Comments on: Social Media – Are we all just a bunch of Sheep?

By: Darren Dunner

Darren Dunner — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:28:00 +0000

Jennifer,

Thanks for responding to my post. Many articles are written with comments made and typically responses are very few if any or relevant.

Keep up the good work and I will see what I can come up with to write an exciting article on rugs :).

By: Seo Design Solutions

Seo Design Solutions — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:21:26 +0000

Baaaaaaahhhhhhh!

Just kidding, great post Jen. Was at a party over the weekend, My wife and I were just joking about the state of social interaction, I believe the animal we used as the archetypal reference we used while drawing an analogy to the conversations we witness was the Parrot, so it’s funny to see you play off the sheep thing.

Great post.

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:40:12 +0000

Sometimes a blessing, other times a curse, but I’m just like my mother in that I say exactly what I think.

Sometimes that gets the odd nod of approval, other times looks of dismay.

Either way, I just say it how it is.

But as Jennifer points out, people like me are in the minority, which is a shame.

But then again, our society is built upon conformity and hierarchical leadership…

By: Chris1234

Chris1234 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:10:43 +0000

Nice post .. this article makes me think

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:07:13 +0000

Neal, in many ways it also encourages the opposite.
In an attempt to be popular, and maybe squeeze in the occasional more radical content, people will tend to submit content that will be popular with the masses rather than their own preference, even voting on content they don’t agree with to seem biased in a certain direction.

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:05:43 +0000

Or Jennifer even…

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:05:14 +0000

How very fortuitous — this is exactly the theme of a topic I posted on Pownce earlier today:

“Here’s the thing, I’ve just had a lively chat with a guy on Skype about how he thinks technology X is better than technology Y.

The problem is, he only really thinks technology X is better because there’s more people using it.

That’s neither a justification for his argument, or a feature of technology X.

If all people are going to do is ignore the facts, avoid proper scrutiny and adopt a herd mentality, they’re denying themselves the chance of being a thought leader…”

Jeff, good stuff, man!

By: neal

neal — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:15:06 +0000

james surowiecki, in the wisdom of crowds, talks about breaking cascades in the same fashion: strong independent thought; in social media, i believe the dependence on each other’s support causes cascades among friends who vote on each other’s submissions; however, the cascade is broken when it reaches the open community to whom the submitter has no direct mutual affiliation. if all the submitter’s supporters vote for that content, if the community disapproves, it will use features such as bury to ensure the submission’s exposure is limited. even if a story becomes popular because of the initial traction spurred by the submitters’ friends, the rest of the community will make itself heard by commenting it’s disfavor.

By: Dr.Mani

Dr.Mani — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:46:32 +0000

Nice post. Made me pause and think a bit. That’s GOOD! 🙂

As a keen student of group dynamics online, I see a lot in your post that had me nodding in agreement.

All success
Dr.Mani

By: Darren Dunner

Darren Dunner — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:45:52 +0000

Jennifer, this is a very interesting post. I get the feeling you have been the recipient of “hateful comments”.

My question then is really for other people in industries that really don’t have controversy to write about. Like if someone sells Rugs via eCommerce what kind of controversy can they really stir up or even write about to get peoples attention.

I bring this up because when it comes to SEO related articles this is easy to push buttons, but many out there are in passive industries and just can’t get into this niche. Your feedback would be appreciated.