The Social Media Burden
I love to explore new software. New social media web applications are no different – I like to learn about them, try them out, and be inspired by them. Some, like FriendFeed, become a tool that I use every day.
Especially in a field named ‘social media,’ most of you are the same as me in what you want to get out of it, but perhaps for different reasons. I am guessing that most of you are more interested in the social side.. you are on FriendFeed because there are interesting people there. And that’s cool. But that’s only half of the interest for me. I also love to explore and understand what makes software tick.
I’m not saying I don’t like people; far from it. I’m not a misanthrope! I’m just saying that my outlook on going to a party, mixer, networking seminar or other social event usually registers somewhere between uneasiness and dread.
The point with all this is to say that I know myself fairly well: I’ve always been a loner. It takes work for me to maintain social contacts and be suitably reciprocal and engaged with a lot of people. Frankly, it wears me out, probably a lot faster than for most of you, where I’m guessing it is more like second nature.
And that is what I mean by the burden of social media. For me, even when it is a joy, sometimes it is also a burden.
Applications like LinkedIn, Plaxo, not to mention social community sites like MySpace and Facebook are all about enabling networking and expanding your community of friends and acquaintances. When I started using these sites in earnest after SXSW Interactive in February, I was positive they would completely fill in the gap where I came up short in networking and socializing.
After 6 months of using one social app or another every day, I can safely say that none of these tools is a panacea for the introverted man. It’s not that they don’t work, they do provide a lot of leverage in different ways for those willing to put in the effort. But they do in fact require effort.
In some ways, the playing field is not leveled by these tools. For example, If I put in effort, that effort is magnified on a social media site. I may go from making 5 or 6 contacts in a certain industry or social circle to making 15 to 20. And that is great. But someone who could easily make 25 to 50 contacts without a social media tool would see their work multiplied ten times or more. They could easily have 250 or more contacts.
My point here is that, I have been putting in a lot of effort, and for a reclusive shlub, I think I’m doing really well in this funny online universe of FriendFeed and Facebook and Twitter. I can’t complain. In fact I want to thank each and every one of you who look for me on a new social media site and make the effort to link to me there! But I need to make sure that I am directing my energy toward creative endeavors as much or more than building a social network.
Therefore, I am going to make some changes to this site, Scribkin. I am going to re-dedicate it more toward writing what I am good at, which is more primers and tech-based stuff, and not fret so much about the social side. If an article warrants linking to an awesome article or other bit of writing that someone else wrote, fantastic. But if I feel like my energy is driving me toward writing something more introspective, I will run with it. My ultimate goal with this site is to become a better writer, to write more proficiently and clearly, and to provide a service to my readership.
So you will be seeing the site going in new directions as I discover new technologies that fascinate me, or topics that I feel I have something interesting to write about. I am also going to try to not worry so much about readership, page counts, etc. I think investing my attention in those things draws energy away from writing.
They say that most book writers are extremely interoverted, and masochists to boot. I believe it. More, I can empathize with it.. I seem to draw more clarity of purpose and more energy when I step back and gather my thoughts together. So, this might mean you will see me less active on FriendFeed especially, but I think in the long run it will be good because I will be giving back more worthwhile and interesting content to my subscribers this way.
I apologize for the personal tone of the article, and I hope you all choose to follow me on my path of self-improvement, but I completely don’t blame you if you do not.