Remind me to buy you a round at our next social media event. This is a GREAT analogy!
There are some pubs you go to for the beverages alone, there are some that have great comfort food, and there are others where, when we walk in, we're greeted with a familiar smile and called by name. And there are social networks that function accordingly.
The question is, are you willing to spend time at these places and make them your own, or are you just passing through, sampling what each has to offer without really participating?
Paul Colligan
· 1 year ago
Here in Oregon we take our pubs (and our beer) very seriously. I even have a little personal code of conduct for what I will and won't do in the pub and brew realm.
A great craft beer and some good pub eats just scream for conversation and real dialog. You can't sip from a local kolsch and eat a burger with an egg on top without feeling right with the world and adjusting your discourse accordingly.
But, importantly, it's the crafts beers and the real food that do it. If I was drinking bud light and eating McDonalds fries, it would be an entirely different deal. Actually, I just wouldn't participate at all.
A keg and a deep fryer do not a pub make. RSS and rounded edges on the logo do not a good social experience make.
I remember the first time someone spammed me via Facebook. They thought it wasn't spam because it wasn't email. Oh, ... it was spam, it just looked different.
It ain't what the pub does that makes it the pub. It's what the pub is that makes it what it is.
Paul Colligan
Jeff O'Hara
· 1 year ago
Chris, best analogy ever about social media. Of course you know my pub is twitter. Facebook is a pub I visit every now and then but I feel out of place. :)
damn, i've seen this bar in the picture before... where is it?
Avi
· 1 year ago
I think the analogy holds. I see where people are coming from identifying twitter as a pub of sorts, but I actually think my pub of choice is broader than twitter.
The sense of a pub atmosphere that exists in the blogosphere is created by the enthusiasm and willingness of the regulars, ppl winning SEMMYs and other rockstars as you call them. Fostering fruitful discussion and exploration in your own corner of the pub on a blog for instance, adds to the positive atmosphere of the pub. The commitment of all frequenters and community members to be present and responsive to the concerns of newcomers and each other bears this out.
While twitter may be an important and increasingly more central place in the pub, the real juicy tidbits that keep me coming back come more often from the posts and comments of blogs I frequent than the 140 chars of a tweet and the response they illicit.
Sarah Griffiths
· 1 year ago
Along with giving an analogy to the venue / the network, I thought up at Uni (in 2002) and believe resonates with today, about how social networks will form communities and participators will be valued along the lines of their participation with the group and interest in overall cause.
I used analogy of football fans, thus Chris’s post mentioning about watching sport in the Pub made me remember and acts as extension to the pub / the venue analogy, also answering the question "which pubs I like to visit"
It was my thinking (must dig out the essay now !) that different types of football (or soccer as you call it) fans resonate with visitors to social networks:
Fine weather fan: (Turn up if not much else to do)
Brand fan: (Wants to be with the in crowd)
Supporter: (Gets updates to team scores – Facebook = reviews notifications)
Loyal supporter: (Regular visitor to games & score board: Facebook = reviews notifications & contributes with activities gets others involved)
Imagine if you turned up to a pub, filled with the Loyal supporters, without a (brand) FC T-shirt would be on the outside, soon they would realise that you don’t actually know what your talking about (last FC manager was rubbish comments), supporters however, (well if your not offensive and slate their players/things they love), then you could form some good banter with them (happily tell you why last FC manager was rubbish).
Brand fan, they wouldn’t be great for conversation only there out of image and fine weather fan, you can integrate with them, but don’t expect them to be there next week ( I am a bit like that on Twitter).
Thus it’s not all about buying a drink, it communicating at right level & speed and most importantly showing interest in the cause.
You can walk into any pub and watch the sport as long as you can judge from the outside the support status of the fans. Does that make sense ! Thus believe as new social networks are formed to get interest, they will need to provide free trials before sign up.
Networks like Facebook & Myspace are good pubs for me and my peers as it doesn't matter what level of fan status you are at, everyone is welcome. You soon come to realise who is regular and make sure you chat to them first and possibly buy them a drink !
In summary:
In my analogy I see myself as:
Fair weather fan: Twitter, Other blog communities
Brand fan: Could be a virtual world
Supporter: MySpace
Loyal supporter: Facebook
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
Sarah- this really rounds out the post. Heck, you should've written the post. Oh wait, you already did years ago. : ) Thanks for playing along with this slow learner.
Rob
· 1 year ago
Having been an honorary guest at many a Pub in Ireland during my travels, there's just one thing missing from your analogy. As a visitor, you do feel like an outsider. As a regular, chances are you're at the Pub way too much for your good.
I think a lot of people in the social media scene need to resist going to the "Pub" every day. There's a general lack of focus... lots of stumbling... half truths... that's if you can put up with hearing drunken stories over and over. That's how I feel when I open my RSS reader every morning.
Sarah Griffiths
· 1 year ago
Oh and Chris, you make for a great bar-tender, evidence of your feedback proves. Well done.
Aaron Strout
· 1 year ago
Chris - Like @pistachio's "village" post, I enjoyed this piece a lot. The point in your post that really resonated with me was the fact that like pubs or public houses, communities have been around for hundreds of years. Yes, there is a scale and immediacy that comes with these new communities like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, but the benefits i.e. conversation, sharing and networking are the same. Thanks for writing!
Jasmin
· 1 year ago
Hi Chris, while I like your social pub analogy, I'm afraid sometimes it can turn into an exclusive nightclub. Not sure if you ever read Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch, butI do think of it sometimes in this social media world when you see people race for a larger number of friends, rank on Technorati etc on their quest for greater influence. I guess what I'm talking about is authenticity in our communication and community. You might see that kind of communication in a pub more often than a club.
Perhaps it is because in a pub we share real stories, let down our guard a little and keep things real. Clubs are more prone to cliques, anonymity and rank. Both social. Different social dynamics.
The Notorious LB3
· 1 year ago
Chris, I'm with you on the analogy, I think it might be one of the best yet. However, I think we need to consider that some pubs are busy all the time (lending to opportunity for conversation and the exchange of ideas) and some pubs are pretty lame (meaning no one is there to make good conversation) and the some pubs have sold out (overly loud music, too much a sports bar theme or just flat out overwhelming). I find myspace to fit this last category because i am constantly overwhelmed with useless junk and spam.
I find that networking IS exclusive in a way because anyone can go out and get 5000 friends, but it doesn't really mean you are interacting with the group.
So how do you expand you friends with more meaningful/useful relationships and better conversations?
How do we make finding appropriate new connections easier and the convos more valuable?
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
I have some thoughts on this. One point to make is that some people naturally acquire lots of contacts throughout their experiences, and that by making gestures and connections and reconnections every now and again, the general masses feel "touched" or "tended" or however you want to say that they feel heard and seen for a moment. Thereafter, it's a matter of using the tools at your disposal to make those contacts stay "warm" between connections.
Here's where the online universe makes this SO easy and wonderful.
We have Twitter, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, and more things to do that we can keep those touches in mind.
If I'm lucky and the newsletter ships tomorrow, it'll have more on this topic.
In the UK, a pint, of course, means a pint of beer, consumed down the pub. And a UK pint is ≈ 1.0320567435 U.S. dry pints - so now you know.
Cheers!
ivy
· 1 year ago
This is definitely a good analogy -- and not just for social networking sites. I visit often a blog over at NYT called DreamHomeDiaries. The people who write the blog are dreadful -- but the comment community is the aces. It's like the joint that sells lousy food or has a surly barkeep but where everybody hangs out anyway because you can be sure of finding somebody to talk to.
karl
· 1 year ago
The analogy stops right away with a very simple thing.
In Pubs, you do not record conversations. Those silly and serious moments are remembered, not archived and mostly forgotten. And it is why there is a possible social life.
When Mr Smith, who was quite drunk, and showed his dick in an unfortunate moment, there was no record of his dicks for years in the pub. Plus if the owner snapped a photo and puts it on his wall, he could ask to be removed without too much troubles. There was only one copy of it. And other pubs might have heard about it by "you know what gossips" which takes time to travel and is also forgotten.
Forgetting and slow sharing of information is an essential part of social life.
chrisbrogan
· 1 year ago
That's a kickass point, Karl. I think you're right about the need for non-persistent information. You're right. We are leaving a trail behind us that will forever be part of our record.
All Comments
There are some pubs you go to for the beverages alone, there are some that have great comfort food, and there are others where, when we walk in, we're greeted with a familiar smile and called by name. And there are social networks that function accordingly.
The question is, are you willing to spend time at these places and make them your own, or are you just passing through, sampling what each has to offer without really participating?
A great craft beer and some good pub eats just scream for conversation and real dialog. You can't sip from a local kolsch and eat a burger with an egg on top without feeling right with the world and adjusting your discourse accordingly.
But, importantly, it's the crafts beers and the real food that do it. If I was drinking bud light and eating McDonalds fries, it would be an entirely different deal. Actually, I just wouldn't participate at all.
A keg and a deep fryer do not a pub make. RSS and rounded edges on the logo do not a good social experience make.
I remember the first time someone spammed me via Facebook. They thought it wasn't spam because it wasn't email. Oh, ... it was spam, it just looked different.
It ain't what the pub does that makes it the pub. It's what the pub is that makes it what it is.
Paul Colligan
-Jeff
http://blog.zemote.com
The sense of a pub atmosphere that exists in the blogosphere is created by the enthusiasm and willingness of the regulars, ppl winning SEMMYs and other rockstars as you call them. Fostering fruitful discussion and exploration in your own corner of the pub on a blog for instance, adds to the positive atmosphere of the pub. The commitment of all frequenters and community members to be present and responsive to the concerns of newcomers and each other bears this out.
While twitter may be an important and increasingly more central place in the pub, the real juicy tidbits that keep me coming back come more often from the posts and comments of blogs I frequent than the 140 chars of a tweet and the response they illicit.
I used analogy of football fans, thus Chris’s post mentioning about watching sport in the Pub made me remember and acts as extension to the pub / the venue analogy, also answering the question "which pubs I like to visit"
It was my thinking (must dig out the essay now !) that different types of football (or soccer as you call it) fans resonate with visitors to social networks:
Fine weather fan: (Turn up if not much else to do)
Brand fan: (Wants to be with the in crowd)
Supporter: (Gets updates to team scores – Facebook = reviews notifications)
Loyal supporter: (Regular visitor to games & score board: Facebook = reviews notifications & contributes with activities gets others involved)
Imagine if you turned up to a pub, filled with the Loyal supporters, without a (brand) FC T-shirt would be on the outside, soon they would realise that you don’t actually know what your talking about (last FC manager was rubbish comments), supporters however, (well if your not offensive and slate their players/things they love), then you could form some good banter with them (happily tell you why last FC manager was rubbish).
Brand fan, they wouldn’t be great for conversation only there out of image and fine weather fan, you can integrate with them, but don’t expect them to be there next week ( I am a bit like that on Twitter).
Thus it’s not all about buying a drink, it communicating at right level & speed and most importantly showing interest in the cause.
You can walk into any pub and watch the sport as long as you can judge from the outside the support status of the fans. Does that make sense ! Thus believe as new social networks are formed to get interest, they will need to provide free trials before sign up.
Networks like Facebook & Myspace are good pubs for me and my peers as it doesn't matter what level of fan status you are at, everyone is welcome. You soon come to realise who is regular and make sure you chat to them first and possibly buy them a drink !
In summary:
In my analogy I see myself as:
Fair weather fan: Twitter, Other blog communities
Brand fan: Could be a virtual world
Supporter: MySpace
Loyal supporter: Facebook
I think a lot of people in the social media scene need to resist going to the "Pub" every day. There's a general lack of focus... lots of stumbling... half truths... that's if you can put up with hearing drunken stories over and over. That's how I feel when I open my RSS reader every morning.
Not sure if you ever read Fabulous Nobodies by Lee Tulloch, butI do think of it sometimes in this social media world when you see people race for a larger number of friends, rank on Technorati etc on their quest for greater influence.
I guess what I'm talking about is authenticity in our communication and community. You might see that kind of communication in a pub more often than a club.
Perhaps it is because in a pub we share real stories, let down our guard a little and keep things real. Clubs are more prone to cliques, anonymity and rank. Both social. Different social dynamics.
I find that networking IS exclusive in a way because anyone can go out and get 5000 friends, but it doesn't really mean you are interacting with the group.
So how do you expand you friends with more meaningful/useful relationships and better conversations?
How do we make finding appropriate new connections easier and the convos more valuable?
Here's where the online universe makes this SO easy and wonderful.
We have Twitter, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, and more things to do that we can keep those touches in mind.
If I'm lucky and the newsletter ships tomorrow, it'll have more on this topic.
I use the same idea to host my informal 'social graph' roundup at http://www.buy-me-a-pint.com
In the UK, a pint, of course, means a pint of beer, consumed down the pub. And a UK pint is ≈ 1.0320567435 U.S. dry pints - so now you know.
Cheers!
In Pubs, you do not record conversations. Those silly and serious moments are remembered, not archived and mostly forgotten. And it is why there is a possible social life.
When Mr Smith, who was quite drunk, and showed his dick in an unfortunate moment, there was no record of his dicks for years in the pub. Plus if the owner snapped a photo and puts it on his wall, he could ask to be removed without too much troubles. There was only one copy of it. And other pubs might have heard about it by "you know what gossips" which takes time to travel and is also forgotten.
Forgetting and slow sharing of information is an essential part of social life.
Definitely something to think about.