Have you ever had one of those friends who you take to the movie theatre with you for the first time, and they kind of interrupt the movie at the very beginning by talking? But you figure it’s an isolated incident so you answer them, laugh at their joke, and just shrug it off.
But then they do it again, and again, and again…
After a while, even though you love this person, you’re ready to strangle them? Well, that is kind of what Guy Kawasaki is becoming to me. Let me explain…
So, What’s The Problem?
Yesterday was my birthday, August 13th. It was also a Saturday. Every once in a while I like to check in on Google+ to see what is going on with the people in my Circles. Currently I’ve got about 200 people that I’m keeping an eye on and really want to see their updates.
Every time I log in to take a look, all I see is Guy Kawasaki and his Origami butterfly! Seriously, I mean virtually all day long he is right on the top of the screen.
Now, I don’t really “know” Guy. I think we’ve met once or twice at a convention or something. He probably doesn’t know my name, and he definitely doesn’t “know” me. So this post isn’t likely to matter to him one way or another (well, except it’s free publicity), but I do actually enjoy several of his posts.
Still, the volume of his sharing is… what is the right word? Large? Massive? Overwhelming? Overkill? Inconsiderate? Insulting? Infuriating? (Notice how the more I think about it, the worse the descriptor becomes? I wonder what the psychology of that is…)
Guy Kawasaki’s Post Frequency
Take a look at just Guy Kawasaki’s Google+ post distribution from yesterday:
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:18 AM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:19 AM – Public
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:23 AM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:18 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:36 AM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 10:45 AM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:17 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 11:06 AM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 11:19 AM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 1:17 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 12:20 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 12:41 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 4:46 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 4:59 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 5:32 PM (edited)
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 5:31 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:07 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:08 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:11 PM
- Guy Kawasaki+ – Yesterday 6:30 PM (edited)
(By the way, random question: why are 50% of the posts Edited?)
What Am I To Think?
I can’t understand the logic behind this sort of activity level on any social networking platform (a place where people interact), so I’ve got all these questions rolling through my brain:
Just a couple of hours ago Guy posted the following:
Every day a few people on Google+ proclaim that my posts contain random, stupid links to stuff they don’t care about. One might ask why they continue to keep me in a circle, but that’s too logical.
Just to show that I don’t give a shiitake if they don’t like my posts…Well, I don’t have a problem with the type of content contained in the posts. Personally, as my readers know, I like variety. But honestly, you’re telling me you really don’t give a shit if I – or anyone else – follows you?
- Has he not considered the annoyance factor of being that guy that just hogs all of the attention, all of the time? Or does he think that everything he has to share is just that valuable?
- Is it a situation where he wants to be the one and only source of news that people get?
- Does he just think of himself as a brand so there’s no real “Guy” to follow, but merely the concept of a social media machine, dressed in Guy clothing?
- Is it simply that this behavior works to get on lots of lists and build large numbers of followers, and he knows it so he’s just doing what works?
- Is it really Guy who is posting all of this, or does he have other people doing it on his behalf? I mean take a look. He was all over Google+ from 8am – 4:30pm Pacific time on a Saturday. And this is a married guy with several kids. Is he really sitting at home all day on a Saturday sending out these messages?
- Are new followers just so easy to come by that he doesn’t care about churn whatsoever because there is an endless stream of people to more than replace those who can’t take it and leave?
On the same day those 25 posts were made, there were about 50 more over on his Twitter feed – which I unfollowed long ago because it’s clearly no longer his voice and instead just an automated stream of tweets from an account that literally follows over 300,000 people.
By the way, Robert Scoble who has a reputation for high post frequency, is mild by comparison. Yesterday he only posted 3 times, and on normal days it’s maybe 10. And people continuously jump all over him, so why is Guy getting a free pass?
What’s The Solution
I know I’m picking on Guy a bit here, but I think he’s wise enough to appreciate that I’m trying to openly and honestly discuss a concern and find a solution. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t really want anyone feeling frustrated or upset in any way when it comes to him personally. And although I’m calling Guy out as an example, there are several other people who do the same thing, and the number is only going to increase.
So, am I the only one here? I mean should I just unfollow as Guy himself suggests? Or should there actually be some social media etiquette with regards to filling up people’s streams? Is it up to the social networks themselves to give us tools to fix this problem? And, by the way, do you even care if the person who you are following is the one actually posting things, or if they have a proxy doing it for them?
I actually want to keep up with some of these folks, but their attitude seems to be take ALL of it, or take nothing. Why isn’t there a happy medium where I only see the most important things they have to personally share?
I must follow too many people. I have both Robert Scoble and Guy Kawasaki in my streams and I can’t remember the last time I saw a post from either of them. It scrolls too fast. :)
I think the burden is up to us. There is simply no right or wrong way to use any social media site. If you don’t like what someone else is doing, don’t follow them. It’s that easy.
It could be easier of course. I’d love to have the ability to pick and choose which Circles contribute to my main stream. If you follow people like Scoble and Kawasaki and you don’t want to unfollow but you don’t want the noise in your default stream, you’d then be able to fix it by putting them in circles that don’t feed into the default.
I know there are extensions that do this, but plain vanilla Google+ would benefit from it.
He edits because he is a scam artist.
Editing ==> repost on top of your stream.
He is spamming. plain and simple.
Wish Google had the guts to ban him.
As a rule, people I find annoyingly prolific (and for me Guy is NOT one of them) I shunt into a circle I call “Lotsa Posts”. I use the Plus Minus app to take it out of my (hee hee) main stream, and then I just click on the circle when I want to read their stuff.
“Lotsa Posts” circle – brilliant!
I love the stuff Guy post. I don’t see all of it, but I generally read his comments. Now I don’t do that on Twitter. If I found that someone is posting too often, or topics that are not interesting to me, I tend to do what Jenn wrote previously.
Use Circles. Problem solved.
Great answer:)
I agree 100%. I just uncircled Guy. – The problem is, like you, I actually find most of it interesting. It’s just /too/ much.
I’d really love to see some kind of grouping of content/channels for G+, as it is now the signal to noice ratio isn’t very good.
[shrug]
Why is it a big issue if you are using your circles? I have a Really Noisy circles which is where friends who post way too many pictures of the new dog in one day go, or friends who post when they burp. I check them a couple times a week.
Guy isn’t in in my really noisy circle. You should have my friends if you want to see noise. :-) Guy’s posts are interesting and I hope negative feedback doesn’t make him slow down.
Why don’t you just give him his own circle and read him when you get a chance? I’m not following the issue.
I also have a feeling like he overposts sometimes. its like he exports all of his website to g+. The posts from normal users avarages to 1 a day at this nascient stage of g+ and considering 20 post from one souce is of cause off balance. Stupid butterfly man.
I was asked the other day if I realized that 90% of a friend’s feed were posts by me.
He doesn’t have many people in his circles, I guess … but yes, I realize I post a lot. And probably nothing most people care to read. I’m not special.
But hey, if you don’t want to read it, uncircle me and if you’re still circled by me, check the incoming stream once in awhile to see if I’ve written anything special.
Plus, I am like this in Real Life, I say random things, often, though I don’t interrupt at movies.
Personally, I really enjoy the majority of Guy’s posts and don’t find him at all overly prolific. When he posts something that doesn’t interest me, I skip it or mute it. Problem solved!!