You Can’t Own the Community Without Understanding Them
Posted by Tamar Weinberg on November 2nd, 2007
For some people, the lessons of SMX Social Media did not resonate. There really is one takeaway that doesn’t seem to be widely understood:
Understand the community. Know who you’re pitching to. Know what you’re getting into.
There’s a clear misconception that because you can contact all your friends and have them game the social news networking sites, you can submit content that doesn’t suit the community at all, instead focusing on self-promotional content that deviates from every rule in the book.
I don’t consider myself a rockstar. I do, however, feel that I have a better understanding of the community to which I submit stories because I am not only submitting stories: I am actively engaging in the community. I am commenting. I am studying what’s been successful and what hasn’t been. It’s a completely different mindset than I had when I started using these social networks — simply because I had not given the networks and the users within a chance.
When I spoke at SMX, I clearly articulated that I’ve Dugg over 18,000 stories. That number is now over 20,000. In other words, if you’re going to simply submit your own stories, vote your friends’ stories, and never actually know what the community wants, the chances of your success get minimized. You need to look at the stories that are submitted on a regular basis to understand what works and what doesn’t. Furthermore, to those who are aware of your actions and know of your affiliations, you look like an obvious gamer. Fifty Diggs in two hours is not practical unless you’re Engadget, Gizmodo, Tuaw, or have some serious breaking news to address. Your story on StumbleUpon won’t get 50 Diggs in 2 hours even if you’re giving away its source code.
Did I not say that social media is a time investment? It is, my friends. You’re not supposed to simply invest time in asking your friends to promote your stories. You have to be a community participant with people beyond your circle of friends. You have to be involved with it and understand the culture.
If you simply engage in spamming your friends with vote requests, it clearly shows that you won’t understand social media–unless you are ready to understand the community of people who participate in it on a regular basis. “Networking,” as you call it, and becoming a “rockstar,” does not happen just because someone knows a few people. It happens because these individuals have had determination and spend a considerable amount of time engaged in the sphere. If you’re looking for the same kind of success, perhaps you should too.
24 Responses to “You Can’t Own the Community Without Understanding Them”
Trackbacks/Pings:
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GCI London » Understanding online communities Says:
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:17 am[...] 3rd, 2007 | No Comments Tamar Weinberg makes a good point about investing time in getting to know the online communities that you are [...]
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How To Make Your Way To The Top. But Why? » Reader Appreciation Project Says:
November 6th, 2007 at 1:31 pm[...] to figure out ways to become one of the top members of such communities. Some of them misunderstand the meaning of owning the community, making a hobby out of adding friends to their account only to spam them beg for their attention [...]
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Understanding Communities & More - ShoeMoney® Says:
November 11th, 2007 at 3:30 am[...] Urls Mentioned: http://www.techipedia.com [...]
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Mixxing In, and Why Early Adoption is Important: A Review of the Newest Social News Network » techipedia | tamar weinberg Says:
November 28th, 2007 at 5:50 am[...] You Can’t Own the Community Without Understanding Them [...]
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What is Social Media Saying About You Today? - Cape Cod SEO Says:
December 6th, 2007 at 10:29 am[...] that each community has its own personality and guidelines (spoken and unspoken) to work within. You can’t own a community without understanding it. In that vein of thought, individuals involved in social communities need to think about who they [...]
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Ask Not What Community Can Do For YOU » aimClear Search Marketing Blog Says:
January 10th, 2008 at 10:31 pm[...] You can’t own a social community without understanding them. There’s a belief that if you contact tons of friends and (as my friend Matt puts it) “dog poop? will go hot. Well let me tell you that IS correct but has little value in the long term. It’s actually OK to contact friends and ask them to Digg, Stumble, & Sphinn content but TAKE YOUR TIME and be sure that it’s REALLY something appropriate for the community targeted. Ask actual friends who care about you and believe in your propensity to recommend great stuff. [...]
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Digg is not a home run derby - it is being part of a team | Broadcasting Brain Says:
February 4th, 2008 at 8:35 am[...] You Can’t Own The Community Without Understanding Them [...]
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Don’t Pee in the Pool. Responsible Social Media Marketing » aimClear Search Marketing Blog Says:
February 20th, 2008 at 10:03 pm[...] Tao of Social Media Marketing Thus the spate of posts from luminary social media authors about “knowing the community” and playing by the manual is not just the SMO bloggers’ high horse. Being responsible when [...]
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How to use StumbleUpon to get loads of Traffic | Success Online.IN Says:
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 am[...] You can’t own the community without understanding them [...]
Tamar Weinberg is a social media enthusiast with a passion for all things tech and productivity. She provides consulting in internet marketing and blogs for numerous online publications, most notably Lifehacker, Search Engine Roundtable, and Mashable.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:43 am
Well said Tamar! Agree completely … it takes a tremendous amount of time.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:51 am
Would you take dieting lessons from a fat man?
When you want the skinny on how to social network, take the advice from someone who knows.
Wait, I just realised I am writing this in headline mode, lol. Man I gotta get out more.
I think a big problem with the seo crowd, especially someone like me who dabbled with black hat techniques is that the easy route is the one to take, but it doesn’t work because social networking is all about building. Brick by brick you build your online image, your brand.
Taking a short cut slash and burn method means your social media house never gets past the first line of bricks.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 pm
That’s why all the new digg folks coming over to Stumble Upon is so funny to me….
Not sure many of them get the Stumble community.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I heard you at SMX and it turned my head around - I get that Digg is just like the other networks that I actively engage in - I need to invest time and energy. In the last few week, I’m getting spammed everyday - I can only imagine how much you get and how annoying it must be.
BTW - still interested in having you come and speak to our team. You let me know if and when.
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
It does take time — at least it used to.
Recently I’ve seen a lot of gamming on digg. Every day I get a new gchat message from some random person in some random location looking to make a new digg friend for one reason only (take a guess).
I see brand new diggers getting 60+ diggs in under an hour.
I fear Digg as a community is falling apart — as a direct result of shouting and other social networking tools.
time will tell. I’ve seen Digg go through plenty of changes and somehow it always corrects itself.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:41 am
Yikes! - Who is that clueless woman the picture?
November 3rd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Tamar,
None of the posts, at least for my part, was about you. You’re one of the most down to earth people I’ve met in the industry…
Marty
November 4th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Thank you! I am truly beginning to understand this concept. Early this year blogging caught my attention as a way to journal online. I was journaling in a book which I still do. Technology makes blogging fun and a way to create a source of income. It does make since to understand what your community wants as well as the reason to be apart of a community. Great information! I’ve subscribed to your feed. Good Job!
November 6th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I’ve tried all the gimmicks and learned from Yaro Starak the very lesson you make here.
“Invest the time getting to know the communities”.
Because slapping a widget on your blog doesn’t equal traffic.
Roy
November 7th, 2007 at 2:00 am
I’ve noticed a trend on Sphinn lately:
All of the hot posts are either about getting your content on the front page of Digg within a week of signing up or about taking the time and gaining a following without spamming. Don’t these contradict?
Within in all industry networks, building is super important for longevity. But within this industry it only makes sense to try and see instant gratification to clients and people who don’t fully understand.
I fully agree with the building process. Thanks for the great post!
November 7th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Hi Tamar,
I enjoyed your SMX presentation and am loving this site. I’m new to this world, but find it obsessively fascinating. Thanks for providing some education.
0phelia
November 11th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Time is the key, patience is a virtue. yess money made in brazil
November 11th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
you are right,
this is what I am doing all day long with my site visitors on:
http://www.KinzParty.com
November 11th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
>I’ve noticed a trend on Sphinn lately
It’s not just Sphinn, it’s pretty much everywhere …from private BH forums to whoever is the hot-blogger-du-jour.
Building community -blog, forum, photo galleries, whatever- takes a helluva lot of work as editor/admin (and the Keeper of your vision). And that’s just the positive side. Add to the workload the continuous defending of the gates from trolls, bots, and the omnipresent Free-Speech-Is-My-RIGHT nuts and you’re looking at a really big job.
November 12th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Not so bad, you brought me here for understand the community. I will read page by page.