New-Age Dilemma

Fri, Sep 11, 2009

Digital Anthropology, Philosophy, Tech

New-Age Dilemma

I miss the good old days.

I had a land line and an email address.  I’d get calls to my house and if I missed them, people would leave a message on my answering machine.  When I got home, I’d listen to the messages and call people back.  (Let me interject that I would return communication in the same mode as it was requested – ie., if I was called, I’d call back.)  It was very clear, cut, and dry.

Now, not so much.

I have a cell phone, maybe a work phone, an email, a work email, you can text me, ping me, tweet at me, DM me, Facebook me, Gchat me, IM me, god forbid even FAX me.  When I go to return the communication, I can use any of the aforementioned methods and it doesn’t matter which was used first.  My friend Tom O’Keefe (@BostonTweet) is notorious for this.  I @reply him, he calls me.  I email him, he DMs me.  I text him, he faxes me an answer.    I make fun of him that he does it on purpose.  But I don’t think he does.  It’s just part of life now.

So this is my question to you.

When I talk about people like Chris Brogan, do I link to Chris’ Twitter account or his website?  Ultimately, I venture to say website, where that is where I would think traffic is most valued.  However, the same case could be said for linking to someone’s Twitter page – driving traffic to where you can contact the person in the easiest, most raw fashion.

I’m baffled.  What are your thoughts?

Photo via metrognome0

, , , , , ,
  • Good topic here. To add to it, it's like one communication platform isn't enough anymore. When I email someone, I sometimes feel the need to DM them to let them know I emailed them. Maybe next I'll start calling people to let them know I DMed them about an email I sent =P

    @DavidSpinks
  • Funny you bring that up. Just last week I got a DM that said "Hey, just emailed you back". At first I was confused and a bit put off. Then I realized that I shouldn't be so put off by it. It is just a manifestation of our need for immediate gratification and results, and he was upholding his end.
  • P.S. Love the question, but don't think it's much of a dilemma. Bet at least 90% of people with a site and a twitter will say link to site.
  • Good thoughts! See, this is why I asked - it was a dilemma for me, because I wasn't sure of the "social media etiquette", so to speak. Good to hear other points of views and ideas.
  • Web-site.

    Unless you're quoting a tweet I sent or writing about something involving Twitter or some other silo, link to my web-site.

    a) My web-site has links to my other contact places, allowing the visitor to choose how to contact me.

    b) Twitter may disappear tomorrow.

    c) Twitter doesn't always work.

    d) Linking to Twitter gives Twitter SEO boost, linking to my site gives it to me. :-)

    I asked a similar question on Twitter last week, what was more valuable a RT, a G Reader share or a link. Overwhelming response was a link. It's persistent and it puts the ball in my court, not someone else's.

    Unless you're writing about someone's social media profile, link to the site.
  • Great post, Sarah. How appropriate that to leave a comment on this post, I had to decide "who" I was going to be- the facebook "me", one of the two twitter "mes" or just regular "me". The regular me is asked to fill in a text field with my website, but which one do I pick? Hmm.

    Sort of remind me of those scenes in movies where someone is feeling their way around a room to find the hidden switch that opens the secret door. Everyone one of us has some methods of communication that we use more than others and we have to feel each other out. I know some people that will DM you back in minutes, but take 4 days to return a voicemail. I know other people that are so overwhelmed with DMs that they don't even read them, but because no one calls them on the phone it is easy to get a hold of them that way.

    Transmedia navigation is a topic that is not only timely, but is becoming more and more important to understand. Henry Jenkins writes about this subject a lot- here is a syllabus for his course that sounds insanely interesting: http://henryjenkins.org/2009/08/new_media_liter...
  • Transmedia navigation - that's an interesting term I haven't heard before. Henry's got some really interesting things in his course - wish I could take it with him! This topic brings me to believe that we are moving to one network, like Peter Shankman described in his keynote at Affiliate Summit East. I agree with him. I think we're getting there, slowly, but eventually there will be an all inclusive network. When that happens, this article will be moot.
blog comments powered by Disqus