Leo Laporte’s declaration that he’s killing his use of Twitter and other extraneous social media is confirmation that while these sites/networks are fun to use, we should always consider our blogs as our social media hubs. I’ve been guilty of neglecting Blogging Me Blogging You (now simply edlee.ca) in favour of Twitter purely because it (Twitter) fits into my life slightly easier and takes less time to share thoughts/links.
It makes me feel like everything I’ve posted over the past four years on Twitter, Jaiku, Friendfeed, Plurk, Pownce, and, yes, Google Buzz, has been an immense waste of time. I was shouting into a vast echo chamber where no one could hear me because they were too busy shouting themselves. All this time I’ve been pumping content into the void like some chatterbox Onan. How humiliating. How demoralizing.
I’m not saying I’ll be posting here more often but I am saying I’m going to try!
[...] 2010-08-23T09:12:51 Smiles! @edlee thoughts inspired by @leolaporte's decision to quit twitter: Why a Blog Should Be Your Social Media Hub [link to post] [...]
That approach is conditional on having an audience that reads your blog.
I’ve established more connections and injected myself into more ad-hoc communities via twitter than I ever could have done from my blog. Is there a lot of shouting, navel gazing and vapidity (vapidness?) on Twitter? Yea, of course. But it’s also much easier to establish and maintain connections there than through a blog.
A blog is your turf. It’s only going to succeed if people go there. Twitter’s neutral ground. You surrender some control and you’re forced to deal with other people’s inanity but unless you’ve already got a captive audience, it’s a good place to work the proverbial room.
I guess, like anything else, it comes down to what you’re using social media for. A blog might suit Leo Laporte’s efforts but I’m not sure I could get what I need by focusing exclusively on my lowly square of digital real estate.
[...] 2010-08-23T10:02:22 thoughts inspired by @leolaporte's decision to quit twitter: Why a Blog Should Be Your Social Media Hub [link to post] [...]