Comments

1. By far, your most thought-provoking post… My primary concerns is around privacy and the implications of broadcasting every thought and action to a large and anonymous crowd.

   Things said within the context of a particular post could easily come back to haunt or harm. Youthful indiscretion and the inevitable slip-of-the tounge are bad enough, but magnify it by a huge social graph and you are potentially facing real, long-term consequences. I have at least one facebook aquaintence I had to block because I found their posts offensive. I now wonder what long-term impacts he will experience because of what he chose to say on the internet.

   • Bern,

     The transition to a social graph as an asset can and will be painful for some. However, as it becomes more common place people will be more deliberate in what they say and how they say it. An indiscretion or slip-of the tongue could have long-term consequences as the once invisible flash of greatness could also have long-term benefits.

2. I like the thoughts behind this post, especially the thought of your social leverage equalling the playing field. I’m a big believer in social leverage (in fact your statement about receiving help from followers of followers is one of the reasons behind the huge outcry against Twitter’s decision to remove the opt in “see all @s” feature this week, but I digress). If you build your trust network well, putting in the effort it takes to grow the real friendships and connections that can sustain a growing network, you do find your life improved. Even more, you find that you are suddenly able to improve the lives and businesses of others by using your social leverage wisely. It’s a good thing, and it is an asset of the present, not just the future.

   • Leslie,

     You’ve been working at this longer and better than most. Our
     relationship is an example of this

     I think it’s only going to get more pervasive and more life altering.

     //keenan

3. Jim: I think you are right on target with this post. Authentic followings are possible when you have something truly good to say. One of things that I have been thinking about is how we are trying to attract followings with Twitter. A short cut to coming up with remarkable content is to tweet out links to other people’s content. I recently wrote about how web users are “owners” and they will tweet out content that will put them in a positive light within their social graph.

   Let me know what you think.

   http://christophermingryan.typepad.com/thewaywewatch/2009/05/television-viewers-are-renters-web-users-are-owners.html

   • Chris,

     Your post is spot one. I like how you use the term “ownership” for web advertising. The psychology is spot on. I’m not sure there is specific rhyme or reason on when and how people take ownership, but I do think it’s critical for companies to start recognizing that there is a difference and getting their users to take “ownership” has a greater return.

     Thanks for pointing me to it. Good post.

4. Yes, you’re right, and really in a profoundly fundamental way.

   The “ownership” in the creation, promotion, and distribution of ideas, products, services is passing to the individual, “we the people,” and away from “institutions.” You can even say that the tools or means of creating wealth — once “owned” by institutions, corporations, factories, facilities — is now in the common domain — ours, “for the people, by the people.”

   The social web is democratizing the means of wealth. The new “factory” for creating wealth is on the Social Web. And through it, and how we are able to leverage the “inventory” of our connections, we generate financial value in the future.

   • Juan,

     It will be a dramatic cultural shift. How we build, use, manage, and
     leverage our social networks is fundamentally changing.

5. Great discussion – I love the terminology and the concept of active leveraging of presence (in a benign way) to illustrate influence.

   My question is, what will really determine that influence as the playing field does start to leverage. Right now it’s still dominated by celebrity (Godin, Brogan both fall into that category, although probably an interesting comparison).

   Will it be a Social Media popularity contest? Is it a matter of finding and leading the tribe that’s right for you, making it less about quantity and more about quality? Being genuine, playing nice, helping others – all of those things will be required, but what will put someone in the top 10 – 20 % of influence?

   Fun discussion.

   Shawn

   • Skinkade,

     Influence will be measured horizontally against peers within similar
     vertical groups. There will always be celebrity, however it’s not
     about being the celebrity, it’s about having a social graph one can
     leverage to improve their well being. Rather than a resume, a blog
     can provide tremendous insight to employers. If you have a crappy
     blog, with little substance and tons of followers, it won’t help you
     as much as a great blog with powerful content and fewer followers.

     The same holds true for the number of followers. If you amass 1000
     authentic followers, and can get them to “respond” to requests and
     needs that will be far more valuable than 10,000 inauthentic followers
     who don’t know you and aren’t responsive to your engagement.

     The value of a social graph will be measured by how well you can use
     it to drive your life’s purpose, career, dating, collaboration,
     information etc. It’s closest to your statement of finding and
     leading or participating in a tribe or tribes thats right for you.
     You don’t need to lead a tribe or be a Seth Godin to wield
     influence. Everyone will wield influence some more than others.
     Just like some people live in 10m dollar homes, some in 600k dollar
     homes and others in 200k dollar homes. Regardless of the size, almost
     everyone has a home. Everyone will have internet influence, how much
     one has will determine their life.

6. Hi! What you mentioned above is an accurate account of what ‘will be’
   However, looking at the scenario today, I am trying to understand how much an expanded social network would really help in truly defining an individual, atleast as far as recruitments are concerned.
   The point is, even though a person may come with glowing recommendations through his/her social netwok, how do we test the reliability of the sources?
   Moreover, having followers is heavily dependent on certain parameters, say, the ‘oprah’ of bloggers would still have her own discretion in choosing who he/she wants to glorify. So this again turns from a ‘merit only’ proposition to a ‘contacts only’ one.
   I do agree that in certain sectors, like sales for example, this becomes necessary, but what about sectors like Technology and Healthcare, which require pure talent?

   A well construed introspection on matters of future opportunities requires an equivalent statement. Thanks for triggering the thought!!

   • Amitabh,

     I agree, an expanded social network, by itself doesn’t define an
     individual. The concept is one’s online presence in it’s total,
     including blogs, group participations and other writings combined with
     their followers. It won’t be acceptable for professionals in the
     future not to have some written presence such as a blog, wiki
     participation, group participation etc. This will create a living
     resume, giving recruiters and employers insight into the talent and
     capabilities of candidates.

     to your point technology and healthcare talent will be evaluated by
     their participation in groups, by blogs, etc. To compete we will need
     to express ourselves online to demonstrate our capabilities, similar
     to professors today.

     think of an online presence being all encompassing. Providing
     insight via, ones bog, followers on Twitter, Contacts on Linkedin,
     Friends on Facebook, comments on blogs, (care of disqus), and
     participation in groups. etc.

     Thanks for the insightful comment.

7. How do you convert your social graph into immediate cash?

   • Ed,

     Your online social graph isn’t a short term or current asset. It’s a
     long-term asset. Like that of your home. How much would value
     would you give it if it got you a job 50% faster than if you didn’t
     have it. To measure the value of your online social graph, add up
     every time it created an opportunity that made you money, or saved you
     money.

     Ask a VC what his/her social graph is worth if it found them one of
     their portfolio companies that exited at 50 million. Ask a fledgling
     author what their social graph is worth when it helped promote and
     sell 250k copies of her first book. Ask the start up band, what their
     social graph is worth while they use it to sell 100’s of CD’s a week
     and sell out venues as they tour small clubs around the country. Ask
     the HR manager who got the Dir. job at a competitor because of the
     impressive posts she had on her blog.

     Our lives will go through our social graphs and online presence. How
     far you go can and will be measured in cash and opportunity.

8. This is an amazing discussion!

   So glad I found it from Paul Dunay’s slideshare presentation on Facebook marketing.

   It makes me want to spend more quality time on social media sites because I now know the long-term value it will bring to me!

   Thank you so much.

   • Anthony,

     Paul has a great blog and some killer ideas. Things are changing,
     staying in front of them is a good idea.

9. From my Facebook post today: http://www.Facebook.com/TheGinaCarr aka The Tribe Builder

   Tribe Builder of the Week: Jim Keenan aka “A Sales Guy” who reminds us that: “At the end of the day everything is sales.” It is so nice when I come across people who are really thinking some cool thinks. This guy really gets it – social media, relationship marketing – and the focus on the bottom line. If you haven…’t “LIKED” Jim Keenan, it probably means that you just haven’t found him yet.

   Here’s to you big Jim. Keep up the good work and keep building your tribe!

10. Great article. you are my new favorite blogger so keep up the good work!

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