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Twitter this, Facebook that, Friendfeed
here - and you know what!?! |
We’ve been under
the spell of social media for some time now, trying different platforms and every
day seeing new websites popping-up. The question is: where would they be
without their first users and advocates? More than any other kind of service,
social media platforms rely on the personal brand of their members and often
require illustrious people joining them and help promote their service.
Where would
Friendfeed be without Robert
Scoble? Would Twitter be as successful without Ashton Kutcher or Martha Stewart?
(just to name a couple of examples)
This reminds us
a little about advertising by Hollywood actors, - except that it’s totally
free. I wrote some time ago that social media converges with online bartering.
People share their fame and in exchange they see it grow even more; eventually
achieving a special status.
This then brings
us to two questions:
- Can a new platform become successful without a famous champion?
- What if this champion decides to leave the platform?
Let’s focus on
Robert Scoble to answer the above. Robert is an employee of Rackspace, a prominent blogger and chief
troublemaker in the Building43 community of
Internet fanatics. In one of his latest posts,
Robert explains why he champions Friendfeed and considers it as a great way to
communicate with his audience. Many people have joined Friendfeed following
Robert’s suggestion, but will they continue if Robert decides to leave and move
on to something else. Will people once again follow his lead?
There are
hundreds of new web services opening daily to the public and websites such as Killerstartups
help us discover them. Yet the press will only be intrigued by platforms that
show serious traction and this often happens with the influence of
well-connected and trusted agents.
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We at ZackBrandit haven’t yet found our cheerleaders except for
Does this mean we’re doomed to fail even if we have a great plan? Or
should we be able to become sustainable with a slowly growing set of
followers who believe in our project and values?
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Coming back to Robert Scoble, it is time to present his blogger’s portrait or Zilhouette.
Robert can be perceived as a Patron.
Keenly
in tune with the way things look, taste, smell and feel, Patrons have a
strong appreciation for aesthetics and new things. Compelled to stand
out, they are always looking for what others do not have and how to
help them get it.
Robert’s blog
focuses on the relevance and pertinence of the information he can share with us,
and provides a good balance between personal thoughts and concrete facts. His
blog has many widgets that focus on his network, yet they do not distract the
reader from the posts and the many comments contained. Though Robert has many
followers, he only moderately interacts in his blog, preferring to do so on
other social media.
There are other reasons why Robert could be
perceived as a Patron; for a full description, please visit this portrait's forum and don't hesitate to comment and share
your feedback.
Of course this particular profile or Zilhouette is only one out of the 16 possible perceptions; based on your personal background, you
might perceive him in a totally different way.
Want to know
more about our Zilhouettes?Check this link!
