Sphinn - Sphinn is a Dysfunctional Social Network Because Internet Marketers Don’t Understand Social Networking

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Sphinn is a Dysfunctional Social Network Because Internet Marketers Don’t Understand Social Networking

Went Hot: May 12, 2008 - 5:46 am
Posted By: lorenbaker 425 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.billhartzer.com)
Category: Networking

Sphinn is made up search engine marketers. Search engine marketers are search engine marketers, They know PPC, they know SEO, they know how to get links to sites. Search engine marketers, the majority of Sphinn users, are not social networking experts. The typical search engine marketer does not understand social media. And the numbers really show it. The majority of Sphinn users are not active.

15 Comments

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Comments

from Blactooth 425 days ago #

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I can see where this article has merit. However, we are all trying to learn this new area of marketing and to simply say sphinn is dysfunctional, i think it needs some TLC.
Commoncraft, we need a how to for sphinn.

from seanmag 424 days ago #

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Bill, I don't know if I accept your statement that the average search marketer does not "get" social media. Rather I woudl say, many simply choose not to participate at the level of frequency required to garner real results and instead choose alternative means for marketing themselves and their clients.

from iBrian 424 days ago #

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I thought the premise behind social media was precisely that there was nothing to "understand" in terms of being a "social network expert" - you just get involved, and try to be contructive?

from mike.tekula 424 days ago #

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These tools were not built for "social networking experts." They were built to be used by everyone interested, however we see fit individually, to satisfy our own needs/wants for social networking.

Everyone decides their own level of involvement. If a user decides to be less active than some others that doesn't mean that user "doesn't get it" - it means they've decided it isn't a top priority for them.

from sza 424 days ago #

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Social networking = voting on everything in sight in order to make friends? My ass.

from bbcarter 424 days ago #

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Interesting. I would say though you're going to get a % of people who just read/listen/lurk everywhere there's info. Not everyone wants to participate. Just because they don't participate on sphinn doesn't mean they don't elsewhere.

Also, I am a bit reserved in my sphinn casting- if you like everything, your opinion doesn't have much value, does it?

from bhartzer 424 days ago #

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@bbcarter, it's just exactly the opposite of that. the more you sphinn, the more you participate, the better...the more links to your profile.

from bhartzer 424 days ago #

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@sza...voting doesn't get you friends. Networking with other people gets your friends.

from bbcarter 424 days ago #

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@bhartzer Yikes I see your point. I assumed there were a lot more nofollows in Sphinn- in fact I'm not seeing any right now. This could be gamed big time.

Apart from that, I'm not sure I agree- maybe if you assume everyone who submits is obsessed with who sphunn their post- but otherwise, I think the comments are more social and more friend-building, don't you?

from sza 424 days ago #

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Sure. But the original article (Lander's) mentioned you specifically in the context of some interesting voting patterns. You equate those patterns with "being active", which, in turn, is said to be a prerequisite for expert social networking. There is, however, a quality signal to "being active".

Someone, for example, who says "great article, keep up the good work" a hundred thousand times is "active". Another, who writes only a dozen insightful comments is, by the same measure, not very "active". In your view, the first is a great social marketer / networker, the second one just doesn't get it.

And yet, I think most people would have no problem deciding who of those two is creating a more valuable online presence...

from billse 424 days ago #

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Ack! More "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".

from JamesDuthie 424 days ago #

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Hmmm... if search and digital marketers don't get social media, who does...? Sphinn is home to some of the most savvy social media marketers on the web (Jeff, Marty, Tad, Shana, Maki etc). Sure... they're the minority within Sphinn, but they are influencing the rest of the community on social media usage via their practices & submissions.

SEO and social media are merging closer and closer together. Any SEO blogger worth their salt is all over social media and will write about it regularly on their blog. So I'm not convinced that the Sphinn community is dysfunctional.

from FuzzyMarketer 424 days ago #

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I don't comment much because I'm so green I feel that I really have nothing more constructive to add.

from KevinCheng 423 days ago #

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Time on hand is also another factor. I never have enough time to find new news stories for submission and I rarely have enough time to read more than a few articles on a particular day.

from Eloi 423 days ago #

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I dont believe in quantity being the primary factor of success. I think it works on social media and bookmarking sites, but it shouldnt. Quantity now triumphs over quality in these sort of sites, which reminds me of traditional advertising... .
I was active and participated loads when Sphinn first began, because everything that got to the front page was of value. Now, its simply about how many friends you have that will vote your story. And they're not your friends because what you post is great, they are your friends because it's usefull for them to have a voting block. If I (or any other PPC expert)write an amazing post on a blog, I know I cant post it here because it will just disppear in 2 mins. Instead, I ask someone who does this all day to...

I remember reading that content is king... lol, not anymore