Walk This Way, Run-DMC
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A Thank You Economy
Reach, connection and relationship is crucial to your success, whether you are an industry professional, artist, writer, problogger, or whatever. Social Media provides that channel – be it Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, FourSquare, a blog or some/all of these together.
Tim O’Reilly sums up the nature of social media here. He says that, “you gain and bestow status” through those you read, mention, retweet, recommend, like, comment…
This is the engine of the thank you economy.
In the thank you economy, dismissal, neglect and omission are punishment.
In O’Reilly’s words: “Obscurity is a bigger problem for authors than piracy.”
Thank you John Magnet Bell
At the same conference, Canadian writer Margaret Atwood explained that today’s author is expected by today’s publisher to promote their work and connect with readers. They’re expected to tweet, podcast and blog – not to mention interviews and book signings.
John Magnet Bell, a fellow Triberr, recently posted the video of Atwood on his blog, Start Your Novel.
In not so many words, Atwood suggests that an author that makes the connections and reaches readers can negotiate a more favorable contract with a publisher.
In other words, obscurity has economic consequences. Obscurity is marginalizing and disempowering. To be obscure is to be condemned.
Thank you Eugene
Eugene, author of the Reality Burst blog and also another fellow Triberr, writes in a recent blog post: “Every business should be an internet business.”
Because, for many businesses (great and small), getting online is the best first step to climbing out of obscurity. The cost of reach, connection and relationship is considerably less online than on Main Street.
Thank you Paul Wolfe
Author of the One Spoon at a Time blog (and, yes, another fellow Triberr) Paul Wolfe writes in a reply to a comment by Daniel Wood:
“… the relationships that you build are invaluable. They will definitely lead to bigger and better things.”
To succeed in a socially-charged online community, as Paul reminds us, means nothing less than being of constant service to others, uplifting others, recommending them, and illuminating their contribution.
If we aren’t sharing the voices of others with the world, what, infact, are we doing online?
To be or not to be
Together, we lift ourselves out of obscurity, out of the box, and, perhaps, out of that unfortunate exile from the human family – an exile into which we were born, but need never remain subscribed.
Or do you prefer obscurity to a world of “we”?
Stan Faryna
6 April 2011
Targovishte, Bulgaria
If you’d like to connect with me, follow @Faryna and tweet me up on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/faryna
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About Stan Faryna
Mr. Faryna is the founder and co-founder of several technology, design and communication companies in the United States and Europe including Faryna & Associates, Inc., Halo Interactive, and others.
Stan Faryna served as a Global Voices author and translator. Global Voices is a non-profit global citizens’ media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, a research think-tank focused on the Internet’s impact on society.
His political, scholarly, social and technical opinions have appeared in The Chicago Defender, Jurnalul National, The Washington Times, Sagar, Saptamana Financiara, Social Justice Review, and other publications.
Mr. Faryna also served as editor-in-chief of Black and Right (Praeger Press, 1996), a landmark collection of socio-political essays by important American thinkers including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Copyright
Copyright 1996 to 2012 by Stan Faryna.
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[…] imagine the time and thought that goes into the comments made by people like Dino Griddy, Bill, Stan, and Brankica. I mean seriously they’re bloody everywhere. It makes me wonder if I have […]
“To succeed in a socially-charged online community, as Paul reminds us, means nothing less than being of constant service to others, uplifting others, recommending them, and illuminating their contribution.”
Shout it from the rooftops.
Stan, this is an interesting post! A couple of thoughts:
1.) I like the term “thank you” economy. I’m not sure where it started, but it has a ring to it, as “thank you” is not heard nearly as much these days as it ought to be.
2.) The idea that obscurity has economic consequences also resonates with me. More than an idea, I think we could say this it’s a truism, particularly for anyone who is trying to make their living from providing services or other knowledge-based solutions and products. If no one knows who you are, by default, you’ll have no clients and that will have dire economic consequences.
The interesting corollary to both thoughts above is that in order to say “thank you” and in order to market whatever it is you may be selling, you need to be interacting with other people. I know engagement is a strong focus of yours and I agree with it completely. It is meaningless to be broadcasting your message with a megaphone or with any other tool, such as social media, if no one is listening to what you have to say. The louder you “shout,” the more likely it is that you will be tuned out. Meaningful interaction and engagement, in the context of providing value and quid pro quo collaboration is what really works in the “thank you economy”.
Paul