After a lifetime, we’re lucky if we can count the number of really close friends on the fingers on one hand. Yet, social media has popularized the notion of “friends,” “followers,” and “fans.” Some have hundreds, thousands and even a million of more followers on Twitter. Just how real are those relationships? Umair Haque argues in an article on the Harvard Busniness Review that “social” media is trading in low-quality connections — linkages that are unlikely to yield meaningful, lasting relationships.
Read ‘Social Media Bubble’ at: HBR
[ RT @charityfocus ]This seems to confirm the real-life experience of Hal Niedzviecki of Toronto who invited his 700 Facebook Friends to a party. Of these, 15 said they were attending, 60 said maybe, a few hundred said not, and the rest just ignored the invitation altogether. In all, Niedzviecki figured he could count on maybe 20 potential new friends. On the evening of the party, the number of friends who actually showed up: 1.
Read ‘Facebook in a Crowd’ at: NYTimes
[ RT @charityfocus ]Which puts all the studies about the monetary value of a fan a bit suspect.
Read ‘Value of a Fan on Social Media’ at: AdWeek