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Stumblers Upon, I Have a Social Media Challenge for You!

Fri, Aug 15, 2008

Social Media, Web 2.0

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About half this blog’s first week traffic has come from folks hitting me up from StumbleUpon.  Thanks folks!  Now, here’s my challenge for everyone, but particularly for you Stumblers.

What’s the Best Concise Way to Explain the Value of Social Media to My Audience?

One niche this blog is aimed at is very challenging.  I really want to help people that I describe as “half-timers; that is, they have roughly half their careers behind them and half still lie ahead. I see people in this group that have good to great communications skills that have taken them very far… until now.  But what got them where they are just isn’t going to get them where they expect to be 20 years from now.   I am certain that at some point soon they must employ some of the new stuff at least as a complement to their old stuff.  They’re going to have to make some half-time adjustments.

Am I making sense?

I’m starting to see more of these folks become curious about Social Media, but they’re afraid to do more than dip their toes in the water.  I’m still getting the “I have an account, but I don’t see LinkedIn or FaceBook as anything but a waste of time” argument.  I usually rely on a power of the crowd argument and a couple personal success stories to overcome that one, but the new kids on the block like Twitter and FriendFeed and SecondBrain and StumbleUpon are a bit harder talk through with them.

I’ve shared this site and it’s meager (so far) content with several people I had in mind when I came up with the idea and have gotten some encouraging email feedback, but so far only one friend has had the nerve to post a reply.

Thanks Jack!

Having been down the techno-evangelist road before, I know it will take  persistence for me to get through to some of these folks.  But I’ve noted through analyzing my traffic that I’m already getting some pretty savvy Web 2.0 aficionados stopping by.  So, I’m going to try to leverage your expertise.  After all, I’ve put this site out here as somewhat of a collaborative tone in hopes that the Chris Brogans and Coach Debs of the world will drop by from time to time and share their thoughts with some of my readers who might not be able to keep tempo with the tunes they are playing.

As I see it, the more diverse the perspectives that I get in reply to this,  the more likely I we are to bring some of the half-timers up to speed.  Is anybody out there game for taking this challenge on?

Popularity: 75% [?]

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  • Rich Pitts
    This a very interesting area. As a software engineer working on the backend of this world IE databases I felt I needed to get my head round this area I bought the book Web 2.0 heroes by Bradley Jones, when I discovered it having a wander round Foyles in London. Which lead me to Stumbler Upon and having time ended here. How do you explain web 2.0 to the half way generation, which I am a member, I feel by practical example. How can it directly help them. Loads of my fellow workers are on Linked in, but I would guess 90% have no idea of its potential power. I didn't until I read the book above. I suspect the main reason people don't dig into this area is time.

    Does this help the disucssion? I doubt it but I an going to have a think about it and introduce a few people to the area and see where it goes..I'll come back and report.
  • Rich,

    Sorry I haven't gotten back to you. Tropical Storm Fay really did a number on our home and we're still in the midst of repairs. I'm hoping to be back at this blog regularly in about two more weeks.
  • Thanks Rich,

    We're preparing for Tropical Storm Fay, but I'll come back and reply better to your good thoughts once it stops raining.
  • Lou Cinda Utley
    Do you consider me one of those "half-timers"? Or maybe a "half-wit"? Let's see........if I'm a half-timer, I really would have to live another approximately 29 years and still be working. Hmmm?
  • To carry on the sports analogy, you're at the "two minute warning." There's still time to try new plays and implement new strategies before the game, your career, is over.
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