Influencers, Followers and Friends – Oh My!

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!