Foggy Futures Then and Now
When I started writing here, I only hopes and ideas.
Three years ago this day was only a foggy future.
Here’s what I wrote (unedited) one month after I started . . . .
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Itâs an odd thing to write under the masthead Successful Blog. Itâs such an opportunity, such an âOkay, Big Shot,â moment. Itâs a chance to model best practices, not just write about them.
The writerâs credo is Donât tell, show. How much closer to that could I get than this?
I can talk about building community by answering comments relentlessly, but itâs so much more powerful when I do it and my readers actually experience how it feels. I can explain how to correct your public mistakes, but again how much greater impact it has when I actually do what I say. If I do this job right, everything I do has the potential to have a tiny positive effect on the blogosphere.
So I share with you my learning curve at the end of one month. Iâve learned.
- That people respond positively when you treat them like people who are worth talking to. They pitch in, share ideas, and form a community thatâs fun to be part of.
- That when someone takes a negative viewpoint, it works better to take the conversation offline.
- That the blogosphere doesnât need me to keep it working right.
That keeping focus on my readers takes care of almost every problem. (Except how Iâm going to pay for my sonâs college. )In 1972, a friend said to me âYou always leave the other guy a place to stand.â
That advice has served me every day since. It works with everyone from 6 to 106. We all need a place to stand â- no matter how scary we look. It can be the smallest thing. Hereâs a fun read about Giving the Other Guy a Place to Stand that explains what Iâm talking about.
If I could choose one best practice to pass on, that would be the one â- that everyone in the blogosphere leaves lots more room for the other guy to stand.
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That was then. This is now.
We still need each other to be visible, authentic and relevant. . . . connected. We still value the people we’re meeting. We still talk and listen.
I think we do. Right?
Three years ago, when this day was only a foggy future, I couldn’t see people talking in 140 characters. I didn’t hear anyone asking, “Am I following you?”
Dr. Michael Wesch says Change the media — the tools — and you change the way people relate. The Machine Is Us/ing Us.
Yesterday I got a telemarketing call on my cell phone from a well-known Internet personality. Before that, it had been sad enough getting his spam.
Three years from now, when this day is in the dimly lit past, it’s likely that companies exploring social media will be here, will have tried it out, will have had some sort of impact.
How will we answer the Twitter question — What are you doing? — then?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!