Comments on: Are You Waiting Until You’re Popular To Be Yourself? What Then?

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:51:09 +0000

We've had countless conversations about this, and I'm sure we'll have even more.

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:45:32 +0000

I do that all the time – type something out and then delete it. Except when I don't, which isn't always as bad as you first expect. And sometimes it's worse.

I think, having been involved in online communities for so long, I was open before there was a chance to have a career in social media. Like you, I don't share much about my offline friends and family, out of resect.

Regarding those personae “built to attract a following”: I'm not interested in following them, so I doubt I could actually pull it off myself.

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:38:24 +0000

I think you and Meg could share similar stories about growing up a “PK”, and I can somewhat relate: her father is my friend on Facebook (so is my son), so my activity on that site is even more edited than normal.

I've always been a sharer, so going beyond business chatter is easy for me. Tailoring the business and the personal is the name of the game, I'd say.

By: RachelHappe

RachelHappe — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:00:43 +0000

Well I censored myself long before there was an online to do it on. My parents were ministers so there was always a separation between church and state (or family as was the case)… online is not much different. There is context appropriate communication and even as a teenager I was very aware that I had different 'personas' with the church community, my extended family, my school friends, etc.

I will say this, however, if you insist on sticking just to business chatter you will not form deep relationships. Exposing yourself to some degree is required to get past superficial relationships – and those deeper relationships are likely to return much more to you than the shallow ones. I had this conversation recently with a member who was tweeting almost exclusively about work in that I was having a tough time finding something of his to respond to – and I was actively looking for an entree. So I guess the question is – how far do you feel comfortable taking it. It's likely very different for each one of us.

Interesting conversation Gradon and I for one, like being able to find friends like you on Twitter… and we wouldn't be friends if you didn't share some of your personal life.

By: Justin Kownacki - Are You Personal or Practical?

Justin Kownacki - Are You Personal or Practical? — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:05:53 +0000

[...] response to my blog post about popularity vs. relevance, Gradon Tripp mentioned his own quandary: he’s not sure if “being himself” is costing him [...]

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:02:49 +0000

I'm not sure I'm cut out to help others create “Twitterelationships”. Meg and I just kind of happened, with no strategy or plan behind it. I think people like Thomas Edwards (http://twitter.com/urwingman) are much more willing to go that route.

I want to make my impact my own way. If that means making less money by being more open about my life, then so be it. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally second-guess myself, though.

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:38:24 +0000

You're are entirely you, right down to Purple Rain in the office every Friday. If there isn't a more proper mix of awesome, I don't know what it is. But yes, the best things to argue over: music, design, and how much better Helvetica is than any two-bit font you can think of.

By: Gloria Bell

Gloria Bell — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:39:02 +0000

Do I edit myself? Yes, sometimes. There are those Facebook statuses, blog posts and tweets that I type, delete, re-type and delete again. But they are few and far between. Have there been some that after I sent them, I questioned the wisdom of my openness? Absolutely. But I made a choice early in my “social media career” to be open and transparent. To not hide behind a persona.
I firmly believe in being “me”. If you as a follower, friend or client don't like that and do not like that I post honestly and openly, then by all means unfollow me, unfriend me or don't do business with me. For each person who has a problem with my openness, there are others who applaud my willingness to bare my soul. Those are the people who I would prefer to interact with.
It does become amusing because I am accused often of living my entire life – good and bad – for the world to see online. It makes me chuckle because there are parts of my life that I rarely talk about. I rarely mention my children. They are grown and have their own lives and in general I respect their privacy. I rarely mention my relationships. I rarely talk about my off line friends with my online community. Again, being respectful of their choice to be private.
So, do I edit myself, yes I do on some things, I don't on others. I think that we all have to make that choice for ourselves. Some of us are more comfortable “living” our lives online. Others are not. I feel there is one thing that is completely crucial. That whatever face we reveal to the online world be an honest representation of who we are. That it not be solely a persona built to attract a following. Whether what you chose to reveal is your entire personality/life or a portion of it, it must be real. I must be able to see that same person when I meet you off line as when I interact with you online.

By: Meg Fowler

Meg Fowler — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:29:21 +0000

I've never been terribly concerned about “unfollows” — people come and go according to what they find interesting in the moment, and to take that personally, or to try and craft what I was saying to reduce unfolllows (or boost follows!) doesn't make sense to me.

I'm fine with being myself, and letting people do what they will. I don't feel like addressing you — any more than addressing any of my friends — makes me “unprofessional” in any way.

We do talk to one another via Twitter, but it's an incredibly tiny portion of the communicating we do — and a tiny portion of the stuff I talk about online.

It doesn't define either of us, despite the attention we've received for it. In fact, there are people who follow me for months without even noticing I'm in a relationship because a) they don't read every single thing I say and b) it's not a part of every single thing I say.

Then again, there are people who say the way we communicate with one another online is really inspiring and meaningful for them… so do I listen to them, or the naysayers?

The secret, for me, in making all of this work and being true to myself, is to apply the same standards to conversations online that I apply to conversations offline. That means I avoid rudeness, being habitually argumentative, revealing private information about myself or others, inappropriate content (swearing, sex, what have you), content that puts myself or others at risk, or anything else that would make my mother cringe.

But I only worry about crafting my content for an exact audience when I'm getting paid.

By: gradontripp

gradontripp — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:09:31 +0000

No need to apologize, Liz. It's interesting to learn about tenure. What you say about the middle path is what Justin writes about: If you're not you now, you won't be when you're popular/tenured/secure.