Crows and Social Proof: How Early Adopters Build the Web
Last week I hung a bird feeder in my backyard, but didn’t realize there would be a social media lesson involved.
The first parallel might be obvious. I hung the bird feeder up and hoped a few birds would come, much like we might build a blog or another website and hope for a few visitors. Unfortunately I didn’t know of any social media sites where I could let the birds know about the feeder, so all I could do is wait.
For a few days nothing happened. No birds. I started to wonder if it was a bad idea, a waste of time. Or perhaps I should have hung it in the front yard where I had already seen birds hang out. But my cat hangs out in the front yard and rarely enters the fence to the back (where the dogs are), so the back yard seemed safer for the birds.
Eventually a few birds did show up. Crows. They were not exactly the cute little birds I imagined fluttering joyously around my back yard but they were visitors nonetheless. The next day I noticed a couple robins, and yesterday there were two finches. Now the bird feeder is a resounding success.
But I noticed a Social Media truth in the process: the crows were first to show up.
A Prejudice Against Crows
I’ve always thought crows were attractive with their shiney black feathers, but I remember my mom shooing them away from her bird feeder when I was a child. To my mom, crows were the criminals of the bird world. They ate trash and ransacked the nests of smaller birds. Crows were scavengers, the lower class birds.
An online friend recently sent an invitation to a new social media site. The site is still in beta, so membership is by invitation only. The site looks promising although it’s still small. But I remember thinking to myself as I registered, “I wonder how long before the Internet Marketers come?”
Internet Marketers are one type of crow in the online world. Marketers are among the first to arrive when someone hangs up a new “birdhouse” because they’re constantly on the prowl for something new. They are the early adopters, but the online world often views them as lower class birds.
Crows Are the Early Adopters
A few years ago I received an email from Seth Godin inviting me to sign up for a new site called “Squidoo” where I could create something called a “lens”. I didn’t consider myself an Internet Marketer, and I’m not sure how I got on that email list, but I remember he told me I was an “early adopter”. I liked the sound of that and was flattered by the title. I did sign up and fiddle with the site but never finished building one of those “lenses”.
I guess I didn’t really see any need. However, the crows saw the need; they saw what was in it for them and helped make Squidoo into what it is today.
The same thing happened when Blogger was new. I signed up and built a blog, but abandoned it soon after because I didn’t have a need for it. I also built countless blogs on the Movable Type platform and a few on the old WordPress 1.5, but only because I enjoyed tinkering. However, marketers saw the potential of blogging and were a major force behind its development as a publishing platform.
A few months ago the Internet was buzzing about Google’s version of Wikipedia which would allow monetization by the author of each entry. I mentioned it on an Internet Marketing forum and I could imagine those particular crows drooling. A part of me wanted to shoo them away from this new bird feeder, however I knew it would be inevitable and the crows would come.
But without the crows clearing a path, how long before the finches would decide it was safe? The finches are cute but often it’s the crows who pave the way.
Crows provide social proof the place is worth a finch’s time.
13 comments
Terry,
Did you try to write a book? Not ebook, normal book, like novel. I think you should give it a try, if you didn’t yet
I really enjoy reading your essays lately.
Thanks, Misha
@Misha: Thanks, I appreciate the encouragement. Actually, I do have an unfinished novel in the works. Maybe once I finish my thesis (hopefully in June) I’ll be able to work on that novel over the summer.
So true Terry, that social media is following the same path as IM in general. First you have the early adopters and then gradually the media becomes more mainstream.
IM has definitely started to become mainstream, and I think social media is already mainstream for social users, but is just crossing the bridge from social use to specific marketing use.
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I second Misha’s thoughts. You certainly write very well. Consider it seriously!!
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..17 Types Of Smiles To Wear: A Guide For All Occasions
@Mark: So are you thinking, where social media is concerned, marketers are finches and the public was the crows?
@Evelyn: Thank you so much. So at least now I know my novel could have TWO sales.
You do have a nice style of writing which comes across as very natural (and almost hypnotic
@Caroline: Wow, hypnotic? You are getting sleepy . . . you will subscribe to my RSS feed . . . and buy my book when I write it . . .
Seriously, I do appreciate the encouragement!
Who? You? haha
Very well written, Terry. I always enjoy the way you explain with a story. Have you written a print book yet? You should!
A good example of marketers “early adopting” a social media site would be Twitter.
It’s still very new to the average person. Most non-marketers have yet to hear of it, but every serious marketer knows all about it and we’re all drooling.
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HAHA I HONESTLY didn’t read the other comments when writing mine!
Just read them, how ironic!
@Josh: Well, you know what they say: “Great minds think alike.” So with all you great-minded readers saying the same thing I’m really motivated to get that novel finished.
I agree how Twitter is a perfect example of IMs playing the crow. Eventually it will probably be more mainstream, and I know the marketers really are, as you say, drooling . . . “Gotta build that list!”
Great post Terry. IMers definitely jump on the “latest” trends to “build their list.”
Pretty weak in my opinion. There’s definitely NO “social” in their media wouldn’t you agree? I’m writing a post about that right now myself.
BTW did you write a post about no more SEONoobs? I came over here from AllTop so I think I didn’t get the memo.
Nonetheless, you rock terry!
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You are an excellent writer. Your comparison of the Crows to early-adopters and theme made your points very understandable.
Hi Terry I have been checking your blog for a few days and I have decided to include it in my blog roll email me or drop me a comment if you would like some particular special keyword or anchor text in your link.
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