I’m fine with being a Z-List blogger.

More like a zzzzz… list blogger, huh?  Seriously, I’ve finally realized that I don’t need to write 300 word essays espousing my love for all things Web 2.0 with some sense of "purpose," but just write the things I’m thinking about and just enjoy it.  I don’t have adsense, but I can certainly do nonsense.

Lately things have been interesting on the Social Media front, I must say.  I’m more involved than ever — continuing my love for FriendFeed, but also being more involved on commenting on a couple of blogs and a significant amount of tweeting.  Combining like members of FriendFeed and Twitter, I have around 150 people following me. This makes my "real friend" to "internet friend" (there really needs to be a word for that) ratio at about 1:25.  I can live with that.

I’m hoping to merge the worlds somewhat starting next week with attending the Louisville Geek Dinner at the BBC on Shelbyville Road.  It should be an interesting affair and with being the first time I’ve attended such an event, I’m very interested to see how people interact at such a function.

I’ve also made several connections on LinkedIn, with a nice split between people I’ve never physically met before and old friends that I haven’t seen in around 15 years.  I find LinkedIn fascinating as overall it gives a little more "true to life" version of a person’s history.  This is not to say that people lie on sites like MySpace or Facebook, but your work history leaves very little for wild embellishments.  The assumption, by having a profile on LinkedIn, is that you wouldn’t "mind" being approached about a job.  With that in mind, you want to present your profile as your resume and while I’m sure there is some stretching of the truth in areas, you’re going to be a little more restricted and expected to back things up when all is said and done.  Because of this, I feel there is a legitimacy in LinkedIn than some other social sites.

So, I’ve increased my participation, but what am I looking for from all of it?  That’s something I’m still not sure of, in all honesty.  I like the interaction with the people I’ve met, and I find the whole "Social Media" thing very interesting - and really starting to see that there is much more to it than just surfing the Internet looking for the next cool thing.  In the end, I think I’m just looking to have fun and I’m fine just writing about what’s on my mind - and being a Z-List blogger.

You are a brand. Be a good brand manager.

Social media has changed the way that people intertact with Internet and with each other.  Many of us have “friends” we’ve never actually met who know more about you than some of your “real” friends.  They know what music you like, movies you enjoy, articles you read, and possibly most of your daily habits due a little web app called Twitter.  What you must keep in mind is that all these things you do form a picture of who you are… your “brand.”  While you may think trolling or posting long tirades of profanity may be fun, those action will be sure to tarnish your brand.

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