Well, that was kinda cool. My blog post on Social Media Week got a ton of fun reactions across the web. I even showed up on Socially Superlative, in a fun little piece by Leslie Richin. I won’t lie, as a writer I love showing up in these kinds of things.
Social Media fans created a “foursquare swarm” at last night’s Obliterati Party at R Bar in New York City. Hosted by Random Night Out’s Nick McGlynn and part of Social Media Week, the party was a fun gathering and reunion complete with a step and repeat, numerous photographers, free drinks courtesy of Beefeater Gin and gift bags featuring a webcam courtesy of Skype (and the Snickers bar wasn’t bad either).
After being greeted by the always energetic Oz Sultan, Damien Basile, Digital Somethings (who I am pretty sure made it out to every single social media week event per foursquare), the bubbly Manisha Marberry, Mr. Youth and twitter-happy Zachary Adam Cohen, I made my way over to the red carpet with Nick McGlynn to be snapped by the lovely Leora Israel, Vayner Media.
But my piece on Social Media “Creeps” did engender some reactions that I wanted to address. Some thought my provocations were gratuitous. It led to some interesting email exchanges. The constructive criticism from folks I trust got me wondering how exactly a post like “We’re All Creeps Now” fits into my “brand.” Of course, I am unaware that I have a brand or that I even want one, but recognizing that we don’t get to make these decisions anymore, and that the great hive mind does, I guess I’ll go with it. It comes with benefits. Personally, as long as I get to keep meeting great people, having fun out in the city I love and further fusing the connections between my offline and online lives, I am ALL GO.
That being said, I found myself writing a short note to one of the commentators to my post and thought I would just reprint it here. The question was how does a piece like this fit in with and/ or further my brand:
the way in which i feel it supports my brand and identity is the following: i am not afraid to be called a creep, or to even be thrown in with people who may be creepy because the avant garde is often uncomfortable. I think a lot of people still feel that social media is kinda creepy especially twitter and foursquare. I am sure you have heard the “people knowing where i am at all times, ewww” crap that gets tossed around. From my perspective, i see it as part of my brand to demystify this stuff for a more general audience. Most of my offline social circles, friends I grew up with, family, acquaintances over the years in finance and NYC etc, who aren’t into social media read my blogs and see my facebook postings. So for me that demystification is a part of my project.
And that, as they say, was that.
Image Source: Nick McGlynn Random Night Out
