So like many of you, I finally got a Google+ invite, and plan on kicking the tires a bit over the next few days. But as I was quickly scanning the features, and reading great previews like this one, I was looking for a specific feature.
I want the ability to follow content in addition to following people.
Let me give you an example (because I can already tell I’m not doing a good job of explaining myself). We all have our networks on Facebook and Twitter. And we are probably following the people that aren’t family for a specific reason. Maybe it’s for their social media knowledge, or because they are industry sources, whatever. But come next year, a big portion of your network (at least those in the United States) will probably engage in discussing the same topic: Politics. And if you are following a few dozen ‘A-listers’ for advice and wisdom on social media, it can be a jolt to see them suddenly on Facebook and Twitter every day saying that they think your favorite Presidential candidate is a blithering idiot.
So then comes the question: How do you handle this? You are following a person because you want to hear their opinions on social media, not politics. Do you unfollow them? Do you grit your teeth and bear it? Do you argue with them? I do the same thing: Last fall, on Saturdays I started tweeting score updates from the 1 or 2 college football games I was watching. Then I had friends tweeting me asking for the score to a particular game, and the next thing you know, I am all but live-tweeting about 5 different games at the same time. Some of my followers absolutely loved it, and some of them unfollowed me because they weren’t following me for college football updates, they were likely following me for social media discussions.
The shortcoming I see from existing social media tools is that there’s no efficient way to filter based on content created. Sure, you can create groups or lists of like minded individuals, but even that doesn’t guarantee that ‘unwanted’ content won’t be discussed. And if you could filter someone based on content, would you even want to? Is this a viable concern, or is it maybe an unintentional byproduct of following a lot of people that we really don’t know?
What do you think the solution is? Do you unfriend/follow people that discuss topics that don’t interest you? If you had the ability to filter their content based on type, would you?
@MackCollier I just mute those posts that I’m not interested in. If I follow a person I know it comes with everything they are into.
@MackCollier you raise a good point mack, i’ll post my thoughts on your blog post a bit later when im back at my desk
@mikeashworth Good, I was a bit afraid I was talking out my ass with that post 😉
@cc_chapman But what about the week before the election, for example, on here? That’s a lotta tweets you might not agree with.
Yes, filters. This is something I wish more platforms would pay attention to. Location check-ins, for example, really get on my nerves. They have absolutely zero value for me. Mentions of tabloid-quality famous people. Religious fervor. I’d love to be able to filter all this nonsense out of the platforms I use.
@MackCollier Oh yeah, TONS I don’t agree with. I just ignore (or try to *grin*)
I don’t unfriend/follow people talking about topics I’m not interested in, but I would love to be able to filter their content. And my filters would probably change quite often, based on my curiosity, mood, interests. I haven’t find an efficient way to do that yet.
@GuyWinch Thanks Guy! The functionality of most social networking sites is based around following people, not topics. A shift necessary?
Interesting point. In theory you want your stream to display content you’re only really interested in in that moment.
But to automate that process, the platform would need to be constantly updated with your mood. Or regularly at least.
Plus you’re relaying on content creators to tag their content so that the filters work.
I love the theory, but not sure about how that would be implemented practically.
@MackCollier I have people with diff interests following me. I’d love to target Tweets to specific crowds and ‘spare’ the others.
@JeffHarbert We are discussing this on Twitter now, but the functionality of most socnets/social media sites is built around following people, not topics or ideas. Maybe we don’t have that ability because it’s never been a priority for the people that create these marvelous social tools? 😉
@GuyWinch Oh that’s a good point, what if the content creator could also filter who gets their content? Interesting thoughts!
It is a great question. I don’t know if there is a real answer. Even if you use the circles and sparks in Plus to segment your list, or make Twitter lists, how do you stop someone from conversing on multiple topics? If you were at a dinner party, how do you stop the football coach from talking about flower arrangements or the lawyer from talking about comic books?
Have you tried Namesake? It has topics which you can follow, and is organized into conversations below that. You can follow an individual, but I find myself using the topics feature more often.
@DorotheVos Just saw the video. Pretty cool. Was interesting to see everyone’s views. @lizstrauss #SocialMedia
@MackCollier nope, all valid, filters a very valid point. i might be talking out of my ass later when i reply though, have to wait and see
I think Justin may be right that this social media issue is more “social” than “media,” if I may paraphrase his comment that way. If good filters can be developed, they might well be useful, but they would certainly change the nature of the connections we have with people via social media.
I follow people who follow me and engage about so many topics. I’m mainly interested in the people, not their daily topics. Do you really read all your tweet stream? I stopped doing that about four years ago when I followed 400 people and it was too much to read all their tweets.
BTW livefyre is not an easy comment system for me.
It’s something I’ve been wondering about as well when I was considering opening a new Twitter account for a little side project I am having. I realized that even though I mostly Tweet about technology or social media, it doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to Tweet about other things as well. It’s my personal account so I think I have the right to use it in a personal way, no? Additionally, when someone follows thousands of people like we do, does it make that much of a drama if, say, 10% of your Tweets aren’t what people would expect? Personally I don’t mind if some Tweets of a “social media guy” are about sports or similar. I surely won’t unfollow them for this. If you Tweeted about JUST sports, ok, but hey I wouldn’t have followed you in first place.
I see Mack’s missing element as a group or forum kind of setup. People have a topic then people can join in without having to follow each other. That’s what was attractive about MySpace when I joined way back. I liked to discuss films and filmmaking but didn’t have to friend everyone. They were already at the forum so I just had to engage there. I haven’t received a Google + invite yet so I can’t comment on how their new structures might support this type of relationship.
hi mack, you raise a valid point though i’ll answer by way of coming at this from a few angles.
1. i dont think its about “content”. when I follow people rather than say an rss feed of a website, its something else that’s on offer. for want of a better word lets call it your essence, your mojo, the things you post say a lot about the person. recently i’ve been taking a look at behaviours we exhibit in the real world with regard to our interaction rituals and making sense of how this translates to the online world (which in many ways is trying to do just the same except the tools often get in the way). so its more than about content, its about the person. my take on this is that if you want just the “content” subscribe to their blog / rss feed or similar, if you want the “essence” of the person you follow them on twitter (or elsewhere)
2. its all about balance. if i’m connected to someone on twitter then i generally expect to get more than “content”, as explained above. however, and this is an example, if i was following a “thought leader” and pretty much all their tweets seemed to be lame jokes, or updates about reality tv, or all about something other than the passion for which i followed them, then yes, their is a problem. the dilemma for the person hitting enter and tweeting is that the balance between “content” and “other stuff” will always be determined by the person on the other end, always. some ppl will accept / tolerate more non “content” others wont.
3. filters. now this is very interesting and i’ve been reading some research material recently about this, prepare yourself. we don’t need better filters! the reason is simple we only have so many hours in the day to process information. bizarrely as the filters improve, the more “good stuff” is received and then we have to devote more time to processing it, which becomes less efficient. what i’ve discovered is that missing a few things here and there doesn’t actually stop the world revolving, and if it really is something earth shattering, i will definitely hear it from someone, somewhere.
@MackCollier ive responded i’ll apologise now for the length of my comment! lol
@jeanettejoy Hey Jeanette, Jeremy here from Livefyre. Hate to hear that you may have had a difficult time with Livefyre, but I’d be more than happy to listen to any feedback or answer any questions you may have. Feel free to drop me an e-mail ([email protected]) if you’d like!
I do find it annoying and manipulative when someone lures me in on expertise and uses it as a bully pulpit. Why not have one Twitter account for your “clients” and one where you talk politics and football? If politics or football are what people follow you for that’s another story. If you are the social media guru and you want to mesh politics you are likely to lose followers.
Good anything is about editing. Just because we think it or feel it doesnt mean we have to say it. I am a lawyer, a poly sci major, worked many campaigns, have lots of opinions. Still people don’t want to hear what I have to say unless it jives with their beliefs, so why go there? I am on Twitter for poetry and would prefer to escape the scitzo, nasty and temporal world of politics for the enduring truths of poetry.
@JMattHicks @jeanettejoy Thank you Jeremy.
I have had this problem off and on for some time with many online comment systems. Someone else claimed my JeanetteJoy ID. Facebook and Twitter have different email addresses for me so I need to remember who I signed up with to use your service when I want to comment. I just got Disqus to work for me Monday. Hopefully, Livefyre will work from now on without my having to verify email just to comment.
@mikeashworth Mike that’s an interesting and kinda scary thought about filters. So the more crap is actually protecting us from having time to process more good stuff? 😉
@jesseluna Eh……yeah I think groups and forums can solve this problem to a degree, but you’re still following people, not content. I think as long as that’s the case, then you’ll have to either accept ALL the content that person creates, or simply disconnect from them.
@LyndsySimon Lyndsy thanks for the heads up on Namesake!
@MackCollier I think you bring up a very legitimate argument re: #twitter and #facebook. Isn’t it what paper.li is attempting to do, though?
@mackcollier Isn’t that what “Sparks” does on Google+? It allows you to follow content. Or, are you looking for something different?
@coreyaxelrod Hmmmm….maybe a step in the right direction
User-level filtering on Twitter would be fabulous. Example: I’d like to be able to filter out @ replies from new accounts with no avatar or bio following hundreds of people with few followers. 100% of those are spam accounts. I dutifully block and report, but I’d rather not have to deal with them at all.
The same could be done for content. If you really don’t want to see someone blather on about their politics or sports team, you could filter for that (as you can with a Google search). Of course, Twitter’s servers might fall over trying to parse everything that should and shouldn’t show up in your timeline, but one can dream :).
@MackCollier great point- will be addressed eventually methinks
@contrapuntist I think it’s more that I want to keep following people UNLESS they creation content about X & Y topics. Then filter
@mackcollier read your post & agree. Think you live with it, just like IRL – you like people, and you put up with the other stuff, you know?
@MackCollier As @markwhyy brought up yesterday, the aggregation of articles need to be improved to increase validity of content in paper.li.
@RickCaffeinated Right & I think this also speaks to fact that a lot of us ‘early adopters’ are following a lot of ppl we dont really know
@mackcollier agreed, too. I have same pitfall, posting sports, tv at night, movies, etc – cross-pollenates to social media follows, etc.
@mackcollier but I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. Shows that we are well-rounded, that folks aren’t gaming one thing but fleshing out whole.
@MackCollier yep, sounds very strange i know but consider this. imagine that infront of you is a large block, this makes up the time you spend on the net. it is made up two parts, stuff you are interested in (signal) and stuff you arent (noise). lets say that the mix was 65% signal, 35% noise. now, if you improve your filters to remove noise leaving just signal what you havent done is create lots of free time where that 35% was. what will happen is that extra space will fill up with more “signal”, as your filters got better, and its signal you are interested in, so you’ll have to deal with it. these two articles shed a lot more likght on the matter than i ever could http://www.nonoscience.info/2011/03/15/information-filter-overload/ and http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2011/03/too_much_good_i.html
@RickCaffeinated Yeah it’s funny because every time I tweet about something non-social media related, I engage with new group of ppl
@JesseOguns so wat do you guys think of G+ Will it stand? I think it will! B4 that will read the articles by @MackCollier
@mackcollier yep, great upside in that I find 🙂
@RickCaffeinated Get Your 2 FREE Movie Tickets Now..http://t.co/4OIWYlp
@mackcollier random question. I added you into a circle. Did you get a notification? Just testing things to see how it works.
@contrapuntist No, I can’t find any notification, and wasn’t emailed.
@jeanettejoy Yeah, I know what you’re saying…I was pretty disappointed that “JeremyHicks” was taken on Twitter! But it’s awesome that you’ve got it on Livefyre!
To make things easier for you if/when you have to sign-in to Livefyre, if you go to your profile settings (http://livefyre.com/profile/edit/info/) and click on “Social Connections”, you can connect your Facebook account to your Livefyre profile. Not only will this allow you to sign-in to Livefyre via Facebook or Twitter seamlessly, it’ll also allow you to mention friends from Facebook within your comment, like this: jenna langer . They’re receive that on Facebook and join in on the convo too!
Let me know if you ever need anything, I’m always happen to help 🙂
@mackcollier Ok. That’s interesting. At least Google is keeping things “interesting”, if you know what I mean. Cheers!
@Aniketh It may. But I need more time with G+ before I can give my verdict. Too early too soon. #GooglePlus
@JesseOguns oooo k 🙂