The Responsibility to Share
We are each a channel of content creation and distribution. We are all also voracious consumers of content.
We create content in the form of tweets, blog posts, emails, videos, utters. We distribute content via email, blog posts. We consume content via RSS, email subscriptions, Facebook.
But are we guilty of skimping on the SHARING aspects of Social Media?
When you find great content, how often do you …
- Tweet it … ?
- Share on Facebook … ?
- Stumble It … ?
- Digg It … ?
- Save to del.icio.us … ?
- How often are you sharing your reactions via a blog comment?
If you are like me, you probably read a blog post (or skim it, more likely), take from it what you can, and move on.
But each of us is – in theory – an active community participant, eh? We have created an informal pact with friends & colleagues in our socnets – LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. – and these folks are (in part) depending on us to discover, aggregate, and share our favorite bits of stuff.
I’ll bet that each of us rely on a small handful of people who always seem to find, save and share “the good stuff.”
Are we reciprocating? Are we showing our appreciation to our favorite content creators by posting their best bits to our Facebook newstreams, Stumbling, saving to del.icio.us, and commenting? Are we adding value to the people in our extended networks by taking an extra 10 seconds to highlight our favorite discoveries for them?
For my part, the answer is “not nearly enough.” I’m determined to do better. Consider it an early New Year’s Resolution. Through my travels in my RSS stream, I’ll try to pop-in to comment more. I’ll try to “stumble,” save, and share, more. To show appreciation for my colleagues’ hard work. To participate.
Will you?
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Comments
Todd, I just tweeted this post and added it to del.icio.us. :-)
Seriously, though, you do raise a valuable point. Part of the value of "social media" is in the shared links and other information. I actually do save a good number of links to del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us/dyork ) primarily because it has become my way of keeping track of posts that I might want to reference in the future. It's my "notepad" of interesting posts. I also tweet ones that I find that I think would be of high value to others. I don't find I have the cycles to do as much commenting as I would like to, but I keep trying to do more.
Dan
Posted by: Dan York | November 8, 2007 11:24 AM
Todd,
I think many of us have fallen into the "not often enough" as far as sharing goes. Funny how lessons learned in preschool about sharing are just as relevant (if not more so!) in today's work world.
Thanks for the reminder, I'll try harder too!
Jen
Posted by: Jen White | November 8, 2007 11:55 AM
Very good point. I am going to post your comments on our community Web site right now.
Posted by: Cathy | November 8, 2007 12:23 PM
Aaah yes, the generous web. Where has it gone?
I find that Google Reader has reduced my commenting as it's more difficult to click through, etc. I do love the share function on it, and use a badge on Now Is Gone to share those relevant articles. Tweeting other people's stuff is a great idea, and I need to do more of it. Blogs of Fire also serves as a mechanism to promote others.
GL
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | November 8, 2007 12:34 PM
Todd,
This is a good point. I personally started summarizing articles that I found interesting on my blog. I tag it "weekly articles" (http://prmeetsmarketing.wordpress.com/category/weekly-articles/) so people can just go to that section and get an overview of interesting pr/marketing stories.
And not to add ANOTHER way to share information, I just came upon clipmarks.com - share segments of articles, videos, etc. vs. the whole thing. At some point, maybe all of these tools will consolidate? =)
Good luck with your resolution.
- Cece
Posted by: Csalomonlee | November 8, 2007 01:06 PM
As others have noted, linking to others from your posts is always a nice way to recognize their efforts (and help their link rank too btw). Every so often I'll find myself with a bunch of interesting but unrelated stuff from colleagues. Instead of struggling to string it all together into something with a single theme, I just write one of my Random posts of Interesting Stuff. Last one was the Red Sox themed one Thirteen to One. What's fun about this is that it often helps folks discover something new.
The other thing that is so easy to do is to publish your delicious links, either in a post or your sidebar. I do my sidebar.
Posted by: Susan Getgood | November 8, 2007 01:51 PM
I find the personal touch works best-- a recommendation via Twitter link, a blog post adding your two cents (which you also did in comments) along with a link, etc.
I am conflicted about "link list" posts, especially the ones that are simply titles "links of the week" or the dreaded "del.icio.us links for [date]." I can't tell from Google Reader what's in those so I skip them. All of them.
Spread links organically through personal recommendations. Add your thoughts and pass it on.
Posted by: Doug Haslam | November 8, 2007 02:46 PM
Great post Todd. On my blog, in addition to the linkroll, I've added my shared items from Google Reader and my Twitter feed. I also pull both of those feeds into my Facebook profile. There are lots of other ways I could be sharing content, so thanks for bringing this up!
Posted by: Nathan Schock | November 8, 2007 09:55 PM
Great point.
Voted it up on StumbleUpon but was a bit disappointed to see that nobody else had yet.
For those reading this comment, StumbleUpon is likely the easiest (and possibly the most impactful) social media site out there. I encourage you to vote up great content (like this article).
Posted by: Dharmesh Shah | November 9, 2007 01:49 AM
It's hard to receive without giving first in a web 2.0 world. This is one aspect of personal branding and forming relationships with others based on active community participation.
Posted by: Dan Schawbel | November 9, 2007 09:41 AM
My first experience with Web 2.0 started with Facebook and then MySpace followed. It started off innocently enough, but then I found myself addicted. Always checking my new friends, always changing my favorite movies, TV shows or whatever else I could. I had to stop and ask myself, "What's the point? I don't have time for this!" I think that's something that people are realizing is that social media takes a lot of time. And, as noted in the "New media douchbag" video you posted, we're not getting any real work done. That's why it's easier to be passive users who just skim through our favorite blogs or news feeds. However, I do recognize the value of the blogosphere. My PR Online Tactics class requires that I, and my peers, become a blogger. I've done my best to visit their sites and comment to show my support.
Posted by: Priscilla | November 11, 2007 01:32 PM
You are so right! I just took the plunge and launched my own blog... and made a point of talking about sharing. Like you, though, I feel I am not sharing enough! I will join you in your pledge. All my best, DSJC.
Posted by: Donna St. Jean Conti | November 12, 2007 09:54 AM