(click on the tweets to go to it in a new window)
Amidst his guilt-ridden apology for burying a Digg submission, he makes a very good point:
“Does the desire to build credibility and authority outweigh all other guidelines and principles?”
In other words – has good content gone out the window for the next measly Mixx?
In this week’s Overheard on Twitter, we’re taking a look at branding, reputation management, and the amazing lengths some people will go to protect (or damage) that perfect image for a bit o’ traffic.
Special Note: We tag YOU, @doshdosh, @andybeard, @chrispirillo, @converseon, and @chrisbrogan to show your smug mug in your Twitter avatar for one week – and @nowsourcing will do the same. (see the “Opinions of the Week”)
Google is Crashing the Party… Again
Uh-oh.
 | rafiq Google to punish pagerank for Digg stories? @zoopedup https://sphinn.com/story/35232 12:19 PM March 18, 2008 from im |
“Google employee says ‘Webmasters who rely heavily on bookmarking their own sites to gain traffic will likely see a drop in pagerank before the end of 2008, and we will be working closely with two major social bookmarking sites to find a solution that will have no detrimental effect on the average internet user.’” – StartupEarth
Counting Our Chickens
ProBlogger shares some numbers!
 | problogger @suziecheel – #8 technorati, #9 bloglines, #10 netvibes, #11 aol organic and #12 popurls – digg was at #39, diggers hate problogger 🙂 05:06 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl in reply to suziecheel |
| problogger @susanreynolds some posts on SU – hope it answers the Q – https://snurl.com/22025 https://snurl.com/22027 https://snurl.com/22029 05:04 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl in reply to susanreynolds |
| problogger @susanreynolds StumbleUpon tffc varies from day 2 day but hs steadily grwn over the last months 4 me here’s a chart – https://snurl.com/2201x 04:56 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl in reply to susanreynolds |
| problogger #1 Google organic, #2 ‘Direct’, #3 Stumbleupon, #4 Google referral, #5 yahoo/organic, #6 delicious, #7 jobs.problogger, #8 technorati 04:47 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl |
| problogger twitter has moved up to my #13 in terms of traffic sources for ProBlogger – still not massive but increasing every month 04:42 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl |
Some People “Get It“
 | waynesutton Note to self: stop promoting, start thinking again (or “Scoble’s Law”) https://tinyurl.com/3aphdj via @jasoncalacanis going to try 2 about 3 hours ago from twhirl |
In a nutshell, traffic went up when Jason wrote about topics within the industry, instead of himself or his latest project. Hmm, interesting…
Opinions of the Week
And the tweet that inspired it all… @BarbaraKB
ehrenc @mayobrains re: Retweeting poll: I think people should use whatever they want to best represent themselves. about 2 hours ago from twhirl in reply to mayobrains
remarkablogger @mayobrains Good question. I use face, because I plan to be highly visible: video, conferences, etc. about 3 hours ago from twhirl in reply to mayobrains
giggey @MayoBrains face for sure. Best way to represent your company is with your own face. about 3 hours ago from web in reply to mayobrains . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fungible @mayobrains Face, definitely. Especially good for when you see Twitterers at conferences or events. about 16 hours ago from twhirl in reply to mayobrains
asimpson @mayobrains – my 2c -a face makes the potential follow/followee more genuine somehow (what thats says about me i dont even wanna know 🙂 about 18 hours ago from web in reply to mayobrains
kateritchie @mayobrains i like people to use their pic/face – shows real human connection rather than bot. I wouldn’t mind a logo or banner with face… about 18 hours ago from twhirl in reply to mayobrains
humanlever @mayobrains I use a logo just because it’s easier to identify. about 18 hours ago from web in reply to mayobrains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
DazzlinDonna @nowsourcing: it all depends upon what is being “branded” 11:26 PM March 18, 2008 from TwitBox in reply to nowsourcing . . . . . . . . . . . .
daver @nowsourcing I think that is a difficult question/polll – and it depends on the person 11:16 PM March 18, 2008 from web in reply to nowsourcing . . . . . . . . .
bhaelochon @nowsourcing Re: face/logo, It probably depends on whether the purpose of the profile is professional or personal. 11:12 PM March 18, 2008 from twhirl in reply to nowsourcing
dustinferguson @nowsourcing Their own face! I love to see who I’m interacting with. 09:10 PM March 18, 2008 from web in reply to nowsourcing . . . . . . . . . . . .
Krisjohn @nowsourcing Yes. I know that’s not what you meant, but either is good. As long as it’s something clear (and they stick to it) it’s all good 01:08 PM March 19, 2008 from TwitterFox in reply to nowsourcing
Conclusion: It seems people like to use logos, but see faces. As @humanlever notes, logos may well be easier to identify, but @remarkablogger quite astutely points out – using your face makes you recognizable at conventions.
But would using your face translate to being more engaging in social media, and hence lead to more followers? We shall see!
The Challenge: If you use a logo, do a little experiment and switch over to that crooked tooth smile we’ve all be aching to see, for just one week, and track the results. You’ll get to see Brian’s mug plastered on @nowsourcing – so, uhm, I guess that makes it worth it… right? 😉
You Know It’s Not a Fad When…
Someone proposes over it. Yep. There has officially been a marriage proposal on Twitter… shocking.
In-cite-ing Riot
So what happens when TechCrunch cites ReadWriteWeb as a lead on a story? Bickering – that’s what happens. (Edited for brevity – there were about 15 more tweets)
duncanriley you lead with the source only when it’s the place exclusively reporting it. RWW was a lead, and I’ve attributed fairly,others dont 04:05 PM March 19, 2008 from twitterrific
rww @duncanriley, I’m not complaining about the “via”. All I will say is that we link to TC *a lot*, and never use “via”. 12:16 AM March 19, 2008 from web in reply to duncanriley
rww @duncanriley, I just think you coulda used the RWW story for more context. but I don’t wanna harp on about it, I’m just saying how I feel. 12:25 AM March 19, 2008 from web in reply to duncanriley
duncanriley @rww the reason I didn’t quote you as well is because I’m very familiar with the company from my BlogHerald days. 04:29 PM March 19, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to rww
duncanriley @rww if it makes you feel any better, I expanded RWW to ReadWriteWeb, probably better SEO benefits that way. 04:32 PM March 19, 2008 from twitterrific in reply to rww
Love and Hate
NewspaperGrl My business partner @paulwilson responds (and I finally post) to @Shoemoney and his declared hatred of SEOs https://tinyurl.com/2w3hww about 12 hours ago from web
chrisbrogan Oh boy – Look out… I just went OFF about social media: https://tinyurl.com/2wqb8w Full moon edition about 2 hours ago from web . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
QueenofSpain Ah that reminds me, spend your Good Friday telling the PR/marking hacks to suck it- https://queenofspainblog.com 12 minutes ago from web
And if you don’t like it, well..
doshdosh I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes… about 11 hours ago from twhirl
Brilliant, Patricia! This really shows the liveliness and excitement that’s happening on Twitter, and how people do what they do. I’ve really enjoyed following you on Twitter, and thanks to this post, I see some new people I’m going to add!