Disclaimer: Intel prefers that I am upfront about the fact that I tweet and blog at their leisure, but do not do so on their behalf. These opinions are purely my own.
Recently a new friend of mine was bothered by the lack of authenticity of twitter, exemplified by self-promotion, boasting, and behaving disingenuously. It seems fair to include insincerity in that list.
Now for the relevant quote:
(George Burns) Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
To a certain extent one has to agree, there are certain things on twitter that magnify our human tendencies to be not completely candid and to exaggerate our successes (or even fake them). This is particularly true when one is involved in "social media" and is attempting to establish a reputation.
One of the things that increases that tendency is a modern proclivity to attach metrics and measure everything. You certainly have seen some of the sites:
klout, twiteralyzer, twitter analyzer, retweet rank, and tunk rank. Those are just a few of the places we can indulge our obsession to be measured, graded, and ranked. They are ubiquitous.
They all measure valid things and generally provide useful information. However, every one of these metrics can be manipulated. That can be intentional or unintentional. Some of that actually brings about positive change in people's behavior. Other times, it encourages them to "game" the system.
Let's look at a couple of my favorite activities on twitter and see how this measurement affects them. The two things to look at are RTs and FFs.
As most of you know, RTs (or retweets) are times when one twitter reads another and sees that a tweet is worth repeating (or sometimes requires correcting or responding to). The reader then copies the tweet into their stream and adds RT and the copied from twitter's name. If the information is particularly valuable or interesting, another twitter may RT the already RTd tweet. Sometimes, there can be chains of 4 or 5 RTers attached to a tweet.
This has become a major source of information sharing on twitter and the reason twitter is so interesting for those involved in "social media". It combines the legitimacy of word-of-mouth with global reach. The much RTd saying is "On Twitter, Love is spelled RT." To be perfectly candid, if there were no RT, I would not be on twitter. The use of RT as an information sharing tool is what justifies my time on twitter.
FF (or Follow Friday) is another important twitter tradition, as most of you are also aware. This is twitter's way of giving shout-outs to the people who inspire you. It's also a good way of introducing your twitter followers to other people you think they might like to read. It can also be a way of expressing thanks. If someone does something nice for you on twitter (for example RTs you), you can easily thank them back by putting them on your FF list.
Used in moderation, both of these are very nice traditions and add to twitters sense of community. They also tend to cause the formation of cliques on twitter. There is a natural tendency to RT those who RT you back, or at least those who send you a thank you tweet or put you on a FF list. The same goes for FF list. If someone is "in your circle" you are likely to include them in your FF list and they include you in theirs. One simple way of doing this is to RT their Follow Friday list when they send it out. Both of these things tend to strengthen the bonds of people who tweet similar things to each other, that is to form them into a clique.
Strengthened bonds are generally a good thing. Forming a community is a good thing. Being in a clique is even a good thing, despite the negative connotations sometimes attached to it.
However, the key is moderation.
For example, I found a clique of users who RT everyone who RTs one of their members. That's generally nice behavior.
However, it is also a temptation to "game" the system. A common important measurement is how much one is RTd. To improve ones stature, getting RTd is important. But to the unscrupulous this clique gives an easy way of escalating that number, simply RT one of their members posts and you will be RTd.
Now from the perspective of the group, they have accomplished their goal, they have promoted their members--so for them it is not bad. Moreover, if you actually wanted to RT the content, the boost to your score is simply an added perk.
However, be certain you are participating in that clique for the right reasons--that you really want to be promoting their message and not just getting your RT count up. Remember that if you cheat the measurements, the measurements are simply a reflection of your cheating.
So, be sincere, because if you fake that, you may have it made, but what you will have made will be fake.
