If You Had To Give Up One Of Your Social Networks, What Would It Be?
by Madalyn Sklar
I posted an interesting question on our Social Networks for Musicians Facebook Fan Page today.
I asked, "If you had to give up one of your social networks, what would it be?"
Of the 13 that has responded so far, 7 said they would give up Twitter. Wow!
I am a firm believer when it comes to your music or music business, the top three social networks you should be utilizing are Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. But what if you had to give one up? I know, it's thought provoking.
Mashable says Twitter has grown 1928% from June '08 to June '09.
I first fell in love with Twitter back in March 2008 when it was mostly dominated by Internet techies, not online marketers. Most musicians I talked to at the time had not heard of it yet. Many laughed at my "twittering" excitement at both SXSW and the ASCAP Expo that year. I would take photos with my iPhone and send it up via Twitpic. Yes in real-time I was Twittering my music festival and conference escapades. It was cool. I was cool. Well I wasn't doing it to be cool. But everyone was quite amused with me. I couldn't help it, I was doing what I do best which is to embrace and utilize new media and technology. I've been this way since the mid 90's when I discovered the Internet.
Twitter was a different beast a year ago. No spam. Yet. No "we can get you 1000 followers a day". It was a great tool to get relevant news info on the fly that was fresh and exciting. It was cool to read tweets from people in-the-know. A great way to share info and ideas with colleagues. Reading what was on the mind of powerful CEO's. I was very intrigued. Fast forward to July 2009 and it seems to be incredibly cluttered up. I'm still a fan of course. I regularly share information and resources that I think my followers would like. But now that everyone and their grandmother is using it and telling me they are busy eating grape jello or how they can help me be an online millionaire, I have to really say... "WTF?" Yes, I know we can use neat little programs to keep tabs on the few people we actually give a tweet about. Or we can choose to not follow them at all. Sorry, but I'm from the school of if you follow me, I'll follow you. It's a courtesy.
Side Note: Of all the Twitter programs I've played around with on my desktop and iPhone, the best hands down (for me) is Tweetie. I think it's the best Twitter iPhone app.
So just about everyday we hear about how Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds in comparison to Facebook, Myspace and all other social network sites.
Last week Mashable posted this:
Wow, 1928% is amazing growth in one year! I think the stats are great. Twitter is huge. I knew it would be some day. I was proud when CNN's Larry King started talking about it regularly on his show. Next thing you know it's on the CNN ticker constantly. More and more people found great uses for it. Remember last year an American student alerted friends via Twitter he was arrested in Egypt, it made international news. Journalists are keeping us informed by the second. This just goes on and on.
Side Note: I highlighted above that Myspace leads social media sites in video viewing (excluding YouTube of course). That is quite interesting too!
I was always curious as to how many people who signed up for Twitter actually used it. I've been watching this closely for some time. I wanted to share this with you because when I read a headline like Twitter's 1928% growth in one year, I start to wonder what is really going on.
Here's something quite interesting from Nielsen:
Many have told me themselves they sign up then don't use it. Some say they don't get it or don't like it. For most it's plain and simple: I'm already posting what I'm up to on Facebook and Myspace. Why do I need to do it on Twitter too?
Reports like the one above have confirmed what I figured was true. People sign up (thank you CNN and Oprah) to see what the fuss is about then many of them don't return.
Marketer Insight just posted this great little nugget of info last week about how the top 10% of Twitter users account for 90% of Twitter's content. Wow, that is interesting. The article goes on to say that many use Twitter simply to grab information. It has become quite the search engine.
I really feel all this information is quite interesting and makes you think. I would love to hear your take on it. And I'll pose the question to you too...
"If you had to give up one of your social networks, what would it be?"
Copyright © 2009 Madalyn Sklar
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 13 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success in the biz. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.
Madalyn's Sites:
GoGirlsMusic.com
Social Networks for Musicians
I posted an interesting question on our Social Networks for Musicians Facebook Fan Page today.
I asked, "If you had to give up one of your social networks, what would it be?"
Of the 13 that has responded so far, 7 said they would give up Twitter. Wow!
I am a firm believer when it comes to your music or music business, the top three social networks you should be utilizing are Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. But what if you had to give one up? I know, it's thought provoking.
Mashable says Twitter has grown 1928% from June '08 to June '09.
I first fell in love with Twitter back in March 2008 when it was mostly dominated by Internet techies, not online marketers. Most musicians I talked to at the time had not heard of it yet. Many laughed at my "twittering" excitement at both SXSW and the ASCAP Expo that year. I would take photos with my iPhone and send it up via Twitpic. Yes in real-time I was Twittering my music festival and conference escapades. It was cool. I was cool. Well I wasn't doing it to be cool. But everyone was quite amused with me. I couldn't help it, I was doing what I do best which is to embrace and utilize new media and technology. I've been this way since the mid 90's when I discovered the Internet.
Twitter was a different beast a year ago. No spam. Yet. No "we can get you 1000 followers a day". It was a great tool to get relevant news info on the fly that was fresh and exciting. It was cool to read tweets from people in-the-know. A great way to share info and ideas with colleagues. Reading what was on the mind of powerful CEO's. I was very intrigued. Fast forward to July 2009 and it seems to be incredibly cluttered up. I'm still a fan of course. I regularly share information and resources that I think my followers would like. But now that everyone and their grandmother is using it and telling me they are busy eating grape jello or how they can help me be an online millionaire, I have to really say... "WTF?" Yes, I know we can use neat little programs to keep tabs on the few people we actually give a tweet about. Or we can choose to not follow them at all. Sorry, but I'm from the school of if you follow me, I'll follow you. It's a courtesy.
Side Note: Of all the Twitter programs I've played around with on my desktop and iPhone, the best hands down (for me) is Tweetie. I think it's the best Twitter iPhone app.
So just about everyday we hear about how Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds in comparison to Facebook, Myspace and all other social network sites.
Last week Mashable posted this:
Wow, 1928% is amazing growth in one year! I think the stats are great. Twitter is huge. I knew it would be some day. I was proud when CNN's Larry King started talking about it regularly on his show. Next thing you know it's on the CNN ticker constantly. More and more people found great uses for it. Remember last year an American student alerted friends via Twitter he was arrested in Egypt, it made international news. Journalists are keeping us informed by the second. This just goes on and on.
Side Note: I highlighted above that Myspace leads social media sites in video viewing (excluding YouTube of course). That is quite interesting too!
I was always curious as to how many people who signed up for Twitter actually used it. I've been watching this closely for some time. I wanted to share this with you because when I read a headline like Twitter's 1928% growth in one year, I start to wonder what is really going on.
Here's something quite interesting from Nielsen:
Many have told me themselves they sign up then don't use it. Some say they don't get it or don't like it. For most it's plain and simple: I'm already posting what I'm up to on Facebook and Myspace. Why do I need to do it on Twitter too?
Reports like the one above have confirmed what I figured was true. People sign up (thank you CNN and Oprah) to see what the fuss is about then many of them don't return.
Marketer Insight just posted this great little nugget of info last week about how the top 10% of Twitter users account for 90% of Twitter's content. Wow, that is interesting. The article goes on to say that many use Twitter simply to grab information. It has become quite the search engine.
I really feel all this information is quite interesting and makes you think. I would love to hear your take on it. And I'll pose the question to you too...
"If you had to give up one of your social networks, what would it be?"
Copyright © 2009 Madalyn Sklar
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 13 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success in the biz. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.Madalyn's Sites:
GoGirlsMusic.com
Social Networks for Musicians
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 15 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.
"Madalyn not only gives me marketing strategies during our consultations, but she gets me thinking in a whole new direction."
"Madalyn’s high-energy, can-do attitude was the shot that I needed to get me going!"
"Madalyn has played a key role in helping me build a strong foundation for my music business."
"In just one session, Madalyn was able to answer tons of questions we had about the music industry and making a living as an independent artist."
This is a good point! Who can keep up with everything at the speed of light the Internet projects AND get any work done?
Analyzing the perception of the three networks is essential. Myspace is perceived within the music industry circle to be on the way out. One of my fave tags for my site is "Silly mama, myspace is for kids!" And, it really is. Adults went there because there was nowhere else to go in terms of music. Musicians targeting an adult audience have two options left.
If you have a very strong following and have been established a long while, Facebook is likely the best bet to keep in touch with your audience - that is if you have the tolerance to put up with their many changes and inimitable schemes to keep chatter going.
Twitter is for those looking to make new contacts. Lots of them! And let's face it...who isn't? In this economy the ratio of valued customers is lower than ever before. Reaching out to an ever-broadening audience base is best served using Twitter.
My ranking:
Twitter No. 1
Facebook No. 2
Myspace Insignificant
Janet Hansen
Scout66.com
Posted by
Janet Hansen |
5:06 PM
Great post, J. I think everyone's mileage varies. I'm a baby boomer. Twitter makes my head spin too fast. And most of the folks who come out to hear our duo are between 35-65. The older ones are just beginning to utilize social networks.
For personal social use, I'd keep Facebook only, most definitely. I think of our Myspace site as being simply a calling card-as far as getting people out to gigs, our huge mailing list seems to reach the most people and doesn't put them on the spot re: RSVPing.
Would love to see FB be better a/b accepting Flash content and more effectively integrating the ReverbNation widget tools, to improve customization of the "my band" page.
Posted by
Carol Statella |
10:00 AM