the sharing epidemic.

Every time I log into Facebook, I’m overwhelmed by a stream full of personal life details.

A childhood acquaintance shares every little detail of her pregnancy. A college classmate complains constantly about how much he hates his job. Another friend shares a stream full of passive-aggressive tweets, which seems to point to a lack of closure post-breakup. Another woman shares way too many details about her failing marriage. And a friend-of-a-friend uses his status to declare his love for his girlfriend and his intent to be with her forever and ever.

When I scroll through my news feed, I get this overwhelming feeling that I’m intruding on people’s personal lives. It’s slightly annoying: and if we’re being honest here, it’s a little uncomfortable.

I don’t think sharing nitty, gritty life details  is a bad thing; social networks are all about connecting with people in a more personal way. But I’m starting to realize that maybe- just maybe- we’ve gotten too comfortable with allowing acquaintances to join our networks and delve too deep into our personal lives.

The instances I mentioned above, like the pregnant woman or the individual going through a divorce, are using Facebook to share tidbits that would normally be shared with a tight-knit group of trusted family members and friends. But instead, they’ve decided to entrust their intimate moments with a wide network of acquaintances and friends-of-friends: including me.

When posting, I think it’s a good rule of thumb to ponder: Does everyone I’ve allowed in my network need to know this? If the answer is no, then feel free to share your information with friends and family via email, texts or Facebook messages. Believe it or not, e-mail isn’t extinct, my friends.

So what do you think? Have we lost the point of social networks? Have we let too many people into our personal lives? What’s the fine line between being personable and sharing too much?

Consumer-focused orgs on Twitter: Can value exist sans engagement?

“New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium.” – Ben Grossman, founder of BiGMarK

I periodically use FriendorFollow, a tool that allows Twitter users to see who they’re following and who isn’t following them back, to keep track of my Twitter contacts.  Although I rarely unfollow users, I sometimes choose to do so if the account is inactive or if the user isn’t engaging.

While recently visiting FriendorFollow and taking a quick look at my friends who aren’t following me back, I realized 70 percent were organizations.  These businesses ranged from professional services (public relations agencies, communications/social media freelancers) to companies that cater to consumers (restaurants, retail stores, etc.)

This realization made me wonder: How does an organization gain value/bring value to me as a consumer and/or professional if it isn’t following me back?

Should a consumer have to blast a whiny tweet (“My service at ‘x’ was horrendous last night…”) or suck up (“Like, OMG! You’re like, my fave store everrrr!”)  to get a follow?

I’ve read tons of blog-based discussions about whether certain businesses should build an online presence.  In my opinion, the line is clear: A consumer-focused business should not be on Twitter if it cannot devote the time/resources to engage its audience.

I was recently impressed by @CupoJoeCoffee, a Columbus coffee shop with multiple locations.  I love Cup O’ Joe’s coffee, and I began following its Twitter account.  The account followed me back promptly, and several days later, it replied to one of my statuses.  My 140-character update had nothing to do with coffee, but Cup O’ Joe’s comment let me know that it was listening to what I had to say.  And to me, that exemplifies a company that’s interested in engaging its audience.

The web is constantly changing the way companies interact with consumers, and this generation craves interaction.

So that’s my ramble of the day: If your business is on Twitter, find ways to be engaging. (And please: Auto DMs don’t count as “reaching out” to your audiences.)  Don’t create an online presence just to blast robotic tweets; take time to find your audience and interact with users.  You’ll be surprised by how much you learn through a little interaction!

(Side note: @crimsoncup and @DSWShoeLovers are also excellent Columbus-based examples of companies that actively participate in online conversation.)

Feel free to share your experiences with consumer-focused organizations on Twitter.  Who’s doing it right?  Who’s doing it wrong?