Log InWe’re going to be a part of About.me!
Today it was announced that Wefollow will be a part of About.me!
Wefollow will remain the way it is today and for the foreseeable future.
It’s a perfect fit and Wefollow will be used to help about.me better surface the people you are looking for.
Read more on about.me’s blog: http://blog.about.me/2013/05/07/wefollow-joins-about-me/
Spotlight—The Easter Bunny
After another successful year laying chocolate eggs and posing for pictures with sugar laden children, we’re happy to have our first lagomorphic guest, The Easter Bunny.
Hello and thanks for tuning in to this week’s Wefollow Spotlight. While our guest is known for his elusive nature, we managed to chase down none other than the celebrity hare himself, The Easter Bunny. How are you doing?
“I’m just splendid…”
Now, you’ve become somewhat of a mythical celebrity over the years. How did you get to be so well known for Easter?
“Well, it’s been a family tradition for years. I think it started back in Europe…the church really liked us and we weren’t doing much at the time…”
Why did they like you?
“They liked that we were soft and had babies all the time. They said Spring was about new life…and, and we had babies all the time…”
Gotcha. Uh…Now, the whole colored eggs things…how does that work?
“Have you ever seen Santa Clause wrapping and delivering presents?”
No
“Ok, then. Next question.”
Alright, well…is there a reason why they’re usually chocolate?
“haha ‘Chocolate’. NEXT QUESTION!”
Ok…now that Easter’s over, what will you plan to do in the off season?
“Well, my wife and I just got a bigger burrow down the street from the Rogers’. We just had our 27th litter and needed some more space. We’re thinking of starting a landscaping business…we’re calling it Fast n Furry. It can be dangerous but it’s quite delicious.”
Landscaping…that’s clever…do you ever worry about making it to the next Easter?
“I mean, besides hawks and cars, we’ve got it pretty good. We’re faster than most dogs too. I think we’ll be okay.”
We can only hope. Well, I believe I believe that’s all folks!
“That’s not funny…”
We know who
Looking for someone known for Fencing? Coffee? Tea? Basketball? Mondern Art? Fly-fishing? We know who they are.
That’s what we want to do at Wefollow—direct you to the person you’re looking for. Because we’re a directory of what people are known for.
If it’s something popular like photography—we know them. Even if it’s something more niche like knitting or sculpting—we know them too.
We’re focused on being the best directory of what people are known for. Recently, to appear within more in these searches, we’ve adjusted our page titles and descriptions. Now when you search for “people known for motorcycles”, we’re one of the top results.
Changing the title on our directory list pages to—
Motorcycle - Best people known for Motorcycle on Wefollow
And the profile page to—
Jeff Hodsdon - Known for Programmer, Sanfrancisco, and Python
Along with meta descriptions to boost traffic for searches like—
best fantasy baseball twitter feeds
most influential twitter account in healthcare
top twitter accounts photography
best baseball writers on twitter
best horse racing tips on twitter
Why does this matter? It matters because these are targeted searches to find people that are known for something.
When we re-launched Wefollow, we were hoping to get some press and write-ups in blogs. But, sadly, we didn’t get any. Now, reflecting back, this was actually a good thing, as it allowed us to look only at organic real traffic. Not traffic from the echo chamber of Silicon Valley blogs, but traffic from people looking for someone known for baseball writing. We like quality traffic and it’s what we want to see grow.
Right now we are focusing on building products and tools on top of this directory to help you become better known for what you do. The Wefollow directory will always be there growing, but we’ll be introducing some products on top of this wealth of awesome data!
Spotlight—Marc Guido
Marc Guido is Editor & Publisher of First Tracks, an online ski magazine he created in 1994. An expert in the skiing world and an 83 in Skiing on Wefollow, we got a chance to meet up with Marc at his home-base in Alta, UT to learn more about the sport. Marc was also nice enough to give us a private tour of the mountain, making some first tracks of our own. You can find Marc on Twitter @firsttracksmag and his profile on Wefollow <wefollow.com/firsttracksmag>.
In a very general sense, why do you love skiing? Is the sport for everyone?
There’s nothing quite as magical as flying down a hill with a couple of 2’x4’s strapped onto your feet. It’s a real liberating feeling. It’s almost like flying without getting off the ground.
Is it for everyone? Sure—there’s no reason that it can’t be. There’s a popular misperception that it’s a sport for the elite that only people with money can afford. Quite frankly, it can be anything from your mom-and-pop resort down the hill, to heading over to Europe for a couple weeks. So, there’s everything in between.
Could you tell us one of your best and one of your worst skiing stories?
Well, best is any day that it’s about neck deep out there. Truly, there are almost too many good days to count—it’s kind of hard to narrow that one down.
Worst would have to be a couple years ago, about 10-feet away in the backcountry, I watched a friend of mine get swept away by an avalanche. Fortunately, he didn’t get buried. He was ok, but it was a very unnerving feeling.
What’s some strange ski related terminology most people don’t know of?
That’s a tough one. I’d have to say different kinds of snow. For example, earlier today when this front came in, we had a little bit of what’s known as “Graupel” mixed in, which are those little Styrofoam pellet type of snowflakes. There’s another type of snow when it’s all wind-swept that’s known as “Sastrugi”—a bunch of different terminologies for different types of snow that I think a lot of people aren’t familiar with.
Where do think the best skiing in the world is? Where would you most like to go that you haven’t been?
Well, the best in the world, honestly, it sounds self-serving, but I have to say, right here in the Wasatch. There is no place in North America that is more dependable for snowfall than here. Often times it’s that light, fluffy 4-5% water content snow coming off the desert to our west. You mix that with some absolutely amazing terrain, some great resorts and a really cool vibe amongst the locals—I can’t think of a better place than here, which is why I moved here.
Places I’d like to go? Phew! Again, it’s a long list. I’ve had the luxury over the years of skiing probably 150-160 different places, but definitely Alaska’s on the list. Some big lines in Alaska.
Have you ever done any heli-skiing?
I have done some heli-skiing in British Columbia. I’d definitely like to get down to Antarctica. One of our writers went down there two of our winters, their summers, ago…cruised across the Drake Passage and did some ski touring on Antarctica. That would definitely be a bucket-list item.
I’d love to get to Sochi, where the Olympics are going to be held next year in Georgia, Russia. And, on the other end of Russia, the Kamchatka Peninsula. Definitely. I’d love to get out there in Siberia.
All over the world…certainly some ambitious travel plans.
They are, most of which will never come to fruition!
What’s been the biggest technological advancement in the sport? Equipment wise, but also how the internet has effected the sport.
Well, the internet, I’ll start with that—that’s certainly our ball-game.
Gone are the days when people would give a resort’s snow-phone a call and hear the snow report and question whether or not they were getting the truth or not…whether it was seen through a set of marketing glasses. Instead, they can hop on the internet and get first hand accounts and see first hand photos the people are shooting 5-minutes ago. You’re getting real time info and you can see it with your own eyes and talk to people who you trust. So the information age has definitely changed our sport in that way.
For the better?
Absolutely for the better, and it’s made resorts far more honest in their reporting because they know they’re going to get called out on it if it conflicts with what people are publishing.
As far as the equipment side, definitely the advent of the shaped ski. More recently, rocker technology where you have, instead of a traditional ski, which was kind of cambered in the middle and tapered up on both ends, you might have a ski that’s flat in the middle and rises slightly on the front and the back—makes skiing powder a lot easier. The ski tends to float a lot more easily. It’s a lot less work, especially for an old guy like me.
Profile additions
http://wefollow.com/your_twitter_username
Our team at Wefollow is constantly working towards our biggest goal—helping people get discovered. Today, we’re pleased to launch a couple new profile features—Social Activity and Most Prominent Followers. They’re tools aimed at helping answer the question “Why should I follow you?”.
Social Activity
Social Activity provides more information about every user in the form of recent tweets and Instagram photos. In addition to seeing someone’s prominence in each of their interests, you can now view Social Activity to get a better sense of someone before you decide to follow them. We’ve also updated the design and included a dedicated ‘Follow’ button in every profile to make following someone that much easier.
Most Prominent Followers
We’re now surfacing your most prominent followers in each of your interests. This lets you see who of your followers across all of your social networks contribute the most to your Prominence Scores.
Stay tuned for more new features in the weeks to come!
Valentine’s Day Spotlight — Laurie Davis
Laurie Davis is the founder of eFlirtExpert.com and author of the book Love @ First Click: The Ultimate Guide to Online Dating. We met up with Laurie at DavidsTea in the West Village to get her expert opinion on dating in today’s online world. Check her out at wefollow.com/eflirtexpert and on Twitter @eflirtexpert
Why have so many people flocked to online dating? What are the pros and cons of meeting someone online vs. in person?
“The way that we live our social lives now is online and offline—we’re super connected with our phones, but we’re also meeting people in person. Our dating life has to follow that trend also. We have to be dating digitally and in person. Most people are doing it now…in fact there’s a lot of innovation happening in the online dating space with mobile dating or niche dating sites.
There’re really not a lot of cons, to be honest, because everyone’s online! I guess the biggest con is that you just need to understand how the dynamic shifts a little bit so that you can really take advantage of meeting people that way and not be weirded out when you meet someone and you have sparks but not fireworks the first time—It’s not actually a date when you get offline. It’s just a chance to meet up.”
Just to feel someone’s energy a bit?
“Yes, exactly. It’s just a chance to see if you get along in real time and add that chemistry piece, which is what you’ve been missing—you know you have interests and values in common.”
Do you think that there’s one site that does it better? I know there’s all these new apps out…we just saw this one called Let’s Date and Tinder—is there one that’s doing it better?
“You know, every site is good for someone, but no site is good for everyone. I wouldn’t say that one is better than the other. New technologies are emerging and they’re great to take advantage of if that’s part of your lifestyle already—I wouldn’t suggest that you download a mobile app if you don’t have a smartphone…you shouldn’t go out and buy an iPhone just to download (an app) and you shouldn’t flirt on Twitter if you’re not otherwise on Twitter.
All the sites are great, all the apps are great—all the innovation that’s happening is amazing.”
What are some do’s and don’ts for creating an online profile? What do some people do wrong?
“There are so many things you can do wrong, but there are also so many things you can do right! When you sit down and you write your profile, the easiest way to craft it is by coming up with a keyword cloud first, and thinking about the things that interest you in your life—then get specific with them. So, ‘ok, you like wine’…but what kind of wine and from what region? Do you have a favorite wine store or a wine bar you like? How does that fit into your lifestyle? Think about those specifics, and then you can find some trends that fit well together to craft the actual text of your profile. The worst thing that you can do is be too general, because a whole list of adjectives doesn’t really tell anyone anything about you. Like, ‘fun, funny’…that’s great, but if I don’t really know you, your ‘fun’ could be very different from my fun.”
What makes for a great first date? Who should pay? Kiss at the end?
“Well, like I mentioned, a first online date is not a date—it’s just a meet up. That’s really important because that will keep your expectations in check…and that also means that where you go can change a little bit. Typically you’re having a cocktail or a coffee if you’re meeting offline for the first time. Or, you could do a short activity, but just make sure it’s nothing that’s going to take longer than, say, an hour and a half—that’s about the max amount of time you really want to spend with someone the first time.
The guy really should still pay! Haha. Chivalry exists. Maybe I’m a little bit old school, but I think you should. And, kiss at the end if you’re feeling it! Definitely.”
What if things were great online, but not in person? How do you let someone down easy if they’re still interested?
“That happens often. As an online dater, you’re probably going to find that you’re going on more first dates than second dates—that’s normal. It’s all about meeting people. It’s not about making millions of relationships, it’s about finding the one.
So, if you’re not interested in someone, don’t’ feel obligated to message them and say you’re not interested. Most people are dating multiple people—there’s really no reason to. But, if they reach out to you and you’re not into them, then you just have to say, you know, ‘I didn’t think we were a right match, but good luck’.”
It’s Valentine’s Day! What are one or two pieces of advice you have for new and experienced couples to make the day a memorable one?
“Valentine’s Day can bring so much pressure…it really can. Especially to a budding relationship. It is important to acknowledge the day. Even if you’ve been on a couple dates with someone and you feel like it’s too much pressure to hang out on Valentine’s Day, shoot them a text, send them an e-card. Do something cute just to acknowledge it. Let them know that you’re thinking about them.
If you are meeting up, the best thing you can do is just focus on spending time together in a way that is a little more special than your average day. So, if you’re going to cook at home, get a bottle of champagne instead of a bottle of wine. And, keep things low-key. Ultimately, keeping things low-key when a relationship is just beginning is really the best way to make sure that things are moving forward, but not in too dramatic of a fashion.”
Spotlight — Darya Pino
Darya Pino is the creator of Summer Tomato, an online resource for healthy eating tips and one of TIME’s 50 Best Websites of 2011. She’s also a regular contributor to publications like The Huffington Post, SF Weekly, KQED Science and Edible San Francisco. With a PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF and a 91 in Health on Wefollow, we sat down with Darya at her home in San Francisco to learn more about the science behind what we eat. You can find her on Wefollow<wefollow.com/summertomato> and @summertomato on Twitter.
For people that live alone and go out a lot, it’s hard to keep food around before it goes bad. Are there some less perishable foods that can be made into healthy, small meals?
“Absolutely. I lived alone and had that problem a lot. The first thing I would recommend, obviously vegetables are important, and if you do want to buy vegetables, I would recommend getting smaller quantities of the sturdier ones. For example, broccoli and cauliflower will both last a lot longer than lettuce or spinach, because those are more delicate. So, you could start there. If you want to buy maybe one or two of those a week and start there. Also, you don’t need to just eat vegetables…lentils you can just keep in the pantry until you’re ready to use them— same thing with brown rice or grains. And then, even if you cook those, instead of just having a whole big batch in the fridge that goes bad, you maybe save a little bit in the fridge and stick the rest in the freezer. Then you can just pull them out when you need them—nothing really goes to waste.”
As far as freezing breads, is there certain kind of bread (that freezes well)?
“Yeah, I don’t eat a ton of bread…but for that reason I’ll buy, like, an artisan loaf down at the Farmer’s Market or whatever. And if I buy, say a baguette, I’ll cut it into thirds and it actually freezes beautifully—I’ll take one third out and use it for whatever I’m going to make, stick the other two in a zip-lock bag and stick them in the freezer. Then you can just stick them in the oven at 325° and they toast up beautifully when you’re ready to use them.”
Do multivitamins cut it? Are there some other vitamins out there we should be taking regularly that aren’t included in a multivitamin?
“I think it’s a big misconception that you can somehow eat bad and then get all your nutrients from a pill—it just doesn’t really work that way. I do recommend a multivitamin just to make sure your very basics are covered—you don’t want to get scurvy, for instance. Not everybody eats healthy all the time, and that’s understandable. But you have to understand that there are hundreds…thousands of phytonutrients, antioxidants that aren’t really considered vitamins, but they are things that have been shown to do things like prevent cancer, prevent dementia and just generally make you think clearer and have a better life that aren’t necessarily going to be inside your vitamin…or even if they are in your vitamin, they may not be bioactive available to your body in that form. So, no—I’d say they don’t cut it. I don’t think there’s other pills you could add that would make it cut it. I take a decent multivitamin, don’t rely on it to do much and make sure to eat healthy on top of that.”
About absorption, is there something you can eat before a multivitamin that makes it better, or is just eating before as a general rule?
“I think taking it with food would probably help…it’s tough because every vitamin’s different, every person’s different and it depends what you eat it with. There are vitamins that are water-soluble, like vitamin C—you can eat it and you will absorb it fairly easily. Whereas fat soluble vitamins, like omega-3s and vitamin D and vitamin E—they’re not going to absorb as well unless you eat some fat with them. So, people think they’re doing really good things by eating fat-free salad dressing, but actually you’re just absorbing less of the nutrients from your food without having that fat in there. You definitely need both.“
Why is brown rice healthier that white rice? Is it the same for black beans vs. pinto beans?
“This is a good question. So, generally speaking, the less processed a food is, the healthier it is for you. The reason is because the more work your body has to do to digest it, the slower it will digest and therefore you’ll absorb it better and you won’t cause blood sugar spikes, which are caused by processed foods, which is really bad—that causes diabetes and heart disease and stuff.
So, brown rice, technically, will digest a little slower than white rice and is therefore healthier. If you’re eating it a lot, this may be a factor…but you really shouldn’t be eating the quantities of rice where this would make a huge impact. But also rice has not been shown to be as bad for you as other processed foods, like bread. I would say, if you could choose between rice and bread, go rice. And, if you prefer white rice, I think that’s ok—it’s not like it’s really bad for you compared to, like, something else. So, if you want brown rice, that’s great. If not, that’s fine.
Beans are totally different. The difference between black beans and pinto beans isn’t processing—those are just two different kinds of beans. I would say they’re equally healthy; they’re going to have slightly different nutrient profiles, so I would say eat both—eat one this time, the next time mix it up. Try branching out…try white cannellini beans. Try some heirloom beans from the Farmers Market, and red beans and brown beans, some yellow beans—beans are amazing. I think the more different kinds you eat, the better.”
Are Emergen-Cs okay? I get scared when I see it’s 1,667% of your daily value for vitamin C, so I sometimes even have two when I feel like I’m getting sick…
“You’re talking about the little packets of dust that you put in your water that supposedly prevent you from getting sick. The theory behind those guys is that vitamin C protects against colds. First of all, that’s never been shown to be true.
Second of all, I don’t think that if it were true it would be in the isolated vitamin C form like that—I think you would need to eat it as a food. So, there’s the issue of, you’re probably not doing yourself any good by doing it. The other issue is what you’re saying—is it good to have a mega-dose of a vitamin in a supplement form.
This is interesting…so, for vitamin C it’s probably okay. There have been some experiments and it doesn’t seem to be that dangerous. But, you’re on some very thin ice there because most other supplements have been shown to be very dangerous at high doses…sometimes to cause death. Vitamin C seems to be less scary, but generally speaking you don’t want to be taking mega-doses of anything. It’s a really bad idea, especially if you don’t get any benefit out of it. What it will do is throw off some things in your body—maybe it will overload one system so another system can’t work properly. I would generally avoid that.
What most people are lacking is a variety of nutrients. What I do if I’m worried about getting sick—I haven’t been sick in years—but if I feel like I might be getting sick and I want to do something to make sure I don’t, I usually grab a green juice with a bunch of different greens in it…maybe some kale…maybe a piece of apple, some lemon, some ginger and try to get my nutrients that way instead of the powder.”
Coconut water seems very popular now. What’s so awesome about it?
“Coconut water can be very awesome. If you’re talking about a real coconut, like the big bowling ball looking things that grow in the tropics—they have water in them that is delicious. Have you ever had one right out of the coconut? It’s like god-nectar.
It’s so delicious. You can tell, you put it in your mouth and you’re like ‘this is so good for me’. So, that’s true. One of the reasons it’s good for you is because it’s almost like natural Gatorade, but totally unprocessed. It has good sugars in it, tons of potassium, which is something that most people in industrial societies don’t get nearly enough of. It’s in lots of vegetables, so you don’t need to have coconut to get potassium.
But, you know if you’re working out a lot or you’re in a hot climate, it’s a beautiful, delicious thing to drink.
That said, most of the stuff people are drinking now is not from a coconut, it’s from a can or some sort of package—I’m suspicious of these. A few years ago there was this outrage about how orange juice isn’t actually natural, even though it says ‘100% natural’. It’s because they have to pasteurize it, so there’s almost no flavor at all— basically just sugar is left. Then they add back the volatile element to make it smell and taste like orange juice. The way you can tell that this is true is that every brand will have a slightly different signature flavor—Tropicana always tastes like Tropicana. Minute Maid tastes different, but always tastes like Minute Maid. They’re so consistent. When you think about farm products, that can’t be true, right? It should change with the seasons…it should change with the location of where it’s grown.
So, that’s how juice is produced. When you think about juice in a container, you should think it’s highly processed and I think the same about coconut water. If I want coconut water, I go to Whole Foods and buy a coconut—I have the guys in the back hack off the top for me, stick a straw in it and call it a day—it’s like $3. I’m a big fan of that. The can stuff—I’m a little skeptical…and it also does have a lot of sugar, so if you’re trying to lose weight, it may not be the best option. Water is always wonderful.”
Spotlight — Markus “Notch” Persson
Markus “Notch” Persson created the widely acclaimed indie game Minecraft. Since its release in 2009, the game has amassed a huge cult-following and strongly influenced the gaming industry. “Notch” has since been developing other independent projects at his company Mojang. Scoring a 100 in Gamedev on Wefollow, we were lucky enough to meet with him during his stay in NYC to discuss his past and current ventures. Check him out on Wefollow <wefollow.com/notch> or @notch on Twitter.
Wefollow: How have your priorities changed since achieving new levels of success?
Markus: “I think for a long time I was trying to figure out, ‘how do I even follow-up with something like Minecraft?’ It was stressful trying to figure out what could be a big thing—but it changed after a while when I realized that I can’t—I’ve already gotten big enough. So, now it’s actually more relaxing because I can try to focus on making games I want to make again, which is kind of like how I started in the beginning—I guess it’s gone a bit full-circle. So, it’s gotten more relaxed.”
Like going back to the roots?
“Yeah, like actually making games for the sake of making games—not just living up to some hype.”
Of the games that have been strongly influenced by Minecraft, has any taken an idea in a direction you admire?
“Yeah, definitely…I think most of the clones are still in a ‘fantasy setting’…I forget the names of them. There are some space games that are really…like, you build your ship, and it has locational damage—it seems pretty cool. Then, of course, Ace of Spades, which was a shooter…I think they’re with Steam now. And then there are a few of them coming out that are doing more realistic graphics, which I think is a very interesting direction to go in—maybe the CPU power isn’t there for it yet, but maybe in five years that would be an amazing thing to do.”
What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew earlier on?
“I’m not sure I would have wanted to know the things I know now—it probably would’ve held me back and I wouldn’t have done the mistakes I did that actually let me at least do something. I think if you know too much, you might actually hold back too much and try to fix things preemptively. I might have focused on multi-player earlier, or done a bunch of stuff—but I think, actually, it doesn’t really matter. It’s fine to make mistakes.”
The mistakes generate creativity?
“Yeah, definitely, and actually productivity if you don’t worry too much about all of it. Not everyone agrees with this, but I think it’s…it’s just games.”
During the early years of Minecraft, when you were the sole programmer, what was it like managing everything yourself. Were there any sacrifices you made but didn’t want to?
“Yeah, the sounds, for example, I couldn’t do at all—I tried doing it myself, and I found some free sounds, and finally got someone to do it. But, the major problem was the graphics…because I, as a programmer, kind of forced myself to learn to do some pixel graphics, because I never really had an artist. But, the thing I didn’t like was that the style of how I made icons changed (as I learned to make icons) while I was making the game…so, the old icons don’t really match the new icons—stuff like that. That was the most difficult. The coding was fine to do on my own.”
Was there any decision you made or idea you had that would not have been possible if you weren’t self-funded?
“I think the entire game idea would not have been possible to pitch to a publisher at all…because there’s been too much, well not too much competition—that’s always a good thing. But, games are such high-risk investments—big investments have to have safe bets. So if I had a publisher, I don’t think pitching an idea like Minecraft would have been possible—I think it requires someone who is independent. And there are big studios that do really big expensive games that are independent—they can do things like that, which is cool. But, I think it’s more about the publishing thing.”
Spotlight — Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk is CEO and Co-founder of the social media & brand consulting agency, VaynerMedia. An authority in the branding and social media world and a 99 in Marketing on Wefollow, we sat down with Gary to learn more about his winning marketing strategies. Check him out on Wefollow <wefollow.com/garyvee> and @garyvee on twitter.
Wefollow: The internet seems to be getting very noisy. How do you get through the noise to people with niche interests?
Gary Vaynerchuk: “Using your ears instead of your mouth. See, what people don’t understand is, with so much noise, not having context around that ‘push’ is real detrimental. It’s what I wrote about in The Thank You Economy and what I’m writing about even more fiercely in my new book, Jab Jab Jab Jab Jab Jab, Jab, Right Hook. To me, it’s always an app or service or product—you always hear that cliché of ‘giving value’. In social, giving value is listening instead of talking—think about the friend that you would call when you have a problem versus the friend that always calls you with a problem. Usually they’re a different person.
So, to me, Twitter search especially over-indexes…you know, the old summize.com— that’s still the game. I still love it. I don’t do it as much now because I mainly search my own name. I’m a 99 in Marketing on Wefollow—a lot of people are still talking to me. I used Twitter’s search the other day…I just searched some marketing terms, like ‘engage’, and right away a couple of new people started following me. And when I’m pushing out my stuff, one of them I noticed (because I was paying close attention) responded to it because the context of our relationship wasn’t that they were a fan of mine, it’s that I did something nice first. That’s how I built my wine brand. I was answering people’s wine questions, then they followed me for wine.”
Twitter search has been around forever, has there been anything else?
“No, I truly believe Twitter search is the ultimate tool in the world right now for creating context—it’s the only one you can treat like a cocktail party. Everything else is talking. Pinterest, you can pin or tumble other people’s things…you’re anointing love, you’re acknowledging, but not as deep as you can through written word. It’s Twitter’s magic. The openness is Twitter’s magic. If Facebook was as open and I could search every post, it would be the ultimate. But it’s not like that.”
Does higher production-cost content mean higher engagement? (e.g. Red Bull spends millions on HD videos while others spend little on things like cat photos with funny phrases)
“Definitely not. So, Redbull over-indexes because they spend millions of dollars in PR and all the things that go into that event. But Redbull also produces plenty of videos that have 9,000 views that they spent a fortune on. Meanwhile, Wine Library TV had no production value—I didn’t even wear a mic, the lighting was shit.
So, I don’t believe that. It’s not engagement. It may make you feel differently. It’s brand positioning. If I’m a high-end brand, do I want to have bad lighting like an Iraqi hostage? No. But on the flip side, I think that quick, cheap content works for so many brands and individuals—so many people. I’m big on just turning the camera on yourself and just ‘flip-caming’ it out.”
Do you see success for products that make the internet feel “smaller” and “quieter” for our small-world “Flintstone” minds? Can every brand speak on the small-world level?
“For niche blogs or communities? Like Path with restrictions, or niche blogs or communities? I actually have a lot of ideas for Path getting into branding. As an angel investor in Path I’m always excited about thinking about how it could make money. The idea of having 150 fans or friends as a restriction—it’s not really built for brands now, but if brands were to play, the idea of making 150 people feel special for a week, a month…even a day if you want to go at scale, which is a lot of what they want to do— I think that has a lot of value. When you’re a big brand, you have to act small in small situations and big in big situations. So, the way Budweiser would act on Path might have to be different than the way they act on a Superbowl commercial.”
You talk a lot about people’s willingness to share information and the privacy lines they draw, like locations for check-ins. What privacy lines will be crossed next?
“I think every privacy line has been crossed, except the two that will never be crossed, which are 1) putting your bank account in a vulnerable place where people could actually steal your money, and 2) creating a situation where you’re really trying to inflict harm on your family…meaning really putting yourself in peculiar situations. I think the only two things that matter to people are the health and wellbeing of their family, and ‘can anyone steal my money’. I think everything else, like naked photos a.k.a. Snapchat, have been crossed. So, I think there’s nothing left.”
Regardless of how clients currently measure the success of social media marketing, how do you think it should be measured?
“If I could have my way, lifetime value and percentage of wallet. If you told me that I engaged someone with wine conversation, or put out a piece of micro-content on Tumblr that they saw that brought them to Wine Library—social is warmer than other places. In my opinion, the context of that relationship is different. You could show me when they walk into Wine Library with a bubble above their head, if technology worked that way…if I could see that they spent 81% of their wine budget on Wine Library since being touched by social, versus 63% before…and that they’ve spent the following numbers…you know, $8,000 last year, $40 this year, $93 two years ago—lifetime value and percentage of wallet. These are things that most businesses don’t think about because everybody’s playing the short game instead of the long game. I truly believe that most people in marketing are trying to putt…but I’m trying to drive. Usually I say I’m a marathon runner in a sprinter’s world. Everybody’s worrying about 3 months from now. It’s a long play. This content is long play.”
Wefollow — relaunched
Wefollow was created by Kevin Rose and a small team in 2009 as an experiment to help users find like-minded people to follow. The project was later rolled into Digg. Recently, when Betaworks announced they had acquired Digg’s core assets, the original engineer, Jeff Hodsdon, acquired the Wefollow project. Jeff, who most recently co-founded Milk (acquired by Google), is now focused on taking Wefollow forward and driving the team towards a new vision.
Now with 1.3 million users, Wefollow has grown in 4 years to a diverse online community of people that have listed themselves under more than 225k discrete interests—people have told us they’re interested in everything from film and fashion to cooking and climbing. Over the last few months we’ve been quietly working, building a new Wefollow on this unique user submitted data, and, in doing so, realized something powerful. Using our unique algorithm, we are able to accurately sort and rank users based on their prominence in any interest. Rather than simply ranking them by number of followers and social activity, the 1-100 Prominence Score is a more meaningful metric that ensures you find exactly who you’re looking for.
We’ll keep you updated through this blog and @wefollow in the coming weeks. We’ll cover news and improvements as well highlights for particularly prominent people. Stay tuned!
