Engagement doesn’t matter if you’re not doing something with it
Have you ever heard of a woman named Olive Logan? I had never heard of her either, but I encountered her tale in Mark Twain’s autobiography (by the way, this autobiography is close to 500 pages long, so get used to the Mark Twain references!) and her story really stuck with me.
Mark Twain met Ms. Logan when he was on the speaking circuit around Boston. She fancied herself a speaker too, for a short while. It all started because Olive had begun telegraphing newspapers around the country about every little detail in her life. “Olive Logan purchased a dress today.” “Olive Logan is quite under the weather.” Soon, people got really used to seeing these updates everyday, and Ms. Logan became a celebrity. This drove Mark Twain absolutely crazy because, obviously, she had not *done* anything. So, when people would say, “Oh, did you hear about what Olive did?” Twain would ask them, “Yeah, so, why is she famous? What did she do?”
He reported that his friends would become “dumbstruck.” They had no idea why she mattered.
Could this fate be awaiting you?
Just interacting with people doesn’t mean anything
What really knocked me out about this story was how much Olive Logan’s daily updates sounded like stuff people would share on Facebook or Twitter. While those of us who use Twitter on a regular basis know that it’s *more* than “I’m eating crab cakes for dinner,” we also talk a lot about being “human.” We talk about the need to interact with people and converse, right?
Olive Logan shared her life day-by-day with people because she thought she was really important or really interesting. But she did not do anything with the celebrity she gained from this celebrity status. She tried a speaking career, which she failed at miserably, and then she disappeared into the history books. Or not even.
If we are sharing things online but we have no reason for it, if there is no master plan, no deeper significance than wanting to share our lives, we will be headed for the same discouraging fate.
Why are you here?
I engage with people because I am networking as a person in the marketing business. I engage with people online because I enjoy helping people in this space to the best of my ability. More recently, I am engaging with people to spread the word about my new project, The Blog Library. I do this not to sell it, but rather to let people know that this is a resource that will be available to all. These are my reasons for being here. I have objectives tied to each of those reasons. While none of these will likely get me into the history books. they give me reasons to interact with people in the online world. It is not just me killing time or sharing my life because I think I’m the most interesting person ever.
Why are you here? Why are you going to the trouble of tweeting with people, chatting, going to conferences, and doing everything else you do? Do you have reasons behind it or are you just kind of tossing information out about yourself in the hopes that some of it will stick?
What are you hoping to accomplish with all of this online “stuff”?
Let’s talk about it!
This is post #72 in the Engagement Series. If you’re worried about missing a post, feel free to hit the subscribe button!
Image by Jesse Miksic. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/symbot
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It is not my intentions to be famous or sell books. or be a speaker. It is not my intentions to go to conferences.
I tweet, engage and chat on twitter hoping that my old Grandma sayings will start peoples day on a bright note. I engage on twiiter to learn how to engage and also write blogs. I have since written some blogs and they have been posted on http://affiliatedwomen.ning.com. I follow and promote a lot of people. All careers are of interest to me and I research them all. Yours I read daily. As I have explained on line that my purpose is to share my joy of painting, share good books, and conversation hoping I can make a difference from where I sit.
Ah, I’m so excited to read your blog posts!
Great answers, Gloria. I had no doubts 🙂
Excellent points Margie. If Ms. Logan had just made the most out of her online celebrity status, she could have done more, say, inspired more people by engaging with them in a way far different that just telling your personal stories and updates. I thank what she lacked was appreciation to others who have been sticking around and following her. But I think she didn’t become a celebrity on purpose. It was the people who followed her who made her a celebrity and she just didn’t want to channel out the opportunity. Just a thought. 😀
You could be right, although those were quite different times. Women who were married to rich guys had to really prove they were worthy of being the “trophy” wife. It was all about culture, and she was at the top of the culture mountain for awhile. I dunno. It just struck me as interesting 🙂
Isn’t making friends with interesting, smart, creative and most of all, nice people reason enough? I get what you’re saying, but I’ve never looked at Twitter as anything more than that. Sometimes good things come to me through my network, but it’s not my main motive for using social media.
I am here to network, but mostly I am here to spread the message that my blog has to offer. I have made some of the very best connections since I began tweeting in earnest only a few short months ago. I started on Twitter and became fascinated with the medium. I knew I wanted to start a blog, but really was unsure what direction I wanted it to go in until I realized I could be doing some real good in this world. Little by little, that is happening now.
I also have to start tweeting for my day job. That should be interesting. I learn something new each day, and I am trying very hard to remind my bosses that Twitter and blogs are not sprints, but marathons.
I happen to love Twitter, and it really is an ideal medium for someone like me. I would be here anyway, even if I were just tweeting simply because I could.
Thanks for this Margie, making us think as always! 🙂
Great post Margie. It is striking how Olive seems to have pre-dated the “status update”. Interesting.
I came to Twitter and Facebook (and MySpace and YouTube and flickr… ) to raise the awareness of Kat Caverly Enterprises. I stayed on Twitter (my favorite though YouTube is gaining ground) because of the way I can engage with other people.
I use tweet streams as my daily “newspapers”. I read and comment on writer’s blogs when the writer catches captures my curiosity, answers my questions, and often inspires me. I am also desperately seeking the be part of a community of extraordinary minds, that will help me create the new New thing.
Margie,
There are days when I ask myself what am I doing here. I don’t always have clear answers…but I do think that many of us who work from home are “here” to enjoy “human” contact. Do you see what I mean? Sure it is great to get up early, sit down in your home office with a cup of coffee and get right to work…but it can be painfully lonely. Particularly if you have been in the working world for a long time and have enjoyed all the craziness that having co-workers can offer you. It is life’s celebrations, heartaches, the physical hugs, handshakes, tears, gossip, breaking bread together…or even sharing a national / world tragedy with breathing human beings that endear us to the workplace.
So, here it is Sunday, Father’s Day, my children live far away, my father passed away 32 years ago…my husband and I will enjoy the day together…I will tell you that Twitter and Facebook both offered me some humanity today, albeit virtual.
Thanks for asking…
Judy
I just like meeting people who can teach me something new, and help me grow. As a professional… as a parent… just as a human being. If I can learn something – say something – be something – that helps someone else in any given moment… well… then this whole enterprise has done me well.
Call it lame. Hokey. Naive. I accept all of those.
🙂
I couldn’t have said it better myself… (except for the parenting part but we’re working on it 🙂
I’m still getting a feel for what I want to accomplish in social media so I’m just trying different things… for work, personal, networking, etc. If anything, I’m just having fun interacting and learning from people and adding my 2 cents to the conversation.