So You Had A Cup of Coffee

I'm on Twitter, FB... okay, I'm on the whole gamut of social media.  I've friended just about everyone and anyone.  Maybe that is the problem.  Perhaps I should be pickier, more selective, etc in who I allow to associate with me.

Nah.

But really.  Do I need to know you just stopped at Big J's local java shoppe for a super-sized double mocha vanilla-hazelnut frappucchino latte... or whatever?  Thank about it.  NO!

It seems today's social media allows us to post every insignificant detail of our life (did I just say that out loud?) with everyone whether they want to know it or not.

Okay, so you don't do that.  Good for you.  Oh, wait a minute.  I saw your name come scrolling across about umpteen times.  You've written a book and are hustling it on Twitter like every five to ten minutes. No, I am not about to spend $.99 at Amazon for a totally sensual, erotic 32 page romp.  And I am not going to buy your unedited, poorly formatted $2.99 wonder that you wrote in 30 days during last November's NaNoWriMo and you self-published during December.  I'm glad you wrote a book and I commend you for your accomplishment but...

So you didn't write a book.  You're a marketer for Twitter's side apps that allow you to track your followers and unfollowers and what ever else the magic program will do.  OR you're hustling vitamins, houses, health related living, crocheting, politics, cruises etc etc etc.

So what is social media all about?  Why is it there?  What do you use it for?

Me?  I, when I remember to do it, will hustle one or two of my books.  I post about my free writing tip that I put out each Monday.  I also mention this blog site.  And I also mention little tidbits of my personal life for review - like sharing an anniversary dinner with my wife, spending the days spoiling the grandkids, sometimes waxing philosophical or being melancholy about the past.  Sometimes on facebook I will give a rant about something that just irked me... but trust me, not on everything that "wads my panties" or I'd never get off the computer.

Let's look at this logically.  I have approximately 3000 tweeps I follow on Twitter.  IF they tweet just once each hour, I would be viewing 50 tweets per minute.  Not totally outrageous but some heavy reading, nonetheless even when limited to 140 characters.  BUT, in reality, in about 15 seconds, I get assaulted with 27 (low side) to 130 (high side) tweets.  I checked it.  In one minute I saw over 350 tweets scroll by on my screen.  There is no way I could possibly keep up with that.

What does this mean?  You know that person who follows 27516? That is (1 tweet per person per hour) almost 460 tweets a minute.  Now let's look at somebody sitting at 100k or 300k.  Is there any way that person can view all the tweets?

If you bombard your followers with a tweet every 5 minutes, just think how fast that scroll is moving.

Now, facebook, on the other hand, is gamey, at best.  You put yourself out there and maybe people will respond, maybe not.  Trying to friend too fast will get your hands slapped and if you don't know the person or they claim they don't know you, well, you'll get your hands slapped.  Although they claim to be a social media network, what they really mean is, only your closest and dearest friends.  I look at it this way, I don't need to go online to tell my family and friends about me putting in a garden or some such nonsense.  I mean, I see them on a fairly regular basis.

I won't even start on other social media like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Shelfari, Goodreads, Google+ and the rest of the list other than to say, all the hype is what you make of it.

They call it "social media" but in reality it comes down to the bottom line as "marketing hype" for and by you.

Until next I ramble on...