Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

August 25, 2009

The Mic Is On: Microblogs, Macroblogs, Which? What? Who?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 6:58 pm

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Has Twitter Ruined Blog Conversation?

Just a few years back, it was so simple. We met on each other’s blogs like meeting for coffee or wine at the back fence. Now we meet on so many public platforms that we’re talking more, faster, and in shorter bursts.

Are we losing the long coversations we used to have?

1108003_say_what


And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey . . . and flamenco dancing (because we always get off topic, anyway.)

Oh, and bring example links to share —

–ME “Liz” Strauss
image: sxc.hu
Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?





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67 Comments to “The Mic Is On: Microblogs, Macroblogs, Which? What? Who?”

  1. August 25th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
    Kevin said

    Hello! Twitter is addictive, but my blog reading time is the same or more than before due to many good links found.

  2. August 25th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Kevin!
    Looks like you got stuck in moderation. Sorry about that.

    Me? I read as much, but I don’t comment. I retweet a lot instead. It’s not the same, I know. :)

  3. August 25th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Hi Liz,

    This sure is a good question. I love to go deeper with people, but Twitter certainly is where everyone is. I haven’t reconciled it all yet. Heck, I’d love to spend all day on the phone with everybody but my voice would give out. I guess we’re lucky to have so many choices of how to communicate. Every situation demands a different means. Maybe I use Twitter when I don’t feel like being long winded.

  4. August 25th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Todd,
    Twitter is great when I want to contact someone quickly. But yeah, I like when a small group of us get going around the same thing. It seems we can’t get the group together … even in person often we’re all distracted by Twittering

  5. August 25th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
    Amy Derby said

    Hi Liz,

    I still prefer to have meaningful conversations via email, if they have to be in writing. Guess I’m REALLY in the olden days, eh?

    That said, I find Twitter easier for public conversations; much less clutter in my inbox from subscribing to comment threads, etc.

    Also, I don’t read as many blogs as I used to — but that has little to do with Twitter and more to do with the fact that I’m losing what little faith I had in the credibility of so many in the blogosphere.

  6. August 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Amy,
    I think all three of your paragraphs go together.

    When there were fewer blogs, it was easier. We’ve had some great conversations here — both fast and slow. Some deep. Some silly.

    In person is my favorite.

    I’m sorry that folks are losing credibility. I lost a little faith in one or two myself.

  7. August 25th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Hi Amy,

    Great to see you.

    What do you mean losing faith in blogosphere people? Do you mean the get rich quick people?

    I also don’t read as many other blogs as I used to, and I tweet a lot less too. But that has been mainly due to time constraints for me.

  8. August 25th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Liz,

    I love it when a group gets going deep into something together. I find it happens in blog comments more than twitter for me, less noise I guess.

  9. August 25th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Todd,
    For me, the blogosphere was pretty special when it was smaller. Now it’s a city and there’s just “more.”

  10. August 25th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
    Kevin said

    I think Twitter allows a lot of good people to participate and contribute/share that might have been intimidated by the idea of keeping a blog

  11. August 25th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Yeah, Todd
    #8
    I agree, but it’s getting harder to get a group to stay in one place with their keyboards. Don’t you think?

  12. August 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
    jen said

    I know this is like beating an old drum, but it seems like if the content is exceptional, length is immaterial.

  13. August 25th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Kevin,
    You’re right about Twitter letting people in who might have just started a blog and then quit or not started at all.

    But think about the interruptions in between every one of these comments if we were talking on Twitter. :)

  14. August 25th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Liz - in person is still my favorite too, of course, but very few folks seem to have time to revel in my long-windedness anymore. :-)

    @Todd - re losing faith, much of it has to do with my own personal set of morals/ethics. For example, I have a problem with people mixing editorial with advertising — thus, I read very few blogs containing ’sponsored posts’. Also, all the ‘relationship marketing’ turns me off. In real relationships, I don’t want to be someone’s friend because they’re using me. Translated to the online world, I don’t want to be manipulated into relationships or even conversationally placated by folks with ulterior motives. There’s a lot of it on Twitter too, but it’s easy to unfollow/ignore. Easier still to not bother going to their blogs. :-)

  15. August 25th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jen,
    I love what you said … it’s not the content that’s the issue, per se.

    But going deep at 140 characters is like having a heartfelt conversation over fast food rather than a long dinner.

  16. August 25th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #14
    Amy,
    I don’t know when you’re in town anymore. It was easier when I knew it was every Thursday. Will you be downtown tomorrow? heh?

  17. August 25th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
    jen said

    @AMY DERBY - I’ve really resisted the paid post stuff b/c I was concerned I’d lose my base. Relationship marketing? Blehhh.

  18. August 25th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
    jen said

    I’ve been working on a post - 10 Things To Learn From the Most Boring Book in the Bible. I can’t tweet that. Penelope Trunk is a great example. She hardly ever tweets, but continues to churn out posts that received 200-300 comments.

  19. August 25th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #14
    Amy,
    “Relationship marketing” Ew!!

    I’m tired of folks who pretend to like me too. It’s even sadder when they were once sincere. :)

  20. August 25th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Liz - My traveling contract is over. I’m SO happy, because I got so sick of flying! I won’t be downtown tomorrow, but probably will be next week.

  21. August 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Jen - I was just looking at your blog. Love the tagline! I can understand why pay-per-post probably wouldn’t set well with your audience. Relationship marketing = one big mindf*ck in my opinion. :-)

    @Liz - “Even sadder when they were once sincere.” Indeed. I guess I’m lucky I never got very emotionally invested to begin with.

  22. August 25th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    jen
    I hope that good bloggers find a way to support their bloggers that involves good products sponsoring them … like TV. But I agree with what Lucretia Pruitt said “if a sponsor can pay for your opinion, it’s not worth anything.”

  23. August 25th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #20
    I’m glad you’re around now. email me when you’ll be downtown next week.

  24. August 25th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #21
    Not to say I didn’t see it coming, what’s sad is that they think I still think they are sincere now. It’s like little kids who think if they can’t see you, you can’t see them.

    Being nice doesn’t mean I’m stupid. heh heh

  25. August 25th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
    jen said

    @AMY - thank you!

    @LIZ - there are also indirect benefits of blogging. i make less than zero off google ads, but i do make money off my blog. so much work i’ve garnered has been an outbirth of my blog. i’m not sure i’ve ever made a dime from tweeting, but i do love twitter.

  26. August 25th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    I love Twitter because I can play there and have fun. But sometimes I like to think too and have a whole conversation.

    A glass of wine and table is maybe what I need. :)

  27. August 25th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Liz - I don’t even bother with the nice. That way, there are no surprises. :-) I’ll let you know when I find out for sure which days it’ll be.

  28. August 25th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Very interesting Amy #14, Jen # 17 and Liz # 19. The lowest common denominator does have a way of making itself known, doesn’t it?

    I guess people are online the way they are in real life. I wonder what they think “pretend relationships” will give them? I can see the temptation and have been guilty of it too, but it never feels right and never lasts long. As you tend to say, Liz, authenticity has to be the basis of everything.

    I guess it’s always a challenge when starting with complete unknowns. It takes time to filter out the junk relationships.

    In the end, there’s only one thing that is important: “Am I being authentic myself?” I’ll never really know for sure who’s authentic around me.

  29. August 25th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Todd,
    You said it. “junk relationships”

    Love that phrase. Sure am glad I’m not trying to deal with this at age 13. It would just more awfulness.

    At least now I know who I am. :)

  30. August 25th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
    Christa M. Miller said

    Hmm I think I’m an oddball here. :) I like Twitter because it lets me connect with a part of my community that doesn’t blog (or if they do, it’s so technical that I have no idea what they’re talking about!) — I can jump on and have a little fun, keep the connection alive between the articles I write for them.

    But I connect with a different part of my community through blogs and LinkedIn groups; perhaps not surprisingly, the social media and PR folks. That’s why I’m trying to comment a little more on blogs. Oh, and through weekly tweetchats!

  31. August 25th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Christa,
    Weekly tweetchats are something like what blog conversations used to be, only noiser and more frenetic. heh heh

    They’re the closest facsimile. Blog comments are turning to “remarks” again. I see that on lots of blogs.

    When I did my blogger a day phone calls everyone spoke about “community” — how surprised they were to find one. Now isn’t community something fluid and fleeting? Join today, leave tomorrow?

  32. August 25th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
    jen said

    oh! you know what else i’ve noticed! someone will comment on my blog on twitter. they’ll tweet my post or DM me.

  33. August 25th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
    Todd Smith said

    @Liz can you imagine! Age 13 with facebook and twitter. too funny.

    @Christa I have a LinkedIn account with a number of contacts but don’t use it much. I haven’t really figured it out. It sits kind of like an automatically updated Roladex on my desk. What are LinkedIn groups? How do you chat with them. Just missed that part.

  34. August 25th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
    Stacy Bricer said

    Liz…True community is never fleeting. And people are hungry for it. It’s just not easy to find.

  35. August 25th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    #32,
    That’s it, jen.
    I do that. It’s faster than thinking through a real comment, but I can let you know that I’ve been there.

    I’m starting to think of it as the fast-food of commenting. :) heh heh

  36. August 25th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Liz,

    I think I get what you’re talking about here. You used to have tons of comments on this open mic night. I used to have to scroll way up to see what someone was referring to.

    An hour into it we’ve only got 33. Hmm… Is that what you mean?

  37. August 25th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
    --Deb said

    Hi folks! Even if I was considering NOT stopping by tonight, I really had no choice, considering it was Liz who got me on Twitter in the first place.

  38. August 25th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
    Christa M. Miller said

    @Liz, I don’t know, I think because I came late to the party, I’m reveling in what I’ve found now. You know? A few years ago my main community was a forum for other moms. I never really got into the “mommy blogging” thing even as it got started. Now I know that’s a community I would never fit into. For some reason, shorter, faster and punchier just seem to “fit” me better, at least at the stage I’m in now. I guess I’m weird that way! ;)

    @Todd, I get all my LinkedIn group updates through email… if I see an interesting-looking question, I click on it, it takes me to the group, and I answer there. Not very often as there seems to be a high noise-to-signal ratio on many of the groups…

  39. August 25th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Todd,
    Not that so much. I expected this to slow down eventually.

    But folks don’t stay after they comment to continue talking about a subject.

    This conversation in 2007 lasted for days …

    http://www.successful-blog.com/1/personal-identity-what-is-humility/

  40. August 25th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Stacy Brice!
    Welcome, lady!
    Did you purposefully change your name?

  41. August 25th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
    --Deb said

    I haven’t gotten the hang of LinkedIn at ALL.

    I’ve definitely noticed a drop-off in my blog comments of late, though.

  42. August 25th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Todd - I belong to a few LinkedIn groups for the legal community. You can find them by going through the search feature and looking up whatever kind of group you’re looking for. I like them because they’re more private; group members can read the messages, but they’re not showing up in search engines etc (yet).

  43. August 25th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi –Deb,
    I understand that thinking …

    I appreciate it. Thank you!

    It tells me that we’re meeting for the wrong reasons.

  44. August 25th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
    Todd Smith said

    @Christa Thanks for the tip. I’ll keep my eyes open for that.

    @Liz Oh, yes, I’ve been guilty of that one too. This is where I join Amy and stop reading so many blogs because I can’t be in so many conversations at once. But for the ones I love, I like to make it a conversation. I learned that from you, my dear!

  45. August 25th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Christa - Interesting that you mention forums. I was talking the other day with an old friend who was also a forum buddy. We were talking about how much has changed since then online. I really miss forums, the way they used to be run anyway.

  46. August 25th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Todd & Christa,
    I’m the same with LinkedIn and Facebook. I go to each every few days to clean up what’s waiting.

    Amy,
    I can see where a tight professional community would have cool groups to be part of … frankly I’m tired of talking marketing, social media, and pr with folks online. The subject has gotten boring for me.

  47. August 25th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
    --Deb said

    I still visit forums, though (surprise, surprise) they’re almost all knitting related. If I were truly smart, I’d (find) and visit ones for writers…

  48. August 25th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Liz - Part of that, not coming back to the conversation, for me now is that the conversation has gotten so big on so many blogs. If I subscribe to comments for a post and get notified 50 times an hour, it’s distracting and I unsubscribe. Then by the time I get back to the conversation, there are so many comments — and it’s usually gone so off topic — that I don’t bother trying to jump back in. I’m better in a more intimate setting, as far as blog conversations go.

  49. August 25th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Maybe it’s time I write that book. heh heh

    I love showing people how to do stuff, but I sure don’t like writing about the same things I’ve already written about. :)

  50. August 25th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
    jen said

    Here is a link someone just posted on Twitter - likening it to the CB radio - good stuff.

    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2351966,00.asp

  51. August 25th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Amy,
    Those ones that have so many comments … I do the same thing.

  52. August 25th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
    Stacy Brice said

    Liz…if I had to make a typo, that one wasn’t the one I wanted to make ;)

    Amy, I’m with you about blog comments getting off track and the conversation being difficult to track.

    As much as it’s not “mine,” I admit that I enjoy the conversations that ensue on my Facebook page as a result of one of my posts being imported there.

  53. August 25th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
    Todd Smith said

    @Amy, I agree. Too many comments is a turnoff for subscribing to comments.

    The problem for me is that I don’t always have that much time to hang out with big blogs.

  54. August 25th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
    Christa M. Miller said

    @Amy, you know what’s funny about that… I hardly miss forums, or for that matter, listservs. Not sure why other than that I seem to change how I interact with people every few years (byproduct of moving around a lot as a child?). I do try to keep in touch with old friends, though. Poorly, often, but still trying to cultivate those lifelong relationships I never learned how to build early on. Most seem to be forgiving so far. :)

  55. August 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
    Todd Smith said

    Well, guys it has been awesome. I gotta go for the night. Good night.

  56. August 25th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    jen
    I just read that CB link it was a good read … I didn’t leave a comment. I came back to tell you! heh

  57. August 25th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
    --Deb said

    @Christa–as long as we can all still interact (virtually or otherwise), that’s what matters, right?

    It’s the interaction that’s important. Not the format.

  58. August 25th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
    Amy Derby said

    @Christa- the legal community still uses listservs. I kid you not. :-)

    @Liz + all- it’s been fun. But I’ve got a kid in an mega-fit over his first day of kindergarten tomorrow… time to go bore him to sleep with a story. :-)

  59. August 25th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Good night, Amy
    Tell him I used to teach school. :)

  60. August 25th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Sometimes, I think it’s just that we’ve all discovered that this is hard work and we don’t have any extra time any more. :)

  61. August 25th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    I think our work here is done.

    Go ahead guys.

    Sweet dreams :)

  62. August 25th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Stacy Brice,
    You are awesome. That is all!

  63. August 25th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
    --Deb said

    G’night everyone!

  64. August 25th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    G’night Deb!
    Thank you!

  65. August 25th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
    Christa M. Miller said

    @Deb, very true. Thank you. :)

    @Amy, you can’t shock me — cops still use listservs too! ;)

    @Liz, funny you should say some conversations are boring. I still pay attention to social media and PR, but now within the prism of what I do. Still have a steep learning curve on marketing, though… traditional as well as content.

    Anyway, I see this conversation ended gracefully while I was away taking care of a kid, so I too will say goodnight. :)

  66. August 25th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
    jen said

    g’night!

  67. August 25th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    g’night Christa and jen!
    Thank you both!

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