The Scoop On Ownzee

I was checking out a new-to-me blogging platform, Ownzee. I wanted something that gave me more flexibility in terms of layout. Ownzee offers that. But, that’s about where the usefulness of the platform ends for me. The WYSIWYG editor is phenomenal, but at this point, it just won’t do what I need it to do.

The cool things about Ownzee:

• Super easy to create any layout you want. Overlay pictures, move text boxes around, create layouts like you would in Illustrator.
• Easy-to-use web editor. There are only a few buttons you can push. It’s pretty straight forward.
• Multiple fonts available. Block out a quote, make a cool headline. Attractive looking pages are pretty easy.

The drawbacks of Ownzee:

• Hosting only on their website. You can mask a domain name, but there’s no linking to specific posts if you do this.
• No custom themes or ability to create static pages. If you’re looking for an ongoing blog, it works. But, if you’d like to create an “about us” page, contact form, etc… it’s currently lacking in this platform.
• No integration of social networking plugins. Want your twitter feed in there? I don’t think it’s possible at this point.
• No ability to save drafts. I’m one to blog within the window I’m in, save the draft, read in the morning and then hit publish. There’s no drafts allowed with Ownzee. Once you’re done, you’ve got to publish your post right then and there.

Check it out if you want, I’ve got a couple of posts up on a blog I was trying out. I think they’ll be  moving over to a new platform relatively quickly. At least it’s only costing me $5/mo.

The BS We Tell Ourselves

There are all these studies and criteria going on about how to use social media, how many times a day to post, what kind of content to post, measuring the ROI… blah blah blah. Yeah, blah.

There are people to whom those numbers mean something. I am not one of them. Why? Well, because part of me believes that it takes away some of the sparkle of what made whatever we’re building special to begin with. And the other part of me remembers a time when Twitter was little, and Robert Scoble talked about how he had left it for ages and ages and somehow, his follower count miraculously kept growing. WTF? Where’s the study for that one?

Call it the exception to the rule if you want. I think it’s the rule we’re not looking  at. The one that says if you’re being yourself and building something awesome, the consistency and frequency of your posts has no relevance in the end. Don’t tell that to the data people though, they might freak out and argue against it.

But think about it, if all of our energy and focus was on being ourselves instead of trying to figure out what in the world our followers, fans, community, etc. wanted, we’d be, well, exactly where we are today. But if each of us focused more on our own interests, on what we think creates value in the everyday? Frack, there’d probably be a helluva lot more Robert Scobles in the world.

Social Media, You’ve Ruined Me

I’ve developed a disdain for anyone using the term “guru” or “expert” to identify anyone they deem knowledgeable on a subject. Why? Because somehow, in the last five years, it’s become a faux-pas to be confident in your knowledge base. The early social media goers who were throwing around the word like a smear of J on their PB abused it. Wrecked it. Made the rest of us all suspicious (serious generalization, I’d like to think I’m not alone here, but then again, it could just be me) of anyone who might possibly think they know what they’re talking about.

WTF social media goers? Why’d you have to go and be that way? Now I question everyone and everything. And eff, it’s exhausting sometimes. Here you are, making me skeptical of everyone and checking out their credibility for myself before I believe a word they’re saying. Seriously, what gives?

It’s not even as though this stops in the online realm. The minute anyone uses the “e” word, I get that look on my face. Haven’t seen it yet? Just refer to yourself as the “e” word in my presence and keep your eyes locked on my facial expression. You’ll see it.

You’ve created a monster. An inquisitive, questioning, not-as-trusting-as-I-once-was monster. It’s like, I won’t trust anyone’s knowledge any more until I’ve done the background check and appropriate research to figure out if I think said person actually knows what they’re talking about. And in a world where everyone can be a publisher, it’s more time-consuming than ever. Double checking your facts because I’m not sure you’re telling the truth to begin with… how dare you challenge my once naive trust like that.

Thank goodness there’s this thing called the internet that I can at least use for my due diligence. If you’re talking social media talk and calling yourself a guru, I can creep your Twitter profile, your Facebook page and other realms of yours in order to make up my own mind. I can find out when you’re speaking next (or if you’re speaking at all) and suss out your skeezy used car salesman vibe vs. your genuine will to help people. And if you’re claiming expertise in an area I know nothing about, and you also happen to not have any kind of internet presence for me to verify what you’re talking about? Well, it’s more likely I’ll go look for your colleague who has spent the time to ensure I can at least find a bit of information about them.

See? Ruined!