Bruceclay.com - Blogs, Memes & Bloggers

« Liveblogging: How do you like it? | Main | Meta Tags in Search Engine Optimization: Who Needs ‘Em? »

May 24, 2007

Blogs, Memes & Bloggers

Posted by Lisa Barone

Bloggers Have More Connections Than Journalists

Marc Evans (via Andy Beal) points to a Plaxo study that tallied the average number of contacts for different job titles to see whose address book is bigger. Uninteresting and totally not surprising, talent agents and publicists took top honors with 628 and 490 contacts, respectively.

More interesting was that bloggers were found to be better connected than most journalists, with an average of 267 contacts to their pitiful 247. Ooo, take that, journalists! You may get more respect, prettier badges, and better titles but we have more friends to get us the scoop. Kind of curious is that those that listed their job title as “geek” have an isolating 92 contacts. Who makes a living out of being a geek? Fine, besides Scoble.

Very funny to me (and likely only me), Andy Beal reveals he doesn’t know how accurate the study is since he told Plaxo he only had 100 contacts when he really has more than 450. Hee! Way to be, Andy.

(As a side note: It’s probably a good thing bloggers are so well-connected, since a third of bloggers are risking their jobs. Has Heather B. Armstrong taught you nothing?)

Are Social Media Memes Overrated?

Tamar, whom I haven’t been able to speak to since Tuesday and is giving me seriously BFF withdrawal, pointed to a Cre8asite thread that asks: Are Social Media Memes Overrated? [Why did we start calling them "social media memes"? Was just calling them "memes" not buzzword enough? They're no more social media than playing M.A.S.H at lunchtime in ~~high~~ grade school. --Susan] - Hey, don’t get in my face over it. I didn’t name it; I merely quoted the Cre8asite thread. Back off.

I don’t think “overrated” is the right word. That would imply that people are lining the streets to talk about how wonderful they are and I don’t see that happening. I think the answer is are they useful, is there any worthwhile purpose to them, what’s the takeaway?

The use is in the branding and the emotional aftertaste. It’s being able to give readers a deeper glimpse into your life, your passions and your interests. They’re popular for the same reasons that the occasional off-topic blog post is often well-received. People like learning about other people, especially those that they have formed an attachment to.

Personally, I enjoyed the 5 Things meme that went around last year, because it gave me a glimpse into the past of some of my favorite people. However, I think most would agree that the recent bunch have been pure noise. I’m all for the occasional meme that’s going to give me an insight into your life, but I’m not particularly interested in what magazines you’re reading. Your charity affiliations are nice to know (though I’m sure a bunch of you were lying) and unless there’s a really compelling story there, not so interested in why you blog, just that you do.

SEO Meetups

Poor little Rebecca Kelley has had to do all kinds of blogging this week while Rand continues his stay in China, or “China” as Becs calls it (the girl has trust issues). One topic the-blogger-I’m-most-mistaken-for mentioned yesterday was the recent surge in SEO meetups.

I like the idea of SEO meetups because they give people a chance to meet and mingle with others who are interested in the same stuff they are. You get to leave the conference mindset for a bit and form your own clicky high school lunch table and have actual, IRL conversations about exciting things like Google, link development, CSS, blogging social media and other topics that if you mentioned to outsiders (aka “normal people”) you’d either be mocked viciously for or given that we’re-sorry-you-don’t-have-friends nod. It’s like conference networking without all those silly sessions getting in the way.

Rebecca linked off to the SEO section at Meetup.com, which is a stellar resource if you’re trying to find likeminded individuals to play with. The closest SEO meetup in my area is deep in LA. Why are people always trying to make me drive? Driving in LA is terrifying.

Fun Finds

Joe Whyte illustrates that Ask.com still has not learned how to coordinate their marketing campaigns. Guys, you’re breaking my little blogging heart.

Neil Patel explains why little is the new big and how “little” bloggers are important to your success. Don’t worry, by little he means not-yet-famous, not little in size. It’s still okay to be mean to short people. They deserve it for being so damn short.

Matt McGee offers up some excellent advice to help you protect your domain name.

Blog Tutorials says bloggers should act their age. Because age has anything to do with blogging.

Posted at May 24, 2007 3:02 PM
View related entries in: Blogging