Follow Friday

How do you view #ff god or bad http://t.co/DA5wzDDY

Hey I think you’re both (you and @sarahkatenorman) looking at #FF from the wrong angle.
We use it to ‘promote’ (probably the wrong word) and\or emphasise ‘tribe’ members (shouldn’t it be flock members?) that have delivered content that week that has been inspiring, different, useful or just plain funny – to us!.
It does not mean that we are ‘dissing’ any of our other followers because – as you quite rightly say – they are all important, but on a busy day it is somewhat counter-productive to spend time listing everyone.
I sometimes think that the #FF mentions that we put out should be renamed #ffconnectcumbriatwitteroscars – because that week they have caught our attention.

Hi Keith & Everyone

For me Twitter has its pros, and it definitely has its cons as a micro blogging platform. So I’ll try to briefly run through my standpoint. We have always had forums/message boards/bulletin boards … ok not always (but ever since I experienced the internet in 1995 on a friend’s older brothers university extranet):

Forums perform a function similar to that of dial-up bulletin board systems and Usenet networks that were first created starting in the late 1970s. Early web-based forums date back as far as 1994, with the WIT

A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users

Wikipedia’s article on the history and technology of internet forums
So the netiquette of how we behave and interact with the community that develops with regulars, lurkers and interlopers has evolved over time – but as every new evolution of the social web develops there are new users who are learning how to carry themselves as they become virtual.
I won’t bore you any longer with a history lesson any further. What is the netiquette for #followfriday #ff and the reason I had it on my list of new year’s resolutions.

It is mainly due to my own insecure feelings and the school yard. When I see a ‘friends’ #ff where I would love to be in their top 5 of people that they ‘like’ I feel a little disappointed. I am being as honest as I can here. After a second I’m over and I know why my name doesn’t make the list, but I just can’t help my instincts. In many cases when the #ff is from someone who I know a little but not bonded to – it doesn’t bother me one jot. But the fact that I sometimes do feel uncomfortable made me reconsider the point of the #followfriday .

Many people do them differently. I used to do 5 boys and 5 girls as a fun thing with my teams of the week boy’s v girl’s in social media. I have done individual praise with reasons for my followers to get an idea before the have to scope out every individual on the list. When I have been in a hurry I have just stuck as many that I could think on into a list until I ran out of characters. I’ve tried using apps to help filter through my last week and show me who I have had the most interaction with… the list goes on. I’ve done lots of #ffs. I also remember that when a friend of mine who heads up the BBC Geek Community first connected to me on Twitter 3 years ago he sent a Tweet saying something along the lines that they were quite passe – it struck me then who does them and who doesn’t. It still didn’t stop me at that point.

So… I have more I bleat on about but i know you all know what your doing so I’ll leave it at that. For me the resolution was not about saying everyone counts because the fact is within the tribe there are people who count a lot more to me personally. I just feel that I want to take a break for a year and see if I can find a better way of doing the same thing without offending anyone and giving any followers that are interested a link in to individuals who they might be interested in. That’s a mouthful!

Social media is when the web gets personal – so there is no embarrassment on my part to say that the web sometimes gets very personal. Enough for me to try to step back every now any again and reconsider why I do the things that I do and if I could to things better.