Tyler Hurst › Likes

Guy is simply bringing it up yet again because he isn't getting any buzz right now. Whenever there is no buzz, he opens up the ghost writers can of worms. Credibility is non-existent with that. No engagement, no accountability. That screams old world/old media broadcast w/o interaction. - Sheryl

UFM works well. It's been perfect for me. I actually enjoyed engaging with Guy, but once I had to filter Guy to figure out what was what, the return on effort overcame the value. Guy and I don't agree on how we manage our networks and I believe at some point he'll recognize how he's diminished his own value to the rest of us. - Ken Camp

He says: "I follow everyone for two reasons: first, common courtesy..." after just having said he doesn't read the timelines of people who follow him. It would be more accurate to say he auto-follows because it is the minimum requirement to maintain an audience he wants to broadcast to in a medium that masquerades as interactive and "social". - Sprague D

I'd love to know what Guy's strategy is, what are the data behind this? I, too have filtered out what he's (they) are tweeting about -- but is there a bigger picture here? To me, it's not Guy (the guy) tweeting but a brand, a company version of it, not a person version... - Mark Evans

Mark: Then he should brand it that way, clearly, concisely. To do otherwise is to be dishonest. You know the difference, I know the difference, but how many are fooled or don't know? I would like to know his strategy too. The way I see it, my time is valuable too. I shouldn't have to play guessing games simply to see a stream of unconsciousness. :) - Sheryl

Sheryl: After reading his post I think he thinks it's one in the same. Guy's move may be an early sign of a bigger movement afoot toward leveraging (capitalizing on) personal branding as a business. I was a fly on the wall at dinner the other night listening to @chrissaad and SFAMA panelists discussing how to build a business around your name. We could soon see Guy LLC. - Mark Evans

@Mark and I'm all for it. Look at how Stephen R. Covey did it 15 years ago. But what bugs me is using Twitter for it and naming the account "Guy Kawasaki" - Jorge Escobar

"Personal branding" has been around since Jesus. What's new is having a medium that allows you to broadcast to large numbers of people (in some cases as many as you would get from a spot on a cable TV show) with zero cost, besides the minimal investment it takes to maintain the illusion of interaction and sociability. - Sprague D

I don't get the point of ghostwriters in this kind of medium. His continuous link posting is just a manual StumbleUpon and doesn't add much of anything. Hell, I have a real job and I don't need a ghostwriter. Scoble, have you EVER considered hiring a ghostwriter to post links for you? - Tyler Hurst

This creeps me out. During the first 10 minutes of Guy and Chris Anderson's talk at SXSW last March, I noticed Guy's Tweet stream was broadcasting, ahem, evangelizing brands. Ads. And he was talking about Free!!! What's up with that. Yuck. - Mary Anne Davis

People get way too upset about Guy - it's as though everyone thinks they know better than Guy on something that works for him. Don't follow him if you don't agree with him - it's that simple! Seems like a waste of time to be criticizing his every move. - Jesse Stay

Jesse - really? You suggest that we don't critique people that we disagree with? Ignorance is the answer? - Tyler Hurst

Jesse your comment is ironic given that what we're discussing is the *impersonality* of the Guy Kawasaki Experience. ;-) Truly I couldn't give a fig about the actual person (who I'll never know from Adam, anyway). - Sprague D

Tyler you can do what you want. Seems like a waste of time to me. His Tweets don't affect me so he can do what he wants as far as I care. He does bring a lot of traffic to those he links to though. And frankly I find many of the links interesting. Criticizing in a thread he'll never see doesn't fix anything. But hey, do what you want - there are no rules here. - Jesse Stay

Anything COULD be a waste of time to anyone else, Jesse. I watch sports, which is a waste of time to some people. I also discuss best/worst practices of social media use. Aren't conversations the entire point of this? - Tyler Hurst

Tyler, fine - I just don't see how it benefits anything or anyone. Keep doing it if you want though - that's just my own opinion. I'll ignore you from here on then. It's not something I want to see in my stream. - Jesse Stay

You don't want conversations about how people use twitter? Didn't you respond to Louis Gray's post? - Tyler Hurst

Tyler, no, I don't - it's up to each individual. Unless you're sharing how *you* use Twitter there is no benefit. There's a difference between how you're talking here and how I'm talking - I'm talking to the actual individual I'm criticizing, because I want to warn you it's cluttering up my stream. You're just talking behind his back about something that will never change and he'll never see. I still have yet to see how that is productive, or beneficial to those reading your discussion. - Jesse Stay

Talking behind his back? I've chatted with him about it before. He uses it one way, I use it another. I'm not trying to get HIM to change, I'm simply using his actions as catalyst to foster discussion on what we could all do to improve the experience. Again, if you didn't want to talk about this, why did you join in the convo? You wanted to share your opinion, right? - Tyler Hurst

I joined because I wanted to share that I think this type of convo is spammy in and of itself. I don't want it in my stream. It's not that I don't want to talk about it - it's that I don't want to see it. - Jesse Stay

So you want us to know that you don't like what we're talking about and that you'd rather not hear from us (or just me, I suppose)? Spammy? Really? That's a stretch. - Tyler Hurst

Tyler hmmm...I've heard Guy say the same response to what you guys are saying about him. - Jesse Stay

Anyway, I'm hiding this conversation now. I've said all I need to say - carry on since you guys seem to have the time for it. - Jesse Stay

While I don't agree with Kawasaki's tweeting strategy, I will note that he is not the first one to apply a personal name (in this case, his own) to a multi-person corporate enterprise. Hint: Abagail Van Buren, Ann Landers, Mickey Mouse, and Wendy Ward are not single entities. I think the reason that Kawasaki is treated differently is because there are prominent social media users that DO write everything personally (e.g. Robert Scoble). - John E. Bredehoft

Interesting how Guy Kawasaki is the featured user on Jesse Stay's company website (SocialToo) right now. - Tyler Hurst