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Home Insider Blogs Toni Blake's Blog To My Online Friends - An Open Letter of Apology
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Oct 06
2010

To My Online Friends - An Open Letter of Apology

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Posted by: Toni Blake on Oct 6, 2010 13:18

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Today I have had an epiphany. Several things happened that made me see the light.  First, SocialTimes.com reported that 71%  of tweets do not get a single reply. I have often wondered why my tweets drifted off into thin air, like I was only tweeting into the wind. I’m not big on tweeting, but others are, so I do it to stay cool. :) I have followers, so often I tweet out of “Twitter guilt”! I also realized today that 2 people are following me on Slideshare. REALLY - you can follow people on slideshare. Today I also learned that you can "check in" to local businesses on Yelp and become a Duke! That's right - I was really proud to be the Mayor until I leaned my buddy was a Duke! I am working to build friends on MFI, Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare and everywhere I look is my profile! I just think I am at the end of my preverbal social media rope.

So, to all my friends. I apologize for all the request, updates, unnecessary tweets, group invitations, check ins, shouts and status updates. It’s ok if you don’t follow, lead, comment or share, I am just really happy to be your friend. I apologize if you have felt obligated to follow me because I quote Elvis (like I did last week on Facebook). If you are my friend and I hope you are, I would like to publicly apologize for the expectations of social media. I will try to reduce my expectations, stop looking at numbers and focus on the quality, love, life and great opportunities we have to stay connected. I really do feel so blessed to have so many friends. I hope you will forgive me for my zealous passion for social media, competitive nature and exploration of all that is possible. I will continue to share, post, comment, check in, shout, upload and follow, it’s just ok if you don’t jump on my bandwagon! If you show up - I will see it as a gift - not an obligation!

So, I guess in closing I will just say . . . I am sorry!

Toni Blake

PS: Follow me onTwitter, Be my friend on Facebook, Link with me at Linkedin, Be my friend on Yelp, Follow me on SlideShare, Be my friend on Foursquare, Be my friend on MFI, Join my Group at MFI & have a nice day!  LOL  ;)


Comments (15)Add Comment
4041
written by Christopher Higgins, October 06, 2010
Toni - could you cut and paste this and send it to me in a series of Tweets? Or as an RSS feed? Or maybe fax it?
1273
written by Eric Kochis, October 06, 2010
Toni- Thanks for the giggle. You need to go to Blog Spot and UStream and set up an account. Come on get with it!!!!
smilies/wink.gif
E!
235
written by Toni Blake, October 06, 2010
Hey Christopher - You can re-tweet the whole thing with one click from the top of the blog post! It think the RSS here is for the whole site. I will find out and let you know. Thanks for the read and the comment, you know you didn't have to!! hehehehehee I have to say that I laughed out loud when I wrote the PS!! I sat in my kitchen for a good 10 minutes all by myself giggling! You should consider the source though, I am very easily amused!!smilies/grin.gifsmilies/cheesy.gif
5391
written by Kelle Senye, October 06, 2010
It was time for a good laugh, Toni! Thanks....my epiphany also came this week in learning just how valuable that social connection is! smilies/wink.gif So whether we are commenting or retweeting, we're following!
235
written by Toni Blake, October 06, 2010
Thanks Kelle! I do love my friends!!! Thanks for staying with me! I got your back too!
2672
written by Daisy Nguyen, October 06, 2010
LOVE you! And would follow you, retweet you, friend you, link you, connect with you, or WHATEVER anywhere, anytime MAYOR Toni!
4470
written by Jolene Sopalski, October 09, 2010
I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Jolenesmilies/wink.gif
0
written by Jill Manty, October 11, 2010
Very funny post.
2781
written by martin ginsburg, October 12, 2010
Tweeting will go the way of the model T.
Social media is way over-rated as far as apartment rentals are concerned.

Social media is anything but social as it takes away peoples' time from unadulterated face to face human interaction. But it is a free world and people can fritter away precious time anyway the way they like.

62
written by Brent Williams, October 12, 2010
@Martin - I think social media will cease to be a stand-alone entity from the "real world". More and more signs are pointing to a convergence of the two, so I don't think it will be an "either or" situation much longer... And I do agree that social media is over-rated for apartment rentals, but vastly underrated for resident retention opportunities.
291
written by Tamela Coval, October 12, 2010
Toni always takes the cake.
I freely admit that I have learned to be a wired and fired-up geekery-inundated-but-loving-it nerd. I too, listened with chagrin to the newsline this morning about the Tweet Lonely-Hearts club.
To be dramatic...Alas...lost words floating out forever in the blogosphere. I don't think so...I will argue that I bone up on people's historical postings.

Heck, I get a kick out of reading some of Lady GaGa's past Tweets. (Guilty, I'm a Little Monster. Some of you would argue that I'm a big Monster, but that's a topic for another day.) You learn many things about people through their tweet notes and likes.

I lost a high-school beau just last week and our last communication was through FaceBook. I will cherish even more the notes from that Sweet TeddyBear of a man.

Earlier this summer my Mentor died. I still have our LinkedIn, email and FaceBook chuckles and photos we shared with one another when we were too far apart to run across town to visit. I revisit and reflect upon these when I have an "I miss Anita" moment.

Geographical boundaries are removed through Social Media communication. I have made new friends that I might never have known except through the power of social networking. And the cool part...we recognize each other.

The absolute most epic (teenager's groovy term of the month) and best part about social media however, is that you can keep an eye on your kids and totally freak them out by commenting on an old post or activity that they engaged in.

Toni, I love your open note of apology. As always, you teach the lesson about the battle between the good wolf and the bad wolf, both perched on your shoulder. The one that wins is the one you feed.

Cheers to you and Elvis sends a fried-peanut-butter-and banana sandwich to your good wolf while reminding us, "if sequined jumpsuits are wrong, then I don't want to be right."
235
written by Toni Blake, October 12, 2010
Martin, I love Social Media!!!!! I have traveled to over 60 cites each year for 26 years as a speaker. I love the face-time in each city. I make friends, share meals, moments and memories and then I leave. In the past, I might see these same people again in person every 5 or 10 years and it was hard to stay in touch. Facebook allows me to see them everyday! People in Shreveport where I am now just made friends with me on Facebook! I pick up new friends in each city. I love checking in on my friends, seeing their family, sharing life's joy, laughter and tears. Facebook has given me a new way to share many emotions. When my mother called me to tell me that my uncle lost his battle with cancer, I was devastated. When we hung up the phone, I was sitting alone on my bed with my laptop open on Facebook. I simply typed in my status update "My heart is broken, my uncle is the newest angle in heaven. We will miss him." Martin, within second my friend Jared in FL posted his love, then another, and another. I was suddenly not alone in my room, I could "feel" the love and prayers of my friends surround me there. I love "unadulterated face to face human interaction" but today we are so spread out. Life's busy schedule and geography has made face time expensive and hard to come by. People stay in touch with email, telephone and other communication tools. Facebook is just another communication tool. I love it! We all experience things uniquely, for me this has become the most extraordinary tool of my lifetime and it has enriched my experience with both my family and my friends. Even here in the comments I could "feel the love" from some of my friends.


Be my friend on Facebook, come enjoy the community there and share in the love!
It is what it is - and it is GOOD!!!!

Toni Blake
2109
written by Karen Long, October 13, 2010
Just when I was about ready to toss social media out on its ear...I read this and think, OK, it does make some sense.
291
written by Tamela Coval, October 13, 2010
This has been out and updated numerous times, but never fails to fascinate me. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFZ0z5Fm-Ng
1702
written by Elysa Rice, October 13, 2010
can always count on you Toni for a laugh. I will say though this post is missing your usual !!! smilies/cheesy.gif I think there were only 2 exclamation points in the whole post. you're fallin' down on the job. And also just so ya know on Yelp you're either the Duke or the Duchess which I think it just awesome. AND if you have the most Dukes/Duchess claims in a city then you become King/Queen of that town.

and sidenote for Martin - for those who say they don't believe in social media my first question is a)how did you find this blog post and b)not "answering" social media pings at a company is just like not answering a phone. If people are talking about you/your company (setup google alerts you'll see) you should answer.
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