Deleting My Social Networks (And Some Questions)
Blasphemy! Social networking is a huge part of SEO! Granted. However, I don't enjoy social networks such as Facebook and G+ anymore and I never "got" Twitter to begin with. These networks are slowly losing popularity anyways. You know what they say, when your mom starts using it, it's no longer cool. I think in time Facebook, G+, Twitter and Pinterest will all go the way of MySpace. What will replace them? Highly targeted networks that aren't all about posting things to "walls" but rather creating an engaging community with a common interest.
What might this look like? Well... you're looking at it. Just like WA. On March 1 the beta release of Liberty.me will be released. I couldn't be more excited about this network, the creator Jeffrey Tucker is a big hero of mine. Another example is one that I have not enjoyed but is big with others, it's called Planet Infowars. Or, you might see things like NextDoor which is meant to be exclusive to your local neighborhood.
The most popular example of targeted communities is one you may all know of. Reddit. Subreddits act as separated communities in which like minded people can converse.
You might be thinking, but what about Facebook groups and pages? That's the same thing right? No. The idea of streaming walls don't work anymore, it's old news. Maybe you don't agree yet but I know this will the be case shortly in the future. Reddit uses a voting system to place the most popular stuff at the top. It's interface is better built for it's purposes and doesn't put a heavy concentration on adding people (which is just an advertising strategy) and trying to get people to play low quality games with micro-payments. Pure spam I say!
So, how will I market my site? First, for me, nothing has beat Reddit and article comments in terms of gaining traffic. The traffic I get from other social networks is totally insignificant. There's no point in me wasting time on them when I can concentrate on networks with proven results. (80/20 principle!)
So, on March 1 (as a way to celebrate the anticipated release of Liberty.me) I will be visiting my site LibertyResourceDirectory.com, clicking on "Internet/Privacy" under "Computers" and clicking "Just Delete Me" under "Privacy". (See what I did there?) I will delete my Facebook account and Pinterest account. I've already deleted Twitter because I don't really use it anyways, and I will be keeping G+ for authorship, but I have deleted all my circles
What about you? Have you achieved success with social networks? Do you enjoy using them? Do you think Facebook is outdated?
Have you made any changes to your WA training to fit you? Let me know in the comments below
Some Questions
While you're thinking, and while I've got your attention. I'd like to know if anyone has a 32px vector graphic for the WA logo. If you go to my main site and look at the top right you'll see some social network buttons. They all look pretty except the WA one. =/ I'd like to know if someone knows of one I can add. Also, if you know about making vector icons, I'd like one for the bluebird featured on Liberty.me, if you can send me a PM we'll talk, thanks. :)
More Questions
Gosh! I thought this was over! Nope, lots on my mind today. :p I'm looking to build a social network of my own. Like what WA has done and what Liberty.me is building but for programmers. If anyone knows about how to build advanced websites or is interested in such a project please message me. Below are some notes I have on what I have in mind. Thanks!
Tiered Training for programming. The languages we choose would be based on the TIOBE index and what companies are currently looking for. Tiers would include:
- Beginners: Learning concepts, lots of homework, drilling practices into your head.
- Intermediate: App building, projects, volunteer open source work. Possibly learning to sell your self and your programs. (Refer to WA?)
- Expert: Program is mostly determined by its members based on the industry happenings, company recruiting and contracting can take place at this level.
Mentorship should be a large part of the program, everything created for it should be open source and open to criticism from the community.
There could be two paths for Web development and software development, but I believe a priority should be a placed on software development as the concepts there are more important for programming in general.
There will be no mobile app for the site, training should be taken seriously and done sitting at a desk, or behind a fully functional computer. However, I'd like to have a flashcard based app that can access what level you are at and quiz you, much like Memrise.
That being said, a point system! And levels! Every body likes to level up!
Other than that I'd like to steal a few features from WA, live weekly training (one for each tier if possible, a live chat, discussions, personal blogs and profiles etc.) Blogs on the front page would use a reddit style voting system for reputation and quality purposes. ;)
If you have an interest or comments about anything, again pleae let me know.
Recent Comments
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I like your ideas. I am not big on social networks, I have a private facebook account that has 30 friends and I rarely ever use, and I have a G+ account which has two friends and about 200 WA members lol.
I wouldn't mind joining a libertarian based social network either. I lean that way as far as political affiliation goes, and I worked a little bit on the Ron Paul campaign back in late 2007.
The Ron Paul campaign for the 2008 election was phenominal. I hadn't heard of him then but followed the 2012 campaign. I've gone towards the side of anarcho-capitalism lately and is the subject of my main site. My latest post, "Why I Am An Anarcho-Capitalist" was really popular and might be worth a read. ;) http://ancapus.com/LJGDYI
Wow I can sure resonate with a lot of your comments. Unfortunately I don't have the programming skills you require but I sit on the edge of my seat waiting to see your new site when it's completed! Peggy
I think someone with the best promotion will create the next big social network. I have just started using some of these so I will not be getting rid of them anytime soon.
Of course, don't make changes until you've given them a chance. My experience with social networks is unique, as will be yours. You have to make your own judgements. :)
Great information. Thanks for sharing. I've been trying to get things linked up and have been hitting major problems. Tonight I had to spend two hours figuring out what I did to hose my yahoo mail account. It seems to have been when I stupidly tried to link facebook and twitter. I could see my mail in the inbox but could not display it. Talk about scary.
Looks like you have given me another option than the programs that hosed me up. Thank you so much. Good luck with that new site. Looking forward to taking a closer look.
I just read this and checked out some of the sites. I am going to have to think about this because I do believe Google counts a lot on Google + in some of the ranking. I also do not like Twitter. I think it is better for movie stars and rock stars, etc..I never had anyone come in from Twitter after doing it for about 6 months. I have done Facebook for a long time and gave up. Maybe I wasn't doing it right who knows. There are a lot of ways to promote our "niche" Anyways, thanks for this post I found it very interesting and I may come back to it and comment more as sometimes on deep thinking stuff like this blog it usually hits me about 3:00 am. lol...Great post.
Haha, I understand. I think twitter requires a lot of time. You have to use it like a chatroom and utilize hashtags, I find it tiring. And with facebook, it's hard to get in on any conversations because they're's so much noise. People treat links as spam (I do anyways) and seem to be more interested in memes than anything else. I guess if you make you're own your good, but honestly I'm not looking for that kind of traffic. (Not that there's anything wrong with memes. lol)
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One minor comment. I think you might want to rethink the mobile part. While I agree with you in some respects. The world is very much moving towards accessibility. Maybe keep the actual training part non mobile but the reading and social part mobile accessible. Not necessarily an app but responsive website. I know I do a lot of reading away from my computer on my phone and tablet.
Like this reply/comment for example :)
Yes, I've been adding notes and chats/blogs/etc. should definitely be mobile. I have an app layout in mind, and something that acts, not as a mobile website but as something better built for mobile devices.