Socialholic

Over on another blog post, the rather fab @ellisgraphics, made an interesting couple of comments.

Do you really think that cheap flattery, mixed with even cheaper psychology (reverse or not) will get me to click your links? Sometimes I think that the whole social media world are going to disappear up an infinity loop connected to their rear orifices! – ever so slightly tongue-in-cheek, so-to-speak =)

..and a follow up of…

I feel I must follow up my last post [least it be taken in the wrong way] by saying “tell me more!” Having read your post on LinkedIn [ http://linkd.in/btFZfr ], I am intrigued as to how we can use collective influence to the good…

Now, it was a fair comment because, in my original blog post (and that over on LinkedIn) I did try to get people to click on my voting link for Fast Company’s The Influence Project.  I think I made it pretty clear what was going on and, on the LinkedIn one, I also gave the vanilla URL of The Influence Project that you could click without voting for me.

The LinkedIn article read as follows:

The Influence Project and… well… combined influence!

Yesterday, I blogged about the Influence Project. For those of you who don’t know, the idea is that FastCompany is trying to measure people’s influence online.

Now, at this point, I could trick you in to supporting me but I’ll be honest instead! I’ll add two links below

1 – http://www.fastcompany.com is the magazine that’s running the Project; and
2 – http://bit.ly/blzQpw – is the link that adds to my influence. I hope to win points from you for honesty!

Feel free to click one! I can only add one link at the bottom of this article and I need to tell you that although it looks otherwise, it is my personal link (the one that supports me) and not the vanilla one! (I would have added both if I could!)

The thing that makes this interesting is that it does have the potential to measure influence. If you click my link, I’ve (to some extent) influenced you to do that. If, however, you click the other one, you hate me and must live with that burning on your conscience!

I think we do not make enough of things like this as a group. We have the potential to cross support each other to show to the outside world the strength of social media in the area and the things we do well. We already have great things in and around Devon like #Tags and LikeMinds and, if we helped each other with things like the Influence Project, then we’d be able to show our combined clout better.

I spend quite a bit of my time sharing links and voting for people but, in a way, it is quite disperate and uncoordinated. I have had great support for two years in the Tweetie awards but it is the lack of coordination and shared resource that I think we could address here.

As a first step, click one of the links (mine, mine!) and join the Influence Project. And add your user name here so we can support you too!

My suggestion is that we invite those of you who are up for things that require votes or clicks to tell people here. I don’t know why it is but I have spoken with some of you before (no names) and there is some kind of … I don’t know quite what to call it but there is something holding people back from posting.

We’re a social network and we a shared resource, a support team for each other. So let’s make the most of that!

Now, there was a reason for posting that over on LinkedIn and, in particular, in the Social Media Devon and #TAGs group.  It was posted in there because, whilst I have seen, originated and participated in a number of cause and charity ‘collective influence’ groups, I have yet to see a really good business one (especially in the UK) – and I want to do something about it.

I would genuinely love to see Social Media Devon and #TAGs use its combined muscle to turn into a business ‘collective influence’ group – to the benefit of all its members and, more broadly, to show the power and widespread influence of businesses in the South West.  The first example, the one that I have used on LinkedIn, is The Influence Project.  The reason is, quite selfishly, that I’m in it and someone needs to start the idea somewhere.

I do not think that the concept is a massively difficult one.  I am doing something (The Influence Project) and need the help of others.  The South Devon Media/#TAGS group has a common interest with me, we (its members) pretty much all know each other and so, I am asking them to use their influence to help me.  Why should they?  Well, that’s a good question!

But, if social media is built on anything, it is based on sharing and helping – combining power and influence.  The very simple concept of Stronger Together.

A lot of the work that I do in social media is with charities and it is about culture. The more advice I give to businesses about this, the more I realise that it’s exactly the same issue! Different cultures (national and regional) use social media in different ways.  For example, I have seen a number of examples of such cooperation mechanisms in the US – many more than I see in the UK.  I believe a lot of that has to do with a reticence to be seen to ask for help in the UK.  Maybe it is a lack of confidence that we have in ourselves, maybe it is the idea that asking for help is a sign of weakness.

I do not believe either of those should stop us.  Having friends who work together is something special and something that should be encouraged and celebrated.  In the charity field, I am immensely proud of all those who have answer the call to arms of Team2Quid.  But why can’t we replicate that in the business field?  When my friends and acquaintances get nominated for things online, I am very happy for them and I will do my bit to help – provided I find out about them.

And there’s the rub – often I don’t find out about them until it’s too late. So, the purpose of the LinkedIn article was a call to arms and a ‘look, I’m not embarrassed to ask and nor should you be’.  Indeed, I’ll even go so far as to say that you should click http://bit.ly/vote4jmb and vote for me!  And sign up yourself and tell us so that we can vote for you too.

In an ideal world, we will soon have more discussion here and on the LinkedIn group with people asking for help and support for what they are doing. If we can get over the cultural reticence, it will be to our benefit and, if we can, I’ll answer the call. Will you?

After having confessed to not really understanding the Influence Project (yes, a split infinitive – I know, let it go!), I think I now do!

The idea put forward by FastCompany is to use your influence to measure your influence. Or to put it another way, is your tribe of followers full of passive, sausage-roll sucking, remote control hoggers or are they a glamorous, intellectual powerful, lean, mean fighting machine?

If they’re all gorgeous and clever and witty, getting them to click your link will be no problem at all. Indeed, some of them will even have the foresight to share your link – http://bit.ly/blzQpw – on their social networks or even click the link and sign up themselves. This will show (I didn’t use the word ‘prove’ there on purpose) that you are engaged with your tribe and they with you and that you help each other out.

Anyway, that’s the theory.

So, to those of you who have clicked the link, thank you! For those who haven’t, what are you waiting for? And for those of you who are intrigued as to where you stand in the interconnectedness of the web, click this and sign up. Now I’ve thought about it, it is actually quite clever – what better way to measure influence than to attempt to influence the result?

I should warn you, the site is a tad slow (something to consider next year, please organisers!) but it is an interesting experiement and one worth taking part in.

And, if you do sign up, don’t forget to post below and we can get a bit of mutual support going! Click on here to support me!

The Influence Project by Fast Company aims to identify the most influential people online.  It is at least partially accurate as my link shows that I’m not that influential!  However, does this actually measure influence or something else?  I’m unsure but can’t work out why!

Discuss below and help me work out what it is actually measuring – if anything!  Feel free to post your own linky too!

I need a bit of help with something. I have to give a presentation tomorrow on crowdsourcing and I thought it would make sense to crowdsource it!

So, if you have examples of where crowdsourcing has been used, either case studies from other people or your own experience, and graphics about crowdsourcing, I’d be realllly grateful if you could send them across.  It’ll be quite a short presentation but, once it’s done (and assuming it’s any good!), I’ll put something up on Slideshare.

Completely unrelated, this is my first blog post using Disqus as the comment engine – so give that a go and let me know if it’s any good.  I quite likey but that might just be me! … Oooh, a crowdsourced Disqus test!

Ta lovelies!

Socialholic x

OK.

So I had a crazy idea.

I’d find a sponsor for my 10,000th tweet.

Right now, I’m at Like Minds 2010. As I arrived, I was unable to use my Twitter feed. Annoying.

But I knew that my friend and co-host, Kate Day, was going to be there. So I went down to the green room to find her. She wasn’t there.

Other people were but Kate wasn’t.

And I chatted with them.

The subject of charity and the Socialholic Experiment came up.

And some bloke who I have never met before said, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll give you £100 for your 10,000th tweet’.

He was serious too.

And I write this blog post just after having left him. And I am slightly shaking.

The man who has generously sponsored that tweet is Malcolm Scovil and he is from LeapAnywhere. I have only just met him but I can tell you that the man is lovely. A proper nice bloke. Generous and brilliantly supportive.

And amazing.

I would ask you to follow @leapanywhere on Twitter and go and look at their website at www.leapanywhere.com

I’ve still not seen Kate.

But social media has worked again and it has worked in an amazing way.

People connecting with people for the purpose of good.

THANK YOU, MALCOLM!

(I promise that I will blog more when I’ve calmed down a bit!)

*breathe* *breathe*