Everyone has their own idea as to how to be the next big thing in social media. Almost none of those ideas are right. In some ways, it’s almost luck of the draw as to who becomes “famous” on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. In many cases, people find themselves elevated to the rank of “famous” within social media circles with a lot of hard work. It’s not easy to cultivate a following and keep them interested. Trust me on this. I’ve gained followers, and I’ve lost followers. It happens on a daily basis. However, I don’t have a panic attack if someone unfollows me. I just figure I’m not their cup of tea, and go on about my life.

Not everyone can say the same with any degree of truthfulness, though. I know quite a few people who spend more time tracking how well they are doing on Twitter than they do actually sending out tweets. They are so immersed in the “numbers” that they have forgotten what got them their followers and friends in the first place. People don’t follow someone simply because they are “popular”. They follow someone because they are genuinely interested in what the person has to say.

In any case, it’s often humorous to watch someone who has decided they are famous on Twitter or Facebook. I love it when a person has become “too important” for their own good. Call me a meanie, but it’s just plain funny to watch those giant egos burst when they finally realize that they weren’t so important after all. Only then do we ever get to see the real person.

Tremendous News hit the nail on the head with a recent post: 7 Signs You’re Taking Yourself Too Seriously on Social Media.

• You Actually Posed For A Picture With The Clear Intention Of It Being Your Facebook Or Twitter Profile Picture.
• For Real-Life Crises, You Seek Advice From Anonymous Internet People.
• You Have Customized Social Media Clothes.
• You Think Your Facebook Fans Are Like Real Fans.
• You Panic When Your Follower/Fan/Friend Growth Stalls.
• You Think You Have More Influence Than Established Mediums.
• You Think Because A Celebrity Acknowledges Your Existence, You’re Immediately Friends.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. If you recognize yourself in any of the above scenarios, it’s time to step away from TweetDeck and get back in touch with reality.

How to Make it Big in Social Media

Found her in the middle of the crosswalk. Her phone sucks when taking pictures – even at SXSW. Forgive the quality! Keep in mind that the smiles were more than real! Liz is great!

Thanks to AMD for making this moment possible!

I Found Me Some @LizMoney

Okay, I got bored – and now you can learn about my boredom any time I care to tell you about my boring life! Seems silly to do, but… I’m a silly guy. Silly people know me, too (as evidenced by today’s twitterpations):

• Kitta Not really amazed that Anna Nicole Smith is dead, she was pretty much a walking talking pharmacy and a bad soap opera all-in-one 6 minutes ago from web
• bbrooks IMAP + RDP + backed UP PST FTW 7 minutes ago from web
• P_Dilly back from lunch, logging into Second Life to check out an idea I had. 8 minutes ago from web
• NickStarr @Shooby Is it fast enough to support ReadyBoost? If so, I say take it. 8 minutes ago from im
• Bwana Forgetting how to embed quicktime movies 9 minutes ago from web
• rael Moving offices… Yay! 14 minutes ago from im
• fraying At dinner with the museum folks. There is much French. 19 minutes ago from mobile
• cvp putting together a temp site for the design firm.. until our backend is done anyway 19 minutes ago from twitterrific
• wisequark Merlin on TWiT? Wow, Dvorak might go wackadoo…er 25 minutes ago from twitterrific
• arstechnica [Infinite Loop] MacTech to publish “VBA to AppleScript” guide for Office developers – http://tinyurl.com/22m9w5 25 minutes ago from web
• leolaporte TWiT This Week: Dvorak, Wil Harris, Tom Merritt, and Merlin Mann 26 minutes ago from im

Have you been twitterpated? It’s the non-sequitur social center of the universe! I’ll be your random friend, sure.

The Deal with Twitter