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(Video) Meaning or Masses: Do You Seek to Extend Conversations or Amass Followers?

By Ken Stewart on February 21, 2009

More, more, and more.

Why stop at one scoop of ice cream when you can have two? Why order a regular soda when you could have a super-sized soda?

Do you collect followers like baseball cards, or do you search out meaningful participation? Do you find that having more followers offers more of an opportunity for meaningful conversation?

Link to video

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To connect with Ken, you may visit him at DandyID.


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Ken Stewart

People-focused, business-minded, technology-savvy leader who likes to ask: "Why?"

  • kallan
    Kia ora Ken

    It is a property of people, this "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours". But people also have this strange duality between being themselves, as individuals, and being group members.

    Michele Martin spoke of homophily last year, and how this could affect the way we interact, learn, and socialise.

    I have never been one for clicks or exclusive groups. In fact, I used to campaign against that sort of thing in the folk-club when I was a member way back. But my understanding of how communities seem to operate online has sharply brought my senses to the significant importance of having a large pool of people in a commentsphere round a blog. I am aware that, as a person I have no real need to gather lots and lots of people about me (I do like to socialise) but as a blogger there's a functional need to have a community in order to blog. Otherwise I'd be as well to write my posts in Word and save them to the hard drive - it just doesn't work the same :-)

    Catchya later
  • Ken, once again you make a salient point ;-) There is indeed no way to be a purest about this sort of thing is there? One must seek an audience. I suppose I am more attuned with the zombie-like quest I have witnessed many make in seeking followers.

    What's more interesting is understanding people's following-pattern - and even where this pattern differentiates itself among various services. For instance, my Facebook strategy is different than my Twitter strategy.

    I would say that this is a most interesting opportunity to observe!
  • I think we all start out by 'super-sizing' our venture. The more the better. In our minds more = better, or more = meaning??
    Sooner or later we all find that more does not equal any of the previously mentioned, but that more simply means noise.

    Meaningful conversation, whether done massively or not takes time and effort from both sides of the conversation.
    I think that's why for instance we become a twitter friend vacuum for followers, but then eventually trim the 'twitter fat' and reduce the noise. Our conversations become meaningful by simply focusing our efforts instead of spreading ourselves too thin.
    A lesson we all learn the hard way, but a lesson that can only be learned by the hard way.
    As always, great thoughts my friend.
  • I love that thought, "A lesson we all learn the hard way, but a lesson that can only be learned by the hard way."

    I think that summarizes the human experiences fairly well ;-)
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