2012 has become the year of the personal project. Along with a list of client projects, I’ve made an all-out effort to nurture a few random ideas that I’ve had rattling around in my head for the past…few years.
One of the projects I’m the most excited about is a new community-based site concept that I’ve had an on-again, off-again relationship with. Wrestling with the basic questions of “will it work” and “will anyone use it” and the all-too-familiar “will anyone care” has been at the heart of my internal hesitation. I was about to write this particular project off and had almost forgotten about it until I stumbled across a brand identity that I had started sketching. The last revision date on these logo sketches was in 2009. Almost three years this file sat on my computer, half-finished in both concept and reality. I was ready to delete the files (and all other traces of this project) until something struck me. The logo concepts weren’t that bad.
When a spark or even a faint glimmer of creativity hits, you need to grab onto it and carry it as far as you can, regardless of the outcome. After rediscovering this site concept, I poured a fair amount of work back into it and dedicated myself to giving it life.
Without giving too much away, the concept of this project is simple; build a website that will act as a hub for connecting people with similar interests, share information, and discover new places. On the surface, it sounds like a recipe for a social network. The truth is, this will be built and thrive on social. Using tools and networks that have been established and hold a decent user-base is an appealing prospect when you’re looking to make a community-driven site. We don’t need another social network, we just need to fine-tune and focus those that we have. Hopefully, this project will do that.
Earlier this week I discovered an iOS app from the folks at Ford that allows you to customize a Ford Mustang any way you like (on the exterior). I downloaded it to try it out, but am surprised at the amount of fun I’m having using it.
Fresh from the lab.
As I mentioned, I’m having fun with this app, maybe too much fun. You be the judge:
Social to the core.
Quick aside: I’m a fan of not only Ford’s vehicles, but also their approach to social networking. This app and the Mustang Customizer site are no exception. You can submit your creations in head-to-head battles with other rides and can share your experiences on the top social sites. You can even embed your profile to show off your skills.
If you’re keeping track of the many social networks that are available, you’ll notice that there are quite a few of them out there…putting it mildly. For the people that want to be involved in as many communities as they can, managing all of the connections, conversations, and properties can feel somewhat overwhelming.
Social Housekeeping.
Personally, I’m involved on more than my fair share of networks. Twitter and Facebook are my two main areas of focus, but I’ve also made an effort to do more with LinkedIn and was one of the many clamoring to jump onto Google+ when it was announced. It wasn’t long after I was granted a Google+ invite (thanks Steve) that I felt a true, overwhelming sense of stress with regards to my online communities. There were simply too many (or I had too many irons in the fire).
After that thought entered my mind, I felt myself pulling back from not just G+ but all of my networks. I didn’t post as often and I didn’t engage as often. It was nice…for a while. After a few days I missed the interaction and came to the conclusion that I couldn’t just abandon the online properties that I had once been inhabiting. That wasn’t fair, not to myself or to the people that I’d gotten to know (and appreciate) within each of the communities. I started to look at each social network location as a house or a proerty that I had to maintain. Each property was in a different community with different neighbors and different rules.
Managing and defining each location.
As much as I dislike the term “managing your social network” I realize that this is a necessary task for those involved in social networking. From the outside looking in, it may be easy to suggest dropping one or more networks and only focus on those that give the most joy and are the most worthwhile to your time. Personally speaking, that didn’t seem like the appropriate response.
Turning toward tools when running out of time.
While I’ve used these tools for a while, I find myself relying on them now more than ever to help me stay up-to-date with my communities and not let things slip too far behind.
Hootsuite - Managing multiple social networks from within your browser.
Tweetdeck - Manage multiple networks in mobile and desktop apps.
How do you keep your social properties in order?
What tricks or tips do you have to stay on top of all of these networks (while not ignoring anyone)? What tools do you use and how do you use them to manage your time as well as your relationships?
Posted on 08/25/11 at 10:28 PM - Categories:
Social Media
My wife and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to technology. I’m the geek of the house, constantly searching for new gadgets and ways to automate and digitize life. Lisa, on the other hand, doesn’t care what the iPad 2 can/can’t do nor does she want to see one in our house. She prefers CDs to iTunes downloads and cringed when I set up the lights in our first apartment to run via remote control (thank you X-10!). However, there is one area of our digital lives that meets an intersection.
Lisa started playing the Facebook game Zoo World in late 2009. Much like Farmville, Zoo World is an online, social game that involves maintaining a venue, caring for animals and designing and interacting with others to reach achievements and “level up”. In January 2010 she had foot surgery and was relegated to couch duty for well over a month. I bought her a netbook so she could stay connected to her fellow Zoo World friends during her recovery.
When Spring rolled around, my wife had amassed a large number of Zoo Friends on Facebook and had developed relationships with them outside of the game. They’d chat about everyday items in between ZW discussions. She’d created an amazing community of friends that would soon prove to be invaluable.
Box Tops for Education
It was also around that time that we began attending re-enrollment meetings at our school for our oldest son who was starting 4K that Fall. In one of the many information packets we brought home was a flyer for a back-to-school Box Tops for Education contest. Knowing how competitive and driven my wife is, I knew our son had a fair shot at winning this contest. Little did I know how much and how quickly these little pieces of cardboard would become a part of our life.
As the start of the school year approached, my wife would update me on our current Box Top count. I became increasingly interested when she said that her Facebook friends were chipping in and mailing tops to us. Besting that feeling of amazement was the fact that these friends were located all over the world. We were getting people offering to help our son’s school from as far away as Canada and Great Britain. That was amazing. That was community. That was real.
Further proof that social “works”.
While I had doubted her initial involvement in Zoo World, I have always believed in the power of social networking. The connections that I’ve been able to make have proved that to myself, but seeing someone else have such an amazing result added more fuel to the fire.
At the end of the school year, our son’s school ended up with over 80,000 Box Tops for Education, of which some 8,000 came from our son and his social networking supporters.
