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1. Their content, in general, is not within my interests. Don't want to follow Hollywood gossip.
2. For many of them, I'm just a number, so if they don't care about my content why should I care about theirs.
3. Most of them don't follow back, so I don't see any reason to break my balance, unless I really find the guy interesting to follow.
4. Personally, I don't have any interaction with any of them. They don't answer back, nor read most of the messages their followers create. It's too hard to read and filter info with so much noise around.
5. For many of them, the followers are just "tools" to spread the word about a new project, album, films, whatsoever. I ain't a fanboy. Sorry!
6. Finally, why would anyone co-operate with a system that is so mysterious, unclear and undoubtedly biased...
Open social media fed through a semantic engine (I'm looking at you Zemanta ;) is my next project. I imagine it will unlock slightly larger follow lists and two way search.
A winner judges himself by the standard of excellence in his field.
A loser judges himself by the standard of mediocrity in his field.
A winner says, “I am good but not as good as I ought to be.”
A loser says, “I am not as bad as a lot of other people.”
A winner would rather be respected than liked, although he would prefer both.
A loser would rather be liked than respected, and is willing to pay the price of mild contempt for it.
A winner respects those that are superior to him, and tries to learn something from them.
A loser resents those who are superior to him, and tries to find chinks in their armor.
A winner knows that the verb ‘to be’ must precede the verb ‘to have.’
A loser thinks that enough of the verb ‘to have’ is what makes the verb ‘to be.’
What we give away we keep, for it is in the giving that we receive. What we keep to ourselves we loose, for in the keeping we cannot reproduce. When we die we take with us only that which we have given away.
Oh, and 'ego' stands for 'edging God out'.
Peace out!
The @CitySourced crew
http://tweepml.org/Scoble-s-User-List/
Sorry for editing, the limit was 100 so I dropped companies and institutions in favor of individuals.
If your mission in life was to get on Twitter's SUL, then you've failed, but seriously...you're still the same remarkable Scobleizer regardless of whether or not you have 150,000 new mainstream followers who've never heard of you...
There are millions of people who deserve the recognition that they never got, that's pretty much the nature of life.
You also might want to check out TweepML if you're interested in having your own SUL... (http://mashable.com/2009/09/09/tweepml-twitter-...)
I also note that Mashable doesn't write about "real problems in the world." So, what the heck?
The suggestion to check out TweepML is a good one, though.
However, it doesn't pass what I call "the in-laws" test. -- would my in-laws back on Long Island know or care about those people and want to follow them? For better than 80% of that list the answer is "no". They want to follow Kanye and Oprah and people with more mainstream fame, not the people who matter to us here inside the Valley Bubble.
Frankly I think any SUL is going to be problematic to someone, given how big Twitter's userbase is now. A better approach would be for Twitter to suggest some of the people your friends are following (a la Facebook).
Twitter may take navel-gazing to new heights, but it takes a Scoble to make it an artform.
You've put together a really interesting list Robert, and already that is more valuable to me than the SUL... I don't see the point in wasting any energy talking about, arguing about, or being upset by the SUL.
Great post by the way. I think you make some good points and I understand your feelings on this.
On the other hand, though, they become even easier targets for the spammers, so there's a downside to being on the SUL
I'm sure twitter just launched it as a way of getting newbies into the swing of things and to help them look cool by showcasing their celebritiy users
The average user not only gets no value from the SUL but probably couldnt care less about it.
It seems a little sour grapes to me that you made such a big deal about it - your tweets a few days ago come across a tad bitter and resentful. - Dont sweat it dude - like you said HALF FULL.
At the end of the day we know the value YOU bring to the table - dont stress that the infantile SUL doesn't
Just wondering, is Jack Dorsey on the SUL?
If they do come up with an engagement score, it would make it much more interesting and people would interact more rather then blindly following someone and then never looking at their tweets.
However, the average Twitter user is more concerned with celebrities and athletes...I'm sure Twitter is aware of this, and is merely supplying what is in high demand.
A Utopia sure, but a step in the right direction.
Giving to get, is a step back towards Gordon Gecko. Selfish and destructive.
I can't help how you feel about my comments, but I certainly feel good that I have expressed them, even at the risk of being bullied by someone who is "big on the internet".
1. I don't see the SUL as a negative and I certainly don't think anyone should demand their name be on it just because they are "big on the internet" ;)
2. Promoting others for your own gain is not what social media is about for me. Maybe I am reading him wrong and he is being selfless and giving up on feeling that he somehow deserves to be there?
Appreciate your opinion . Thanks
BTW I think the points made in the post are valid and if you genuinely think how long it would take YOU to put together a list like that, you'll probably find that it wouldn't be an entirely selfish action. A selfish person wouldn't put in the time.
SUL, RSS, I love your Scoble-friendly acronyms- what's next?
What would happen if Twitter got rid of the SUL and instead made a better search to find people talking about what you want to see? I think you would see lower follower numbers but better engagement.
Now, get rid of the following #s and do NOT replace it with a "engagement score."
Yeah, it might not experience massive growth but I think it would make Twitter a lot more useful. (How many million more "Internet Marketers" and "Social Media Experts" does Twitter need trying to game the score?)
I suspect that Twitter's SUL could reasonably be limited to two categories: (1) media figures and media outlets - common denominators - that a large percent of new users would search for and (2) active Tweeters who are just exemplary filters and participants, serving and engaging in ways that would welcome new users and set the bar high.
These categories exclude many of our thought heroes and cerebral idols - and they're deprived of the positive network effects. But still I'm not sure they're appropriate on a preloaded menu for newbies. Some of those leading thinkers aren't exemplary Twitter users, after all. (Wouldn't we love to have Marc Andreessen Tweet - or return to blogging - as prolifically as he speaks?!)
It's obvious that you qualify as an exemplary user and leading thinker. But the people who should find you will.
This really HAS been bugging you! But shouldn't. By doing so it's letting other people, and in this case, an arbitrary list made by other people, define you. This is a list that people see only for a moment in their lives, when they sign up for twitter, then it's gone. Only on Twitter, only for a moment for new users, and only for those who bother to go through it and sign up for follow people on it. Who cares?
Having said that, I like your list, despite the dark place it comes from :). Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
1) We have #followfriday every friday of people recommending who we should follow
2) We have Mr Tweet where we can recommend people with our reason
3) We even have people who blog about it like what you have done.
4) It also makes sense why we should follow the list of people our respected friend has followed.
I guess Twitter may as well let those new followers know who they should follow through these few methods, other than just telling up straight and cause all the jealousy... :)
The Web 2.0 video link from Michael Wesch is broken.
Correct one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g
Thanks
@Thenextcorner
you lost it though at tony robbins.
Oh, and Tony Robbins IS on the SUL, so he can be written off, if you'd like! :-)
Let me guess Robert many ppl are upstet because they are not even on your list? hahaha
PS: Tony Robbins rocks....I have all his motivational DVD's! ....and he actually made me drive succesfull blogs as you know which ones...
As for twitter's SUL, i guess we are seeing an old school business model with a 'new' company and we don't like it. Maybe twitter also did not anticipate the social consequences of the list.
With the last round of funding though, sympathy and understanding will go down.
This is a great list, and if it wouldn't have "Doesn't make it on SUL" "Can't make it to SUL" in every sentence it wouldn't be too repetetive to read." I got bored by this redundancy. The headline of the posting already told me what I will find and I looked very much forward to that. The only thing you mentione 150 times is SUL:-)
I like how you celebrate the people and give tribute and credit where it's due. Thank you for that.... I just need to copy/paste the list and purge the "Suggested User List, half sentence."
Then it would be a great post to RT:-)
PS follow my dog @dogwalkblog As far as I know, there are ZERO dogs on the Twitter SUL and if Rufus ever made it there, I would follow Jay Rosen and decline. Not just anyone can scratch his ears ;-)
So here's my theory about Robert, Twitter and his NOT being on the SUL. Timeline:
A) Robert is the Pied Piper of Twitter during its first year (lovefest kicks off at SXSW)
B) Discovers FriendFeed, waxes endlessly about how superior Friendfeed, abandons Twitter and is stunned everyone else doesn't follow.
C) Twitter takes off like a rocket, suggested user list appears (along w/celebrities, media, etc). Robert realizes he missed a huge op to connect with hundreds of thousands of Tweeps, if not a million-plus. And sorry folks, but numbers like that are hypnotic and the list of things you can do and accomplish when connected to that many people, is long.
D) bitter, can't understand why Twitter won't put HIM on the SUL. (see part about Friendfeed)
E) now having found peace (wink ;-) ... trying to regain original leadership status with pieces like this that aren't about the numbers (wink ;-) or getting on the SUL (WINK WINK ;-). Nod to Twitter brass in first group he suggests aside ....
Did I miss anything? ;-)
Here are some of my thoughts:
1. Re: Half full/half empty dilemma. Here is a third perspective from an engineer: How much is really in the cup?
2. That makes me wonder How Much Value is in that "half-full/half-empty" SUL? It's obvious from your additions that there is a HUGE amount missing. So one very good reason for the list was to give you the inspiration/motivation to clue your followers like me a host of other great minds to follow.
3. Final thought before proceeding with other online activities [which could include sharing on Twitter @sharisax]: The SUL list reminds me of the current discussion on "Who is a Social Media Expert?"
How on earth can anyone "claim" to be an "expert" when great new stuff is invented every single day?
The SUL list [which I haven't checked out] is probably full of "experts" who may or may not be Thought Leaders -- like you, Louis, Guy, maybe even me -- all of whom are "out there" trying to make sense [and dollars] from this exciting revolution in communication, technology, business, life.
@mager
Anybody who works in marketing or advertising should be interested in the people on my list if they aren't following them already. I follow 574 people and maybe only a couple of them are on the SUL simply because Twitter does not know anything about my interests.
I'm glad to see you've collected them all here, Robert: thanks a lot. This is certainly a list I can relate to! Great job.
Also, I would like to say as a newbie to twitter (2 months now) I was given the impression it was all about celebrities, large news, the big guys oh and the vultures.. I got this impression from the suggested user list. It is pure accident that I stumbled on to quality, business, innovative, leaders. This brings up a very important need that that needs to be met. How do we find who we are looking for on twitter? So far I have spent a lot of time and effort building the list that I have. I do like my celebrity tweeters as well though, I have an understanding how each of them tweets. I know which ones that are making history and making things happen and I followed one right to friend feed.
I followed about 50 of the recommendations and am learning a lot following them already. Some more than others of course.
Hey maybe I will one day end up on SUL if I tweet enough interesting comments; however, probably need to end up on a Jimmy Fallon show and have my twitter id displayed before that will happen though.
- @jayfeitlinger (http://www.twitter.com/jayfeitlinger) :-)
I followed about 50 of the recommendations and am learning a lot following them already. Some more than others of course.
Hey maybe I will one day end up on SUL if I tweet enough interesting comments; however, probably need to end up on a Jimmy Fallon show and have my twitter id displayed before that will happen though.
sorry but your post shows you still see the glass half empty. Re-read your Jim's slide deck ;-)
stv
Thanks for the list. I need to think about an app that matches my interests. So far have not found anything that satisfactory.
Thanks for the list. I need to think about an app that matches my interests. So far have not found anything that satisfactory.
You're not mainstream.
You are on the inside of the techie world and therefore, most mainstream people wouldn't even understand your language.
Is it so important to your livelihood that you have so many Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed followers or so many comments on your blog or live feeds?
Or is it more important to provide your readers with content they can use?
I guess if I had thousands of readers and hundreds of comments on my blog all the time I'd start to take it for granted as well - I'm only human.
I won't call anyone out, but some pretty brilliant folks I admire (and who usually fascinate me) couldn't post something relevant or interesting on Twitter if their lives depended on it. And many of them never engage or respond. They just post some insipid little quote or observation once a week and move on.
So... As much as I want to say yeah, let's turn this thing on its head, you still kind of have to look at Twitter as its own universe: Content and engagement matter, and if many of these fine people want to get on the SUL,perhaps they could learn to bring a little more of their genius and energy to Twitter. Know what I mean? ;)
I don't think many of the suggested users are great choices to follow, but admittedly I have found more than a few to follow that way.
As others have mentioned, I'm not sure why you have such strong feelings for the way the SUL works -- it's Twitter's perogative to use it however they want. It's not "Scoble's SUL".
Having said that, I agree with everyone else so far, this is a great list you put together and I picked out a few new people to follow. Thanks!
When your new baby was born, did you give him a list of "who to follow"? Of course you did not. And you will show him step by step how to discover friends in strangers, without guidelines and buzz drama.
For me Twitter is like Life, I pick who I want to be around and I avoid the other ones. I don't even care if they follow me back. This is not a deal. It is all about engaging and sharing and keeping an eye on your people.
Who cares who they are on a list. The only list is in the heart of the Twitterer.
Voila!
@CatherineGrison
It would be nice to see you post a true "glass-half-full" article, and look at the truly good things about the situation. If you can't find any, then the glass isn't half full, it's just empty in your view. In which case just say so.
-@mattsingley
http://flic.kr/p/73pAMf
"If @facebook (Twitter’s top competitor, according to @ev Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter) got on Twitter’s SUL that would be funny! But imagine a world where Twitter gets that confident!"
I laughed out loud when I read that one.
And secondly, I might agree with you as far as getting rid of the list, but I don't know if I can back up the idea of removing the follower count. Too many people (even me, I'll be honest) like to see how many people they have in their network.
However, I do get irritated at the nobodies who mass follow people and then mass unfollow people to try and make it look like they are someone special or something. It's kinda lame.
And finally, you shouldn't take it too personally that you aren't on the list. In fact you are with the majority on this one. But you are a fabulous writer and the fact that you have 113 people commented on this post before I ever even got here, I bet I'm not the only one who thinks that with as much research and thought you put into it, you should be. And I am definitely going to be following you on twitter.
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Robert, this is just a load of sour grapes & hubris.
From a lowly point of view, whats the big deal about the number of followers anyway, when you don't interact with them from your lofty ivory tower ?
I have twice Tweeted you with a valid request for some advice, seeing as you are the self declared king of social media ... more than 6 weeks later & no response ....
Super democratic influence grading by us for us!