This year I expanded further into Social Media and spent more time working on that than any other aspect of online marketing and web development. I developed branding pages for myself as a writer to test out new techniques and applications so I could better serve people who paid for my web development services and before long the successes I had with different platforms and techniques made my networks a relatively valuable asset themselves.
I have always thought that the basis for growing and succeeding online as well as the best ways to navigate the rest of the Internet is through online community involvement. You can read articles all day long, but unless you know exactly what you’re looking for it’s hard to find an earth shattering discovery that ends up changing the way you use the Internet. Communities however are two-way, and they leverage the wealth of knowledge of their members so you get the benefit of crowd sourced information, which usually lets the better techniques and resources surface and then gain approval by the majority of community members.
I’ve become a true master of web development by being part of an online fantasy wrestling community, a community for web designers, a community for video game enthusiasts, a technology based community, communities developed around online games, a writing community, a political forum and most recently a social media community. I’ve learned tricks that proved to be more useful than anything I had in my arsenal from kids playing MySpace mobsters, so it’s important to judge a community by its members and not a façade.
A friend from the writing community I’m a part of suggested that I join a social networking game called Empire Avenue toward the end of the year. I had been blogging about social media in addition to the tech articles I write, Empire Avenue was similar to the stock market which I invest heavily in and it was a game (I like games!). Needless to say Empire Avenue was a perfect fit for me. My stock did fairly well, I met a lot of new people and decided to launch a new blog (this one) because of common interests I had with those particular community members.
Empire Avenue is head and shoulders above other online communities, and I’ll tell you why. Being a community of social networkers, most of the members are familiar with how you should act online to increase response and create a welcome feeling. In the writing community I frequented prior to Empire Avenue the members were horribly ill mannered, opinionated, suffered from a lack of self-awareness. The community managers had proper attitudes and were extremely forgiving which exacerbated the discourse.
In addition to being more bearable to exchange ideas with, it improves communication immensely. If you would have told me 5 years ago that you knew of an online community that genuinely welcomes newcomers and was void of trolls and people who generally enjoy discourse, I would have told you to stop smoking drugs.
I like playing the game, and there is some benefit to be gained by missions as well as some of the analytical tools available within the application. The real value of Empire Avenue is the community it fostered which is basically social media enthusiasts that like to try new things and understand the value of tempering their online actions. Most of the players are actively growing their social networks so it has also become a network of users who will be popular pundits and authors in 5 years. Don’t be fooled by niceties, there is serious discussion and exchange of ideas that goes on within our community (Check out the #eAvchat on Twitter or one of the several Facebook groups if you’ve missed it), but when you avoid having an overtly offensive tone and passive aggressive responses it keeps the discussion constructive, and social media enthusiasts understand that better than any other niche on the Internet. It may be that social media draws users that are predisposed to playing nice and generating positive attitudes.
If you haven’t tried Empire Avenue yet I strongly suggest you do it now. I have made more long term friends and business contacts from this one network than any other network I’ve ever been a part of. If you need a more literal reason, the mission feature lets you generate engagement and drive traffic to any web address you choose in exchange for the currency you generate playing the game.
It isn’t a game for everybody, and not everybody needs more traffic, but if you haven’t tried it you don’t know what you’re missing. If you are already a member you should join one of the Facebook groups of Empire Avenue shareholders or attend one of the Twitter chats hosted by @mqtodd that draws many of the players and focuses on Empire Avenue, other online tools and lessons we have all learned throughout our time using web 2.0 applications. As I always say “Eaves are worthless, but the type of players that an application like Empire Avenue was made for are priceless.”
Chris Voss’ eAv Winners on Facebook
Adam, thank you very much for sharing! Well said, as usual..
Off to spread the word…
Twitter: azmushko
Interesting blog all the best
Twitter: Ramikantari
Woo! Glad you like it as much as I do.
Lisa Mason recently posted..There’s a New Social Media Site on the Block to Help Small Organic Businesses … – San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Twitter: writerlisamason
Yes Lisa, I am really glad you influenced me on that one! I thought you needed a more positive network from the first time I met you, you really stand out for your community management abilities in a crowd of people who just can’t help themselves on Y! voices. Dealing with people on the Internet (basically not being a prick) is one of the first lessons I ever learned about running websites, and I was a punk kid then, so if a 15 year old can see the value in being professional when you’re in a position of power (or even present for that matter), regardless of how much power, It really escapes me how some adults can’t. Even though I know the rule, I don’t always follow it
, so I really respect people that are always professional regardless of what trolls and idiots are lurking. Jelena is also an exceptionally good community manager. You should link your new Sports blog on your comments here, it will give you some backlinks and help you get ranked on Google (This website should be PR 3 or 4 next time Google updates).
Adam Justice recently posted..Eureka Blogging Tips
Twitter: etelligence
Great piece on the power of Empire Avenue Adam…Priceless indeed
Twitter: sbhsbh
Thanks Steve, I have to admit your article influenced me. I realized that Empire Avenue has affected me tremendously this year, and it would be unfair and dishonest not to mention it in an end of the year post.
Adam Justice recently posted..Empire Avenue: The Best Social Media Had to Offer in 2011
Twitter: etelligence
Thanks for this article, well written with a nice balance of value, and engagement.
I’m new to Empire Avenue, and don’t mind admitting was a late adopter, as it didn’t click with me until I heard about the missions feature.
For the most part, I really enjoy EA, and you’re right the community are social media savvy. If I have any complaints, it’s not about EA specifically, but social media in general.
Though now I’m engaged in a mutual exchange of value on EA, it has become an annoyance. And it’s this …if anyone goes to the trouble of getting me across to their page to do more than like, such as request a comment or answer a question, for goodness sake give me a question that get’s me thinking.
Sure, life is a blend of chit chat, and meaningful exchange, but for me, relationships offline are built on meaningful exchange. The same follows online.
If a seemingly intelligent individual gets me across to answer a question about something banal, I’m immediately disengaged. While I’m building my eave cache, from time to time I traipse across to reply to a question, or comment on a blog, even though, from experience I know what to expect.
For that reason, I would advise anyone to think before they speak/post, and build the skill of drawing out interesting discussion, rather than perfunctory replies.
As I said, I like EA, and have been online since the late nineties. There’s not much that’s changed, except the platforms. But in terms of value for eaves, EA get’s my eye balls, cause it really is the boost in my social media tank.
Twitter: catherinewphoto
Catherine,
I think a big part of the problem you’re facing on EA is the players. Most of the players don’t have direct business goals, and either have an addictive personality (Like they would play Farmville if they weren’t on EA), or they’re basically playing in Social Media. They often claim to have goals, but it’s more of just a requirement for them to advance heir own mentality than it is a tangible goal.
I call it vanity, Jason Falls calls it the playground and Kumbaya, but most real social media researchers and others who have a connection between social media and their own income realize this is a widespread problem for people in social media. You’ll hear a ton about ROI over the next year, and truthfully, there is no other form of marketing or advertising that allows for such precise measurement and analysis.
When companies invest in a print campaign, it’s judged a success if they increae market share or profits, whether the campaign had any effect at all. With social media, you have hundreds of possible measurements, and those include the traditional bottom line measurements that are used for traditional campaigns. Why are the top bloggers stressing ROI lately? I think it’s the only way to seperate people who are serious about using social media correctly and those who are playing in it. Pretty much, if you aren’t turning a profit or can’t prove your success with digital metrics, you’ll be ssigned to a lower rung of the social media ladder a year from now.
So, I strongly advise the people who put out missions on EA to take a hard look at what they’re doing. Curating infographics from other places, writing articles just to say you produce content, or re-hashing information from someone else makes it clear that your ROI isn’t important and you’re not focusing on the right niche (one that you have experience in). Just because you have social media accounts doesn’t mean you should try to start a social media consulting company. It’s vanity, people see an open door and they want to walk through it. You or I probably wouldn’t go to a hot dog vendor convention. We both enjoy an occasional hotdog and use their service, but we have never sold the first hot dog. How can you be a social media expert when you haven’t ever worked on a digital marketing campaign?
Adam Justice recently posted..Social Media Hell: Where the Cooks are British
Twitter: etelligence
Hooray for empires, there’s a friend round every corner. Perfect for a troll free stroll.
Twitter: stefanlaity
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I had with different platforms and techniques made my networks a relatively valuable asset themselves.
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