Comments on: The Naked Truth About Naked Conversation

By: Why and How I Quit Reading So Many Blogs : Robust Writing

Why and How I Quit Reading So Many Blogs : Robust Writing — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:20:00 +0000

[…] all devoted to freelancing tips. Neither do you–if you ever plan on actually freelancing. As Bob Bly says, “[I]f you are spending endless hours reading posts, comments, and messages online, those are […]

By: Bob Bly

Bob Bly — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:23:12 +0000

Lisa: my assumption is based on experience:
1. Bloggers posting too often — commenting on everything that happens to them.
2. Bloggers ranting and raving — taking 8 paragraphs to get across an idea or opinion that can be expressed in a sentence.
3. Inability of bloggers to let anyone else have the last word.

By: Wendy Moon

Wendy Moon — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:46:07 +0000

I agree with you. Although I use Twitter and Facebook I have found at work, only a small percentage of people actually use these tools to communicate. If one relies solely on these forms of communication the person will lose their ability to connect with physical humans when they leave their computer’s domain.

By: Brand Logician

Brand Logician — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:34:06 +0000

There may be a bit of an age divide here. As we move forward, more conversations are going to be held in these social networks and less and less on talk radio and in newspapers. Though we should not spend too much time, we are in real trouble if we miss riding this information wave.

By: AnotherBobHere

AnotherBobHere — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:44:57 +0000

I see all this social media stuff going on and have not read any articles about anyone actually making any money with Twitter or Facebook, except for the advertisers who pray for clicks.

Keep in mind, the ongoing joke with a hot social media outlet or at least was once hot, podcasting. If you want to make money in podcasting, get out of podcasting.

To me, I have not seen the value.

By: Mordechai (Morty) Schiller

Mordechai (Morty) Schiller — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:17:28 +0000

Bob,

When the discussion came up to set up a MySpace page for CYBRA http://www.cybra.com, I said no….

We may or may not get some more viewers for our YouTube videos. But that’s not the place to find buyers for enterprise software. I said it was a diversion and a waste of time and money.

Does that make me anti-social?

Morty

By: Dianna Huff

Dianna Huff — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 13:21:31 +0000

Lisa,

Here is a great blog post that puts this entire converation into perspective: http://www.drama20show.com/2008/04/14/robert-scoble-needs-to-get-real/

By: Lisa Solomon

Lisa Solomon — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:13:37 +0000

Bob, why do you assume that a person who uses a social media application is talking more than listening?

Additionally, I think social media can be very helpful in giving you an opportunity to network with people outside your profession who you would not necessarily have an opportunity to meet through face-to-face networking channels. Such people can still have great value as members of your professional network. For example, I am a lawyer and entrepreneur. Through three different social networking channels - Twitter, Facebook and commenting on a blog (yes, that’s a form of social networking!) - I have started a relationship (defined by having one-on-one conversations) with a well-known public relations professional. While I am not currently calling on that contact for help in achieving my professional goals, being “on the radar” of someone like that could pay off down the road.

Finally, as more people work from their homes, social networking applications can fill the role of a “virtual water cooler.”

The bottom line is that, as long as you exercise self-control, social networking can be a useful tool. But, if you can’t exercise self-control, don’t blame the social networking application: work on yourself.

By: ZHereford

ZHereford — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:45:15 +0000

After spending far too much time attempting to making connections on the various social media sites, I’ve realized how much time I’ve wasted when I could have spent it finding better ways to market my site.

Needless to say Bob, I totally agree with you and my futile efforts are proof.

While social media interactions are fun and entertaining, a paycheck they don’t produce.

By: xyb

xyb — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:26:59 +0000

Using social media *as a part of* your usual methods of getting customer feedback can be useful, *if* your product or service targets those people. I can think of plenty of areas where spending any time on social media doesn’t make sense. Think AARP, one of the biggest and pretty affluent markets out there right now.

I love the fact that you’re standing up to make your point known. This doesn’t work for everyone/every product/every group.

And, I love how you quantify it by saying that if you’re spending all day on it, you’re probably missing many other conversations. What was that Keller-Fay stat? 92% of conversations occur OFFline.

Nice post!