Bitter with Twitter

August 23, 2009 By

For some time, I followed most (obvious) non-spammers that followed me on Twitter.  I expected Twitter to give me better tools, and better filters over time.  They haven’t.

Today I started unfollowing people that weren’t adding any value to my social graph.  I am sure I made some mistakes, and unfollowed a few people I should not have – if that is true in your case – if we know each other, please email me and I will follow you back.

I am doing this manually, one account at a time – so I am trying to be careful.  I meet so many people in so many different contexts though – I am sure I will unfollow someone I didn’t mean to.

Don’t take it personally.  E-Mail me and I will add you back.

So – why?  Noise.  I used to enjoy Twitter, when I could have a conversation on Twitter.  Then I followed too many, and it ALL became noise.  The people I wanted to hear were lost in the clutter.

So I started relying only on Twitter Search – which only showed me what *I* was interested in, and not what each of you were interested in.  Again – much less fun – but at least manageable.  But I lost the value of your inputs.  The conversation disappeared.

So now I am going back to a “thin-stream” – a stream of input from people I know, admire, like, and/or trust.

I thinned several hundred accounts out today, and will continue to do so – one account at a time, through personal inspection.  Until I have a feed stream I think I can manage (perhaps 500-1000 people).

Sorry if I stepped on any toes.

Twitter was just becoming useless to me as a tool to keep track of what my friends were talking about.  I miss that.

Rob

Filed Under: Community, Personal

Every launch is fun. And work.

August 22, 2009 By

I’ve been involved in a lot of launches over the last few decades. From children, to businesses, to websites and partnerships.

Every launch is fun. Every launch is a ton of work. It doesn’t seem to matter how large or small the launch is. The level of fun, and the level of work, seems to be consistent.

And at the end of he day, you never know what you’ve launched until it grows up. This is as true for websites as it is for children. Each will evolve, over time – based on their audience, friends, experience, and the feedback they receive.

This is why I am not completely wrapped up in “what are we launching today?” I am more interested in, “What could it be in two years?”.

But I love experiments. I love trying something that sounds like it should work, even if I have no idea how it will possibly work.  I had no clue how to be a father.  That evolved.  Everything evolves.

Finding out if you were right or wrong can take a very long time.  But you can affect the outcome every day.  You can influence your child, your community – and your audience.  But in the end, websites and children become what they will become.  All of your influence is best spent early in the process for both – because as each matures, your influence wanes dramatically.

Today I launched a new website/partnership – and I launched my daughter off to the college dorm.

It’ll be a few some time before I know what either of them will become.  I have great hopes for both.

Filed Under: Personal

Happy Birthday, Derek!

August 12, 2009 By

So yesterday (as of a few minutes ago) was my son Derek’s 21st birthday.

So what did we do?  I invited Derek, and his younger sister Lauren (18), to a Tweetup here in San Antonio.  The establishment says they think we had 75 people there. I’ve been doing local Tweetups for a couple years.  This is the first I invited my kids to. It was a special day for me.  My son is now 21.  And nothing pierced, or tattooed; no records tarnished, no fingerprints taken.  My work here is done :)

He can now decide his own future, and either learn from my mistakes (which I have openly shared with him).  Or he can do it the hard way – and do it from scratch.  Every parent hopes they teach their kids enough that they each start in a better place than we did.

So why did I invite my “kids” to a Tweetup?  They use social media, but they aren’t overly geeky (OK, my son IS – but in a diferent way than me).  I invited them so:

a) they could meet my friends and “other family” – my community.  To include some coworkers, my new boss, and a couple of employees.  I want my kids to understand what I do, even if it seems impossible that someone would pay me for making friends and treating people well (they actually do!).

b) I could buy my son his first legal beer (and did).

c) And honestly – I just wanted to show them off.  As the custodial parent for about a decade, I wanted people to see that I didn’t screw them up!

I did NOT expect one of my employees to buy my son his first legal shot as well – DAMN you, Rocky!.  Luckily my daughter drove (and at 18 she was drinking soda).  My kids understand the perils of excess – whether that be alcohol, infatuation or anything else.  Too much of a good thing is too much.

In any case – thanks to all my friends.  I had a boss there, customers there, ex co-workers there, partners there, employees there, coworkers there, and job seekers there.  And my kids there.

All friends.

That’s what makes my job and life so cool.

Filed Under: Community, Customers, Fun, Personal

10 Words

July 20, 2009 By

This post started on Twitter – with a simple question.  “What is your favorite word?”.  Read more about it here. Go ahead and read it – it will open in a new window, and I’ll wait.

Back already?  Did you really read that?  OK, no harm no foul.  I’ll wait.  Trusting you to do the right thing here!

OK, assuming you actually did read that the second time, this post may make sense.  If you tried to fake it twice, no problem.  Go read it.  I’ll wait (again).

OK, so you read it!  Great!

Here are my ten favorite words, and why.

1) Helpful – From being a parent to being a boss – helpful is a very powerful word.  Nothing makes me feel better than just being helpful.  Nothing gives my life more meaning.  Really.  It’s fun being helpful – and rewarding!

2) Disruptive – I know this looks like a weird one, but it is actually a great word, and an even better tool that every business should employ.  No company is ever perfect.  Disruptive forces cause people to re-think things.  To question “norms”.  And eventually to re-invent themselves.  Hopefully for the better.

3) Emotion – Because without emotion, nothing has meaning.

4) Compassion – Because all of us should be able to put ourselves in others shoes – to look at that homeless person and think, “if”.  If I had made different decisions, that could have been me.  With different friends, that could have been me. In different circumstances, that could have been me.  Tomorrow, that could be me.

5) Timing – Because many things depend on it.  Including conception :)

6) Hope – Every day can be a better day.  For me, for you, for the planet.

7) Trust – I no longer deal with people I can’t trust, even if it costs me money, or love.  I am richer in the end through this decision.

8) Sharing – This encompases a lot – generousity, gratefulness, success.  All things that are better shared – like a hot tub.

9) Friendly – I was recently in Palo Alto, CA.  I walked down the streets during the day, and at night.  Giving everyone I met a cheery “Hello!”.  Some were surprised, and cautious.  Some thought I was a nutcase.  Most smiled back, and some I even started a conversation with.

10) Content – This is something you can only develop within your mind.  Neither job, or car, spouse or savings can make one content.  To be content, you must like who YOU are.

Now, I am certainly not arguing that I have achieved all of these things – but they are what I aspire to :)

How about you?  Do your own post, and link back.  And if you tweet it, use the #10words hashtag.  (But if you read the linked post you already knew that!).

Filed Under: Community, Personal

Just clarifying a little something

July 16, 2009 By

I’ve written several posts on this blog about SeaWorld, San Antonio.  I love SeaWorld.  I love that I have friends there.  I love that they share new events with me.

I have NEVER taken a dime from SeaWorld (and they have never offered me a dime!), or anyone else, for any post on this blog.  My thoughts are my thoughts.  Sure – if SeaWorld shows me something cool, I will probably write about it.  This is NOT any different than what Robert Scoble does, what Techcrunch does, or what any other news blog does.

Why is this coming up?

A recent article in Forbes mentions SeaWorld in conjunction with a pretty negative post about Izea, AKA PayPerPost.

A long-time reader saw that article – and asked me, rather bluntly, if I had taken blogola.

I absolutely have NOT.  I have sold a few ads over the years (maybe totaling $500) based on content I had already written and published, but I have NEVER written a post in trade for anything.  Not even a free beer.  I write what I want to write – nothing more, and nothing less.  NONE of those posts that paid me ad revenue were in any way related to SeaWorld.

It is also true that I *did* sign up for PayPerPost, back in the day.  Back when they were being raked over the coals for being unethical.  I didn’t want to take the word of someone else – I wanted to see how it “worked”.  So yes, I signed up on PayPerPost.  I have NEVER received a dime from them, or submitted ANY content to them.

I find it distressing that SeaWorld is even named in the same post with PayPerPost/Izea/Ted Murphy.  I am also distressed that this has caused my own motives/ethics to be questioned.  I don’t know what is going on in Orlando, Florida, but I am very confident in the SeaWorld San Antonio team, and how they handled the invitations for me to attend events.  They never asked for ANYTHING in return from me.  And I have been to large events, like launching a new roller coaster, to small events, that were more about their vision for the future, etc.  I might have eaten a free taco, but those of you that know me know that I am not an eater – so free food cannot bribe me.

SeaWorld San Antonio is my friend, and I have made many friends there.  My daughter has a season pass that was PAID for (by my ex).

So no.  There was absolutely zero quid pro quo in any of my posts about SeaWorld San Antonio.  Nothing more than friendships.  Like many of my posts, I do talk about cool things friends are doing/have done.

I don’t know the details of this, beyond the article I reference above.

I just know MY SeaWorld here in San Antonio.  And the PR team I have dealt with.  And they have treated me with nothing but respect.  Had they offered to pay me to post, I would have been offended, and they would have lost a customer, and an advocate.  And probably a friend.

Instead they DID respect my morals as a blogger (and as a person) and offered me nothing in exchange for my attendance other than the ability to attend.  To me, that was payment enough.  Friends launched something – and I wanted to be among the first to play with it.  In this case, it was an idea, or a roller coaster.

In most cases, it is a website.

But to me, the same criteria applies – I have to be interested in it, and I need an emotional investment in it.  In the case of SeaWorld San Antonio it was a combination of both.  Loved the new coaster I got to ride, and am emotionally attached to some of the staff.  They are friends.

And friends don’t need to pay me for a post.  Friends know me well enough not to offend me by offering.  Friends know I will write about them when they do something that interests me.

Rob

Filed Under: Community, Personal, San Antonio
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