October 19th, 2012

My TweetEsteem Issues

Yeah.

I admit it. I know I’m not the only one, too.

My mood rides on my social share count. It always has.

While I tried to be cool and say this didn’t matter, after a period of unpopularity, I totally know that’s bullshit.

I enjoy it when posts get read, liked and shared by you.

I feel like a success when you retweet, and like I bombed when you don’t.

Yeah, that’s pathetic, and I know it. But so true.

I have TweetEsteem(™) issues.

Like me (please?!?!?),

Geoff

Geoff Livingston on Google+

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  • http://www.jasonkonopinski.com/ Jason Konopinski

    Indeed, something we all think about. I sure do.

    • geofflivingston

      Right? And our readers know it! I showed it to some folks, non bloggers, before I published, and they laughed, saying yeah, totally. They know it.

  • http://twitter.com/PhilGerb Phil Gerbyshak

    Of course we do Geoff. It’s only human nature to care and keep score.

    Nice TM by the way. Do you own the TweetEsteem domain yet, and are you already monetizing it with ads, and have it set to auto tweet every few minutes so you can crank up your score? :)

    • geofflivingston

      Already taken, unfortunately! How’s the secret project coming along (I’m such a teaser!)?

      • http://twitter.com/PhilGerb Phil Gerbyshak

        Almost ready. 11/1 it will launch. :)

    • http://twitter.com/rdopping Ralph Dopping

      someone else has it…..on twitter.

  • http://twitter.com/rdopping Ralph Dopping

    So, it’s not just for the noobs. Huh. I empathise with you.

    • geofflivingston

      LOL, see! See! This stuff is addicting!

  • http://alphaefficiency.com Bojan Djordjevic

    Hahahaha, quite the confession you’ve got there! :D

  • http://alphaefficiency.com Bojan Djordjevic

    I have to feel the withdrawal first, and I will let you know does it affect me. For the current state of affairs, I am on the up curve of my social wave, and seems it’s getting better. Will keep this in mind, when it starts dropping a little bit. :)

    • geofflivingston

      I often think of going cold turkey, and having a dark month or year, but I know better. I’m a ham. Maybe some day!

      • http://alphaefficiency.com Bojan Djordjevic

        Moderation is the key.

        • geofflivingston

          Are you really asking a crazy person to moderate? Aggghhhhhh! ;) LOL.

  • http://twitter.com/chsweb Jono Young

    Liking or Retweeting is like writing an Amazon review. Millions buy really great products, only a few hundred write reviews. If there is return on investment, or return on reading, or return on like/tweet/share, then more people will. If your posts had a scaled rating system, like Amazon, how would readers judge? Would you want more interaction if that meant lower ratings? Two stars? Less, definitely in this case, can be more.

    On the flip side, you have eBay, where people put in “A+++++ Great, yay, best ever…” simply because the can, and because there is an imposed limit in what you can say. What limits could you use to make it more of a game to comment, or like/tweet/share.

    Bloggers are right in the middle. No rules to break (like eBay) and, no ROI like Amazon. Just text. I am not certain, but is suspect the blogs that give back or provide in-hand returns get more likes/shares/tweets. Human nature, fatigue, and information overload are all at play here…on both sides of the fence.

    • geofflivingston

      I have to think about this. It doesn’t have to d with me or my TweetEsteem so therefore I am inclined not to talk about it. Enough about me, what do you think about me?

      LOL.

      In all seriousness, Twitter is how news and content is best shared, has been for a long time. I know Facebook has some weight and Pinterest has certainly challenged that notion, but generally, it’s the retweet that gets measured and drives influence scores and traffic. That’s why bloggers get so crazy about retweet ratios.

  • http://inspiretothrive.com/ Lisa Buben

    I’ve learned not to take it personally – you don’t know what is happening to the other folks.So many reasons can come into play. But it can get addicting, that’s for sure!

    • geofflivingston

      Totally, and sometimes you drop a post knowing it will be unpopular or lack commenting because it needs to be said. I even drop posts that are less popular to cool the blog down and keep a measured pace. Did that last week with my government mobile post.

  • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

    Had this post been written pre-bots and fake accounts to drive social shares (especially on Twitter) I’d probably agree mate.

    But what is a share? Is it validation of content? With services like Twitterfeed and Triberr, I’d say no. Instead, it becomes a group mentality and automatic sharing regardless of quality.

    I’ll stick to email convos, Facebook discussions, re blogs and comments as the real value of the after effects of a post, I think.

    Cheers, sir!

    • geofflivingston

      Well, I guess we disagree again. Even with bots, a good post gets many more retweets and social shares. I think most bloggers still look at the count as win or fail. But thank you for your differing opinion.

      • http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown

        I think it depends on goals, mate. Do social shares guarantee visits? Not as much as solid content and strong SEO as well as strategic promoting.

        Do social shares guarantee sales and call to actions? Not as much as a great email list.

        We’ve also chatted more on this before, where banal lists and Top 50 Twitter Hashtag get more shares than a post about social equality in the workspace. Often, people just want bubblegum blog posts, which is fair enough. But given the choice between the solid content and little shares, versus banal content and mega shares, I know which I’d prefer, both as a blogger and reader.

  • AndreaNaomi

    I love this post for obvious not too embarrassed to say reasons :P We all have a little bit of an ego in ourselves that hopes our audience enjoys our message! P.S… the 2nd like was me :P

    • geofflivingston

      It defies logic! Thanks for the like!!!!

  • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

    You are hilarious! Lindsay just asked me if I wanted to get the Spin Sucks subscription updates and I said, “No. I obsess over why people unsubscribe so I’d rather not know.”

    • http://alphaefficiency.com Bojan Djordjevic

      roflmao :)

    • geofflivingston

      See, see! Bananas! And we are people that talk about measurement. I was talking about this with an advisor and he just looked at me like, “Really? Are you really talking to me about this?”

      • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

        I’m less that way about FB and Twitter followers. But on the blog? Yeah…I want to know why every, single person does or does not subscribe. And I fully realize it’s all ego.

        • http://b2bdigital.net/ Eric Wittlake

          Gini, you have a blog? Where? ;-)

          • http://spinsucks.com Gini Dietrich

            It’s this little personal blog no one really reads.

        • http://www.facebook.com/jason.konopinski Jason Konopinski

          @ginidietrich:disqus @geofflivingston:disqus I’m certainly not one to fixate on the numbers too much, but it does give me pause when people with whom I’ve regularly interacted drop me from their streams.

          • geofflivingston

            I think sometimes that’s healthy, but at the same time people move on. That’s life, right? Also, I tend to piss people off, so sometimes I know it’s a course of being me.

            For example, I got unfollowed a bit for #hungertohope overtweeting. I accept that as part of what I did, and had to do, in my opinion. But I am reticent to have another fundraiser next week as a result of that unfollowing, social equity withdrawal.

          • http://www.facebook.com/jason.konopinski Jason Konopinski

            Oh – I totally get it. I’ve certainly expressed strong opinions in the past, and I own that. Pruning the lists is always a good habit to cultivate, I think.

          • http://www.engag.io/Abdallah Abdallah Al-Hakim

            I have been debating for sometime the idea of unfollowing a number of people on Twitter and just keep them on a list. I want to only have 40-50 people that I follow on twitter but I have been worried that those I unfollow will take it the wrong way!!

  • http://johnhaydon.com/ John Haydon

    You’re beautiful on the inside, Geoff. Mostly the inside.

    • geofflivingston

      I feel so much better now! Thank you, John!

  • http://www.margieclayman.com Marjorie Clayman

    I have no idea what you are talking about.

    Can you let me know if you or anyone else “likes” or replies to this comment?

    • geofflivingston

      Here you go!

      • jeffespo

        @MargieClayman:disqus +2

    • Marc Zazeela

      Hi Margie. I like your comment. I’m hopeful my positive comment and my like, makes your day! :-)

  • http://www.engag.io/Abdallah Abdallah Al-Hakim

    There is a a healthy number of comments on this blog so that should help with your self esteem :) I do find it depressing when a blog is written but has zero or very few comments! That bothers me more than twitter followers’ number or FB likes

    • geofflivingston

      Well, it depends on the post. Some provoke comments, some provoke reads. I do post things that don’t get comments, but get read and that’s OK!

  • http://gearboxmagazine.com/ Brian Driggs

    One sympathizes.

    It’s justification. It’s vanity. IT’S SO FLUFFY!

    And Gini just gave me something else to worry about. If I shift everything I do to the private end of the spectrum (read: subscription-based), I won’t have to worry about comments, shares, or likes – but I’ll have to worry about subscription numbers.

    INCONTHIEVABLE!

    • geofflivingston

      There’s always something…

  • http://barrettrossie.com/ Barrett Rossie

    I love you, man. Too bad there’s no “love” button. So I’ll settle for “like.”

    • geofflivingston

      LOL! Thanks for the quick esteem filler!

    • http://markharai.com Mark Harai

      I looked all over for that “love” button :o

  • Randy Bowden

    I have bullshit issues also Geoff!

    • geofflivingston

      Yes! LOL!

  • http://markharai.com Mark Harai

    Stop that, get back to work! : )

    • geofflivingston

      Yes, sir!

  • http://twitter.com/KDillabough Kaarina Dillabough

    I’m having a Sally Field moment for you:)

    • geofflivingston

      Steel Magnolias!

  • http://twitter.com/JonMikelBailey Jon-Mikel Bailey

    You’re good enough, smart enough, and people “like” you.

    • geofflivingston

      There you go, Stuart!

  • http://twitter.com/ExtremelyAvg Brian D. Meeks

    External validation is like a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on white toast, with a side of bacon…served by a scantily clad linger model…who also loves bacon.

    • geofflivingston

      Mmmm, bacon!

  • http://www.cendrinemarrouat.com Cendrine Marrouat

    Love it!

  • http://joshuawilner.com/ Josh

    Sometimes I look at my share numbers and compare them to comments and wonder if it is just Triberr or if people really liked what I wrote.

    It is a big hamster wheel.

    • geofflivingston

      I think real traffic tells you what worked and didn’t work.

  • Marc Zazeela

    Geoff,

    Regardless who admits or who denies, we all have egos. Some are bigger than others but they all like to be fed.

    Nothing wrong with wanting public acceptance so long as that is not your sole reason for existence. You still need to be true to yourself first. Write about and post things that are real for you and hope they ring true for others also.

    If you pander to your audience only to gain their praise, how genuine is that praise anyway?

    Damn me with faint praise!

    Cheers,
    Marc

    • geofflivingston

      Damn you, Marc! You asked me to, so don’t get mad!

  • http://twitter.com/profkrg Kenna Griffin

    This is so interesting. I never really worry much about the numbers. However, I do love being recognized. Love it! I get so disappointed if I open my Twitter app and I don’t have any RTs. Aren’t we just vain little things?

    • geofflivingston

      LOL, that we are!!! No sensible business should be run like this… But mine is .

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