Too Much Attention
There is nothing inherently wrong with either HelloTxt and Ping.fm, as both provide a service that many a social media early adopter needs – the ability to update your status across the myriad of social sites that you use. HelloTxt is slightly different from Ping.fm because they also offer a bit of lifestreaming functionality, giving the user the ability to also check the status updates of their social circle. But at the core of each application is the ability to send a single message out through various channels. When comparing these services to traditional media, one could say that they provide a similar service to the Associated Press, which broadcasts a message or story that is picked up by hundreds of media outlets.
The problem with broadcasting the exact same message across multiple social networks, however, is that the meaning of the message is lost in its vast distribution. The nature of the social web is such that most early adopters belong to the exact same social networks. Twitter, FriendFeed, Plurk, Facebook, Pownce, Jaiku, MySpace, Brightkite, Tumblr, Identi.ca, and all the other sites that Ping.fm and HelloTxt support, are all sites with incestuous user bases. A smaller percentage of my Twitter network is following me on Plurk, but at least 80% of the people I follow on Plurk are people I also follow on Twitter. The same ratios exist across a majority of the other social networks I use. I’ve even started to find that when someone I follow broadcasts their message using a site like Ping.fm, not only do I see the message multiple times on FriendFeed and each individual site, but I also never hear a response if I reply using one distinct social network (eg. Twitter). The message makes it to me, but it’s not really one that I feel comfortable interacting with or engaging with. This is a problem.
Too Much Saturation Destroys Trust
Whether you’re using social media for fun, to build your personal brand, or to enhance your business, at the very core of your endeavors is the desire to build a network, or community, of people who care about what you’re doing and when you’re doing it. The more you broadcast the same message to the same group of people, however, the more you destroy the trust you have with your audience, friends, or fans, and the more your message loses any real value. It’s exactly the same effect as a news story that gets too much airtime, or a press release on a startup that gets picked up by too many blogs – the more you hear the same message, the less interesting it becomes.
I’m not saying that sites like HelloTxt and Ping.fm don’t have their place or their value. They certainly do, when used wisely. I would, however, argue that if you plan to use a myriad of social networks that you should pay attention to the particular dynamic of that site and interact with those members in a unique way. I would also assert that if your goal is to build an interactive community, which is completely different than message pushing, that your audience is going to be much receptive if they notice that you’re participatory as well. So even if you choose to use a service like Ping.fm, make sure to take the additional effort to check each individual social network for responses, and, if appropriate, reply to them in a distinct and unique manner. Ultimately, building community means establishing trust and supporting the expectation that members of that community are being heard.
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billyshipp
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billyshipp
