social media explorer

It’s official. I’m the Web 2.0 equivalent of upper-middle management. (Not neccessarily a bad thing, I guess.) Just six days after Jeremiah Owyang started the “Do You Respect Media Snackers” meme, I’ve been tagged.

YES! LESS THAN A WEEK! BOO-YAH!

And to boot, I’ve been tagged by the thinking man’s PR wizard, Ike Pigott. (And concurrently by conversation queen Valeria Maltoni at Conversation Agent, though I was unaware of it and added this line after posting … sorry Valeria, and thanks!) So, I’d like to thank the Academy of Cool Social Media and PR Bloggers for allowing me to join the likes of Chris Brogan, Kami Huyse, Todd Defren, Kevin Dugan, Connie Bensen, David Yeo, Connie Reece, Lauren Vargas, Geoff Livingston and a bunch of others in responding.

(Pause to admire clever way of getting important people to see your blog.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mldqfN7XCOk[/youtube]

In order to get a grasp of what I’ve been asked, I went back to Jeremiah’s original post which includes the above video on what Media Snackers are: people who consume small bits of informtion when, where and how they want. I interpet this to mean web surfers who scan headlines, feeds, etc., click on interesting things but generally browse. They want top-line information only and veer deeper on with engaging material. (I agree with Jeremiah that they shouldn’t be categorically defined as young.)

Jeremiah’s headline asks if I respect them and why. His meme launch asks to list how I respect them.

Jeremiah’s being presumptuous a bit, but not mistakenly so. If any of the people he tagged don’t respect media snackers, they won’t be successful long.

So yes, I do respect media snackers. Why? Because I am one. Also because in the ever-growing cyst of information that is the Internet, we can no longer get a broad stroke picture of our world. We all have to be media snackers if we aspire to be well-read, well-rounded or even simply aware.

Of course, the lack of broad stroke view is our own fault. We demanded customization, gadgetry and target consumerism. We got it. Now we have to snack or be consumed.

How do I respect media snackers? I hope I write concise and informative headlines. I browse my feed reader headlines until something catches my eye. Then, and only then, do I click through to read more.

I try to capture the reader’s attention in the first paragraph. If the first paragraph doesn’t arouse my curiosity and force me to further explore the subject matter, I colapse the view and move on to the next headline.

I offer micro-blogging views of my day via Twitter for all those fellow nosy info freaks out there. Twitter is the technical equivalent to McDonald’s french fries. You look at the ingredients and don’t understand how you could be addicted to something that will eventually kill you, but you gobble them up like they’re fountain of youth pills.

(No, I haven’t figured out the right explanation of how Twitter will kill me. I’m reserving that notion for a later post.)

I also make finding me on social networking sites easy with the array of buttons over there under “About” and with my cool (but admittedly white-space hogging) Profilactic badge over there. People don’t always have time to dig in and read a blog post. If they like what I do, however, I want it to be easy for them to reach out and connect. Most Web 2.0 junkies will friend you on a social networking site just because they visited your blog. Expecting them to actually read it might be pushing the bounds of media snacking tolerance.

Jeremiah also points out what he’s good at. I think my writing style is friendly, conversational and fun. I try to inject humor a lot but because my agency and clients come here, I’m careful about it.

I also try to publish only when I have something to say or share. You don’t want me to waste your time and I don’t want to, either.

What I don’t do well is something that I consider a positive. I don’t blog about blogging. Just an anectotal made-up number in my head says that about 60 percent of the social media and public relations bloggers out there attract traffic by offering up “how-to” posts on blogging. It’s almost like in order to be respected as a blogger you have to be some masterly wise sage who is generous enough to share your opinion on blogging.

While I certainly use my experience blogging, both as a user and provider, to advise clients and it could be considered part of my expertise, it doesn’t define me. Me blogging about blogging would be like Rachel Ray spending an entire show talking about producing a television show.

She cooks. I … don’t get to the point fast enough, sometimes, which is another flaw.

But at least I’m entertaining in the approach, don’t you think?

To do my part in spreading the discussion, I hereby tag Chris Winfield, Derek Edmonds, Brian Wallace, Todd Earwood and Tamar Weinberg, but only because it will annoy her.

[tags]mediasnackers, media snackers, meme, Jeremiah Owyang, Jason Falls[/tags]