Copyblogger is among the blogs I’ve read for about 18 months. Not every day, not every week; but it’s always among my list of subscribed and go-to sites for useful advice. I’m a Brian Clark groupie.
His writing aside, I don’t approve of his focusing on the number of people following him on Twitter as a reason why you should, too.
Browsing through some of the people who are currently following @copyblogger, there are more sincere people like Marko Saric than unsavory characters. But by focusing on the aggregate and not selected testimonials, there is a greater chance of an assumption, such as what this blog post is about.
The caveat is by linking his blog to the real-time number of people who follow him, Brian is directly suggesting you should follow those people, too. After all, if you click the link to “join us,” you’d be grouping yourself with everyone else.
Still with me?
Join john1b1 and follow copyblogger
If someone like John Betholly with a nondescript Twitter username like john1b1 or James Christopher with roadrunner1416 or Traffic Gambit appeals to you, then follow @copyblogger right here.
I’d argue the people who follow Brian opt to do such for their own reasons. Don’t follow Brian because of what other people do. Don’t follow Brian because I suggest you do. Follow Brian because you want to.
However, if you’d be more swayed to click a link because 38,000 other people are in front of you, then ignore my advice and click the link.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm, I don’t think I follow you, Ari. And I mean that literally.
Because I believe Brian is showing social proof by how many people follow him. I think it’s perfectly sound marketing strategy. Just like, “38,943 can’t be wrong.” Social proof is just like showing how many comments a post gets, or how many subscribers a blog gets. The more people join, the more people want to join. Sounds legitimate to me.
Take your blog here, for example. You have a social widget on your sidebar. At the bottom, it says “see all 114 members…” So you’re doing it, too. How is that wrong?
And second, about your caveat, I don’t think it’s directly suggesting you should follow those people, too. How did you come to that conclusion? If I say “55,000 people are subscribed to my blog, join us,” does that mean you should subscribe to all their blogs, too?
I like your stuff, Ari. But for this one, sorry, I just don’t get it.
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People who visit a website or comment on a blog post make a conscious decision to do it. You added a comment because you wanted to, not because X number of people did it before you.
I’m also not asking you to become a MyBlogLog member to join those 114 people.
I believe Brian is showing social proof by how many people follow him.
Social proof or ego or some combination? Rephrased: If he only had 11 Twitter followers, would he still include that? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t; would you?
You said, “If he only had 11 Twitter followers, would he still include that? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t; would you?”
Of course, I wouldn’t. But isn’t that the point? You show social proof when you have… social proof?
Sorry, but it still don’t make sense to me.
Plus, Brian is a copywriter. A direct response copywriter. So he’s asking people to take action rather than just pointing out how many people follow him. Why does that seem wrong? And how is that suggesting you should follow everyone else, too?
You said, “I’m also not asking you to become a MyBlogLog member to join those 114 people.”
Yes you are. It says “join now” at the top of the widget (to non-members like myself), and before the “114,” it also says “add me to this community” with a green button.
Thus, you’re asking new visitors to join your community, which is, in effect, what Brian is attempting to do… he’s asking you to join his community of Twitter followers.
Since you brought up ego in the discussion, are you saying that it’s a wrong thing? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I’m getting.
If you think Brian did it for egotistical reasons, which may be partially true, but it’s no different than your blog with your AdAge blog rank, your Alltop badge, your Tweetmeme counts, etc.
While I’m disagreeing with the premise of your post, I do appreciate the discussion, Ari.
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You’ve mentioned “social proof” in two comments. How do you qualify Twitter followers as social proof?
And… I’m using a MyBlogLog widget; every blogger with that widget has the same content on it. Brian is not using a Twitter widget; he is using a combination of custom text and scripts. Again, a difference.
What I would say is that in a world of information overload, social proof like follower counts can be useful in helping quickly filter information sources to find those worth investing time in.
That’s not to say that you should follow someone JUST because they’ve got lots of followers, nor that they must not be follow-worthy if they don’t — the final decision needs to be made, as you say, based on whether the person is worth following to you. But sometimes clues like these can help us make good decisions more quickly and easily.
Like Michel says, if you’ve got social proof, by all means use it to your advantage. It’ll help you catch and keep more of the busy people who happen across your content.
Perhaps we’re having a disconnect. I don’t believe people HAVE social proof. That’s like saying a person has freedom. Social proof and freedom exist like auras, regardless of people they may affect.
G’Day Michel,
Large numbers of Twitter followers is NOT social proof. The whole Twitter system is flawed and skewed towards rewarding large followings. But then most people on Twitter are just carrying on one-sided diatribes, promos and selling schemes. There’s little if any “social” aspect to it. Very little two-way conversations because Twitter has a flawed Elitists type system which actually encourages one-sided messages.
Versus here on Facebook, which allows for the social aspect of back-and-forth conversations. Twitter could learn from Facebook but that will not happen. Twitter will go the way of MySpace, the dinosaurs and the dodo.
All interactions are social when there’s an exchange whether with information, a dialog or with currency in a purchase/sale. Today there’s so many people full of so much crap claiming that they are “social media experts”. They are no more a social media expert than anyone else…. Read More
Ari made many good points. Good on you Ari!
I favor quality over quantity any day. In fact, I spnt quite some time blocking over 8,000 people that just wanted to play some stupid game on Twitter. Those who think it’s cute to say their location is : The Earth, or Global or worse just put a string of numbers in as a location. I found out that was an iPhone number. How is THAT a location?
How is any of that being social?
That’s my rant.
Cheers!
Jonathan
P.S. You’re entitled to your opinion.
Nice too see some discussion. I’m not quite sure who i agree with, maybe both.
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Ari -
Great point! Social media works best when it’s used to create valuable, meaningful interactions among groups of people. It shouldn’t be a middle school popularity contest. I finished eighth grade a long time ago and I have no intentions of going back.
–Kevin
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I agree that saying “38.000 can’t be wrong” is paying tribute to flies. Millions of them like sh*t, so numbers of themselves aren’t worth much.
I believe some elements of social media are over-hyped. Some spend hours of wasted time on social media such as Facebook thinking they’re building relations, but when you take an actual look at it returns are NOT good by default. But it might change, and – of course – you should have online profiles.
But don’t spend excessive time as your ROI (Return on Involvement) might not be as great as you want to believe, if you don’t do it the right way.
Keep up the good work. I have subscribed to your RSS.
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