We’re all human here in this giant blogosphere and that means human things, like bad days, or flippancy don’t always translate to the written word. Sometimes, it only takes something very small to set of a chain of events that leave you watching, wondering how did that happen?
I wasn’t part of this one, just a witness after the fact.
Twitter is, by it’s nature, an extension. An extension of us, of our blogs, of our websites. It doesn’t matter how much we might try, we can’t explain ourselves fully in 140 characters. God, I’ve had trouble explaining myself completely in 1000 words!
Another problem with twitter, is that if you’ve been unfollowed, everything you say after that point is moot, because they can’t see it.
I witnessed this this week and thought it interesting, how something so simple, could spiral downhill so quickly.
The tweets following are from @TotalArtSoul and @frogpondsrock respectively.
Please note, I am not taking sides with EITHER person, I just thought it was interesting.
At which point, Total Art Soul blocked and banned @frogpondsrock and left in a huff.
Which proves my point, that 140 characters is not enough to explain yourself, or to ask questions or make statements if someone is having a bad day.
Total Art Soul is a forum for artists. Unfortunately, not everyone who signs up for forums has time to be an active member and I can vouch for Frogpondsrock being a VERY slack member, as I’ve seen it first hand on AMB. Hehe.
However, MY issue with this whole thing is something different:
When does supporting your community and helping out other people on the InterWebs, start being a push/pull shared thing?
Is there a point when you look at what you’re doing for your community and decide that it isn’t worth it? That YOU aren’t getting enough out of it personally to bother promoting anymore?
If you run a forum, you help to publicise your members, you RT links, you share experiences and you do all that without any glory, because it’s part of being a social network owner. Banners on sites aren’t about traffic, so much as brand awareness. Brenda and I don’t expect hundreds of click throughs to AMB based on our badge, because it isn’t about traffic. It’s about having people aware of your logo and knowing instantly, who you are.
Without the goodwill of your members, your social networking site sinks pretty fast.
I’m not saying Total Art Soul was wrong, to be honest, it looked like she was having a bad day, with too much work and not enough appreciation. A flippant comment from frogpondsrock hurt and she got snippy.
But, 140 characters is not enough to explain yourself in and it leaves itself open for misunderstandings, which is where TAS blocked and banned Frogpondsrock and left.
The other problem with twitter, is that if you are too prolific, people will unfollow, not because they don’t care about you, but because you’re cluttering up their timeline with things they aren’t interested in. I’ve had it happen personally and okay, I was a bit stung, but it’s how things work.
There seems to be a problem here on the Internet, with ‘bigger’ bloggers (I use the term both bigger and blogger very lightly) thinking that by every link they RT, by every mention, by every helping hand, that they are doing the ‘smaller’ blogger a giant favour. In reality, unless that ‘bigger’ blogger is in the league of Dooce, it’s very unlikely that your helping hand has been as big as you think it has been. This isn’t aimed directly at TAS, mind you, it’s something I see all around the blogs/forums.
People are by nature, judgemental. You like to look at someone and know how you fit in, in relationship to their life. She’s got better shoes, but your handbag is nicer. Her car is more expensive, but you ate at super exclusive restaurant last night. She has more money, but your kids are cuter. Their house is bigger, but you’re pretty sure you get along better with your husband. Right?
It’s how things work on blogs too. We visit a blog and while we may not notice that we’re doing it, we scroll the sidebar looking for our own link (even if we’re certain it’s not there), we tally up the amount of comments on the last two posts, we check out follower/subscriber numbers and subtly, sometimes without even realising it, we’re deciding whose site is more successful. The more blogs we discover with ‘less’ numbers then ours, the bigger we feel.
When really, we’re not at all.
I’m guilty of this too you know, making a snap decision on whose blog is better. I tend to smack myself up the side of the head though, because it’s not what the Internet is meant to be about – unlike some bloggers I’ve stopped reading, because their opinion of themselves makes me stabby.
So really, no matter how much better your numbers are, don’t feel like you’re doing someone a giant favour by sharing their link. Share their link because you like it, or because you like them. Don’t feel inclined to RT their horoscope, just for the sake of retweeting them. It’s not smart, it’s silly. People will pay more attention if the links you share are quality, not if you share loads of them.
And if that means we get to have favourites, then brilliant. I have my favourite bloggers and I share nearly everything they write. Because I love them and because the quality is there. Not because I’m doing them a favour, but because I want people to see their amazing work and love it like I do.
Maybe that’s what we all should do. Share because we love it, not because we feel obliged to.
