Comments on: Being A Local In Virtual Space http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm A Blog on Community, Design and Technology Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:02:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Steffan Antonas http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2743 Steffan Antonas Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:03:21 +0000 http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=695#comment-2743 Good question, Didier. First and foremost, it's important to find places where the posts and discussion are focused and targeted on topics that you're passionate about. The tighter and more focused the niche, the better. Once you find one, surf around some of the most recent posts - and focus your analysis on the comments section - see if the post author is present and active in the comments, and assess what the quality of the discussion is like. If you're starting your search online, <a href="http://alltop.com" rel="nofollow">alltop.com</a> is a great place to find mid to large sized communities for any given topic. I also like to check out my favorite bloggers' blogrolls (social vetting). I would also recommend going to <a href="http://Meetup.com" rel="nofollow">Meetup.com</a> and finding groups you're interested in that run social events in your local area. The all-time best way to start good conversations is to meet people face to face in the context of the real-life communities they are a part of and then take those conversations online (many of these people have blogs and are active on Twitter etc). Just finding a few people you connect with this way can start you on the right path (ask them where they hang out online, what their favorite blogs are etc...and then join them in discussions across the web). <br><br>Hope this helps... Good question, Didier. First and foremost, it's important to find places where the posts and discussion are focused and targeted on topics that you're passionate about. The tighter and more focused the niche, the better. Once you find one, surf around some of the most recent posts – and focus your analysis on the comments section – see if the post author is present and active in the comments, and assess what the quality of the discussion is like. If you're starting your search online, alltop.com is a great place to find mid to large sized communities for any given topic. I also like to check out my favorite bloggers' blogrolls (social vetting). I would also recommend going to Meetup.com and finding groups you're interested in that run social events in your local area. The all-time best way to start good conversations is to meet people face to face in the context of the real-life communities they are a part of and then take those conversations online (many of these people have blogs and are active on Twitter etc). Just finding a few people you connect with this way can start you on the right path (ask them where they hang out online, what their favorite blogs are etc…and then join them in discussions across the web).

Hope this helps…

]]> By: Didier http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2744 Didier Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:25:40 +0000 http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=695#comment-2744 The question is also how do you identify those local spaces ?<br><br>The ones that will offer a friendly place for you to plant your new roots ... The question is also how do you identify those local spaces ?

The ones that will offer a friendly place for you to plant your new roots …

]]> By: Steffan Antonas http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2076 Steffan Antonas Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:03:21 +0000 http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=695#comment-2076 Good question, Didier. First and foremost, it's important to find places where the posts and discussion are focused and targeted on topics that you're passionate about. The tighter and more focused the niche, the better. Once you find one, surf around some of the most recent posts - and focus your analysis on the comments section - see if the post author is present and active in the comments, and assess what the quality of the discussion is like. If you're starting your search online, <a href="http://alltop.com" rel="nofollow">alltop.com</a> is a great place to find mid to large sized communities for any given topic. I also like to check out my favorite bloggers' blogrolls (social vetting). I would also recommend going to <a href="http://Meetup.com" rel="nofollow">Meetup.com</a> and finding groups you're interested in that run social events in your local area. The all-time best way to start good conversations is to meet people face to face in the context of the real-life communities they are a part of and then take those conversations online (many of these people have blogs and are active on Twitter etc). Just finding a few people you connect with this way can start you on the right path (ask them where they hang out online, what their favorite blogs are etc...and then join them in discussions across the web). <br><br>Hope this helps... Good question, Didier. First and foremost, it's important to find places where the posts and discussion are focused and targeted on topics that you're passionate about. The tighter and more focused the niche, the better. Once you find one, surf around some of the most recent posts – and focus your analysis on the comments section – see if the post author is present and active in the comments, and assess what the quality of the discussion is like. If you're starting your search online, alltop.com is a great place to find mid to large sized communities for any given topic. I also like to check out my favorite bloggers' blogrolls (social vetting). I would also recommend going to Meetup.com and finding groups you're interested in that run social events in your local area. The all-time best way to start good conversations is to meet people face to face in the context of the real-life communities they are a part of and then take those conversations online (many of these people have blogs and are active on Twitter etc). Just finding a few people you connect with this way can start you on the right path (ask them where they hang out online, what their favorite blogs are etc…and then join them in discussions across the web).

Hope this helps…

]]> By: Didier http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2075 Didier Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:25:40 +0000 http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=695#comment-2075 The question is also how do you identify those local spaces ?<br><br>The ones that will offer a friendly place for you to plant your new roots ... The question is also how do you identify those local spaces ?

The ones that will offer a friendly place for you to plant your new roots …

]]> By: Steffan Antonas http://blog.steffanantonas.com/be-a-local.htm/comment-page-1#comment-2031 Steffan Antonas Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:40:28 +0000 http://blog.steffanantonas.com/?p=695#comment-2031 One more thought on Twitter vs. Facebook - you've accurately pointed out the difference between "bringing your existing network online" (i.e. Facebook) and "creating a new network of relationships" (i.e. Twitter). The former is easy because you're bringing existing relationships into a new medium. People get frustrated with Twitter because it's both a new medium and they have to create new relationships. People tend to reject it too quickly for that reason because they don't know how to use the host of tools that ride on top of the API that make it truly valuable (social graph analysis, search etc). Interestingly, a recent study showed that only 5% of the Twitter community create over 75% of the content, with the top 1% creating the majority of that 75% - a staggering figure. I can almost guarantee that that 5% is the group of people who really know how to use the platform to get a lot out of it and who are out there rapidly creating connections and milking the power of the social graph. The rest are likely just using the platform at it's most basic level. One more thought on Twitter vs. Facebook – you've accurately pointed out the difference between “bringing your existing network online” (i.e. Facebook) and “creating a new network of relationships” (i.e. Twitter). The former is easy because you're bringing existing relationships into a new medium. People get frustrated with Twitter because it's both a new medium and they have to create new relationships. People tend to reject it too quickly for that reason because they don't know how to use the host of tools that ride on top of the API that make it truly valuable (social graph analysis, search etc). Interestingly, a recent study showed that only 5% of the Twitter community create over 75% of the content, with the top 1% creating the majority of that 75% – a staggering figure. I can almost guarantee that that 5% is the group of people who really know how to use the platform to get a lot out of it and who are out there rapidly creating connections and milking the power of the social graph. The rest are likely just using the platform at it's most basic level.

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