Checking out @curationstation’s twitter stream, I happened to click thru a tweeted link to @scottgould’s blog post on curation The End Of The Age Of Content as a participatory, collaborative process.

Gould’s big idea is that we must make Social Media social because,
frankly, it just isn’t social.

Gould’s criticism is that Social Media is dumbing us all down.
10 Ways to Market on Twitter, 20 Rules for Twitter Etiquette,
5 Things to do to get more blog readers, etc. – it’s what Gould calls depthless, dumb content. What we need more of – Gould suggests – is:

1. Conversation (talking with people – not at them)
2. Co-thinking
3. Analytical feedback
4. Collaborative curation, and
5. Originality

#thegentlemensmovement, for example, is how men are expressing
themselves on how they can make change… from the inside out.
@TheStyleGent started it, but there’s several contributors that have joined his bold voice. Myself included. It’s the ideal example for what @scottgould is saying we need more of.

Gould’s post got me thinking about the people on Twitter that I
follow. Some are friendly, kind and personable. Some are “botsu”.
Beyond their communication style or lack thereof, Gould’s question
comes to mind.

Are they contributors to our culture or are they
(as@hannibal666says it) polluting the fish tank?

@Faryna,for example, doesn’t tweet or retweet a lot.
But Stan Faryna does give us tremendous, deep insights ranging from God to online strategy. Perhaps, he doesn’t retweet often because he can think for himself. Don’t take my word for it, check out his blog: Stan Faryna Blog

Following Faryna’s Twitter Stream is a real privilege and that kind of privilege to connect with thought leaders like @Faryna makes Twitter untouchable by Facebook. I’m never going to ask him how’s his day going. And I don’t expect him to do #FF lists.

@hannibal666 is a disruptive voice that challenges the depth and charm of our muddy puddles with parody.
He has a frighteningly wicked observation of the ironic!
But #h666 couches his irony between silly,harmless quips.
Perhaps, he does this to disarm us.

@hannibal666 has the funniest blog ever about the people on Twitter.
His genius really shines thru when you take his feed out of real time and think about what he’s really saying: hannibal666 blog

But the most followed streams on Twitter
(celebrity streams included)
tend not to give us something to think about.
Something that helps us understand life.
Or the world that we live in.

Why is that? Is there something wrong with us?
Why does our common behavior as a group represent us as idiots and fools? The fact is that @scottgould can’t save us from ourselves.

Not if we can’t save us from ourselves!

Our future is the future of our making.

Peter Tran
Please follow me and my mom on Twitter: @FairfaxTailor

@FairfaxTailor
A Mom and Son Enterprise
We alter, repair and custom make clothes for people of discerning
taste and style.

Follow this blog

Team Member Post: My Social Media Blog and It’s Purpose.

By Fred (Manfred2112)

Hello. I joined @BonniesSquires Social Media Team and we are a group of twitter users that are trying to expand our Social Media Experiences. Bonnie is the team leader and this is a capture of her twitter Bio: I’m an entrepreneur. I’m building a social media agency. If you’d like to join me in building a good team and exciting future, let me know.

We are a growing team and currently looking for around 20 active twitter users to become team members. Current team members can be found via Bonnie’s profile list: @BonniesSquires/team-members

Our horizons are ever increasing. We are learning as we progress and trying new and exciting ways of promoting our team. If you are interested in joining our team simply follow Bonnie and I. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Send us a Direct Message once we start following you back indicating your desire to join. Space is limited.

To your success,

@Manfred2112

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By Peter Tran (FairfaxTailor)

I noticed a killer tweet the other day by Stan Faryna. It really caught my attention and curiosity.

@Faryna.Use “feed: [twitter addy]” to refer to the Tweep’s stream that you borrowed, begged or stole from… to write that brilliant tweet. #FIPTS

It wasn’t the first time I saw something like this. I’ve seen them before and I‘ve copied some of them down over the months. They seem to be the beginning of a manual of Twitter notations. But for some reason, @Faryna deletes them (and other cool tweets) from his stream. Go figure!

I asked Stan about why he deletes tweets like that. He answered with some thing like a koan. His DM in reply:

@Faryna The intense relevance of a single flower’s beauty is ALL about it being perishable.

Ok, whatever, Mr. Yoda! That’s way too zen for me.

Some #FIPTS tweets are ironic. Some are practical. I’m going to start using them more often. I also hope to come up with some of my own. It’s sooo… uber!

What’s really interesting to me is that the 140 character short form (some just say, microblogging format) has inspired new interpretations of traditional communication styles. In the failure of traditional authorities defining microblogging style (think Chicago Manual of Style), intellectuals, scholars and the uber-saavy are innovating style on the fly.

Have you seen other examples of this by anyone else? Let me know because I’d like to track the evolution of this.

Here’s what I have from my notes on @Faryna’s contributions to microblogging style. I’ve extracted the examples from random tweets by @Faryna.

bcc:@fabfas

Use “bcc: [twitter addy]” to make someone feel extra special and in the loop. Of course, everyone else saw your tweet. Duh! #FIPTS

cc: @getkiller

Use “cc: [twitter addy]” to send a public message that has a targeted recipient. Yes. They’ll see it in the tweets to them. #FIPTS

source: @mashable

Use “source: [twitter addy]” to reference a Tweep when you’ve summarized or paraphrased their tweet or blog post. #FIPTS

feed:@tom_peters

Use “feed: [twitter addy]” to refer to the Tweep’s stream that you borrowed, begged or stole from… to write that brilliant tweet. #FIPTS

doh:@bkdc

Use “doh: [twitter addy]” to communicate your anticipation of the targeted tweep’s SSOF (slapping self on forehead) event. #FIPTS

Do any of them work for you? Let me know. Tweet me up!

Peter Tran

Please follow me and my mom on Twitter: @FairfaxTailor

@FairfaxTailor
A Mom and Son Enterprise

We alter, repair and custom make clothes for people of discerning taste and style

Follow this blog

Our Common Purpose

Our common purpose is as follows:

1. To learn about social media, online advertising and online marketing. To understand the necessities that brought them into being, the mechanisms that enable them and the opportunities they provide to organizations, communities and persons.

Through reading, experiment and interaction with others, we will pursue this adventure in learning together as a team.

2. To become knowledgeable and competent experts on social media, online advertising and online marketing. To become intelligent voices and leaders in the conversation, to share our insight and excitement with others, to guide and mentor those who want to learn from us, and (one day) to be able to offer consulting and services to customers – consulting and services that drive client success.

Through our study, thinking, and works, we will build the skills, talent and wisdom of our team. Just as the catepillar will one day become a butterfly, our team will become a trusted and accomplished agency.

3. To overcome our limitations and challenges, missed opportunities, and the poor choices that we have made. To choose a future in which we can be thankful for the friendship, self-respect, confidence, reward and success that comes from doing amazing things together.

Through friendship, trust and commitment to each other, we will overcome individual and team challenges, solve problems, and pursue excellence. We will co-write a story of success.

4. To work together and toward our common purpose with joy, kindness, cheerfulness, diligence, respect, honor, wisdom and enthusiasm. To do as much as we each can do and contribute to accomplish our common purpose with pride and satisfaction.

Each of us takes responsibility for the task and obligations expected of them. Each of us takes responsibility for the accomplishments and success of the team. Each of us will be responsible for the failures and challenges we must overcome.

5. To pursue Greatness.

Each of us chooses excellence. We choose excellence, together. We commit ourselves to each other as friends and co-workers who are working to a common purpose. When it comes to our egos, we put ourselves second and our team, first.

If this sounds interesting to you, please let me know by leaving me a comment with your email address.