When It Comes to Your Data, Size Matters
And, as Justin says, when it comes to audience…
Narrowcasting: One fish at a time
In the context of social media, social community,
What’s your Measure of Effectiveness?
For example, consider this gentleman’s agreement, “We’re always supposed to judge ourselves by the quality of the conversations we have, rather than the sheer volume of our reach.”
Hmmm… Politically correct and a wonderful romantic notion. Works for me. I can appreciate large samples of data for critical applications. But when I’m evaluating the effectiveness of my social strategy, I’m one of those folks who decouples quality from quantity.
It’s easier for me to be social in a small group, rather than a large one; discover real identities, build real relationships. As Jeff Jarvis knows, one feeds the other.
Like the fisherman in the photo, I’m one guy. I can’t fish the whole stream. But I know where to cast. Actionable data and how to make use of it: When I catch a fish, that moment teaches me how to catch another.
My dumbwaiter pitch, the one word describing my social media reach? Fishing ;)
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Fishing is partly about having an effective lure and partly about knowing where to cast. But fishing in a pond filled with 200 fish is still likely to produce better results than a pond filled with 20.
And yet, the question begs to be asked: how many fish does one man need?
May 5th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Indeed, Justin. Indeed.