While checking Robert Scoble’s website for a link, I came across something quite unexpected: “I have completely moved to social media“. Bwahaha! He goes one way, while I head another. I’m in the process of pulling back my online posts to my personal blog, which will act as the hub for social media as the spokes.
There is nothing original about the idea. Lots of bloggers put social services second. I have long waffled between the two approaches, with the majority of my personal posting going to Google+ since summer 2011. Main reason: Large audience of followers and lots of interaction with them.
But as I go through the intentionally manual process of restoring archived posts from 2004 (on TypePad), I am reminded of my hope and joy in blogging as a medium. Then there is the ease of finding and recovering past writings, which in the socialsphere are easily lost or forgotten.
Consolidation is my objective, fanning out to services like Google+ or Twitter, which are great vehicles for commenting. I don’t mind if my blogposts are commentless, or nearly so, if there is interaction somewhere.
My objectives are simple:
- Improving brand identity
- Posting somewhere I control
- Consolidating core thinking where I can find it
That’s not to say I remotely consider abandoning social services. Just the opposite is true. From the hub I plan to fan out more places. As I explain in my book Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers, “comments and social media tools bring news gatherers into intimate contact with their audience”. I advise, in the book:
You must identify your audience and go to wherever it is and build brand share and loyalty—maybe Reddit or Tumblr, perhaps some startup app, like Jelly from Twitter cofounder Biz Stone. You may want to write for three different blogs, vlog one other place, and participate in several different monthly podcasts or Hangouts. The audience attaches to you rather than the branded service or site where you contribute content…social sharing tools amplify individuals’ brands over larger media entities. Brand Whom matters more than Brand What.
So I am serious about social, like Scoble. We share destination, just not routes.
Photo Credit: CVR