You hate spam, I hate spam … we all hate spam. Right?
I spend a lot of time reading, researching, and finding out about stuff. I like knowing things. While I am reading, learning, and soaking in the glory of this Information Superhighway we have all built together, I encounter a lot of spam. Don’t we all?
We all want it to feel like a global community and we all want to know more about people, things, places and more. We find out how different we are, and we find out how similar we are. We find out what others like, and we find out things they don’t like. Sometimes we mix it up and forget that while we are so vigilant about not hearing the stuff we don’t want to hear (spam), we may miss a few things we do want to hear.
People love to talk about themselves. People with kids love to talk about their kids. People who love food love to talk about the great cuisine they just enjoyed. People with something to sell love to talk about their goods.
We each have a lot to say, and when we can connect it all with a worldwide crowd, it validates us. It makes us feel less alone. It makes us HUMAN!
I have always been careful to discourage a bunch of spam on my blog comments. I want real comments that people will find useful and will build a conversation. At the same time, I have to question what I may be missing.
I wrote a post once upon a time asking for people to share their Twitter usernames. It was titled “Twitter Username Selection: What’s in a Name?” It turned out that even with over 160 comments, it was not entirely a spamfest, but also allowed people to share who they are. It allowed people to talk about themselves. It also allowed and encouraged people to connect.
That is what I am offering now, but in a different way. I want to ask each of you … yes, YOU, to share a little about yourself. What do you like? What are you all about? What do you do for a living? Do you have something to sell? Share it with people here, because you never know whom you may connect with.
Hey, what can be the worst outcome? We have to sort through a little bit of junk to find the prize? They do that at diamond mines, too.
This is my call for spam. Place your spam here. When I say spam, in this case I mean to not be afraid to talk about yourself … I don’t mean to offer your free diplomas or cheap Rolex watches. I mean, connect, share, and don’t be afraid to drop a link or sell us some stuff. As long as it is in good taste, let it fly. This is a mixer, so by all means, MIX!
NOTE: If you are wondering how or if I will moderate this … Yes, I will probably have to shut the comments off at some point or begin some manual moderation. Big deal, I can handle it. As long as it sounds genuine and is not illegal, go ahead and share it with the rest of us!
By the way … aren’t you curious what people will say when they are actually requested to talk about themselves? Be sure to subscribe to the comments!
UPDATE: Take a look at the things we may miss when we become too cynical. There are some really talented and amazing people in this world, and right here in the blog comments! Let us all be sure that we each stop and smell the flowers.