post strictly about that?
I find it interesting that Susie, who is not really on Twitter, so therefore unaware of or impacted by the #140conf, really got what I was trying to focus on – the “new” definitions of some important words and how they affect us. The #140conf thing inspired my thought process, and I was trying to be honest and hopefully humorous about my own competitive nature with it. But I see that it has struck a sore spot with some Twitter folks, so I guess I will be chalking this one up to a learning experience of what NOT to do next time.
Thanks to all for your input – it helps me grow and learn and see things from other viewpoints besides my own!

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bkmacdaddy added these pithy words on Oct 07 09 at 2:35 pm

Thank you all for clearing the #140conf up for me! I’ve actually looked for a place to vote,but haven’t found it yet! I agree,I also have a FB full of people I’ve never seen except on FB and what pic they share,same as twitter! I have made some GREAT acquaintances on Twitter!,such as The famous Macdaddy,and several more,but do I really know them? I must say no,I only know what they choose to share with me. If you have a link for the #140con I would love to vote!

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Donna added these pithy words on Oct 08 09 at 6:36 am

Hi Brian,
Another great “food for thought” and dead on with my thoughts. Maybe it’s our generation of thinking but we do think alike.

I voted for you and I am not listed…but I love giving perks where perks are deserved.

Just as a note…I have never been comfortable with Twitter’s choice of “followers” as a name. Brings me back me back to H.S. and cliques and creates a sense of superiority…never was or will never be a follower which is why I don’t pursue them.

Thanks for your blogs and being you!
Pam

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 8th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for the input, Pam. I agree that we have a common viewpoint on a lot of these things. Good to have a friend like you!

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Pam added these pithy words on Oct 08 09 at 1:57 pm

you write “I am consistently blown away that this many people are interested in what I have to offer on Twitter.”

trust me, most of these 7000 are also following 7000 other people besides you, and they could probably not remember why they followed you in the first place if asked.

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bkmacdaddy Reply:
October 8th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
You’re right. That was slightly overstated. Although I don’t necessarily agree with your assessment either. My guess is that probably less than half of those following me on Twitter are significantly engaged with my tweets. I honestly wouldn’t even know what to use to measure that stat. There are numerous tools out there to try, but in the end they’re really just numbers. I have to measure the interest of my followers based on what I actually see. From this I know that I interact with hundreds each day, and I get retweeted by thousands. But in the end, for me it’s really about connections with real people. The connections I have made with many of my followers or those I follow have proven invaluable. So I guess I just want to apologize for carelessly overstating the interest as you pointed out, but respectfully disagree with yours that “most” of them followed and then forgot about me. Definitely some and maybe even lots, but I’m pretty sure not “most”.

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!

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