So true.
Tim Jahn´s last blog ..NogginLabs

I said it before, that kind of education works privately, one on one. One person is smart, but people are stupid.
Carlos Miceli´s last blog ..The Human Equation Conflict

“We’re tired of the mediocrity and we’re demanding more from this rich medium that’s practically overflowing with potential. The problem is, that potential never seems to be reached because we all spend too much time rehashing the same topics and polishing our own reputations, rather than collectively pushing the medium forward. But for those of us who would like to discuss these issues at a more “advanced” level, there’s a catch: Because our audiences come to us for advice and insights, we spend the bulk of our time educating others and far too little time pursuing the lessons we need to improve ourselves. What we need is to do both at once.”

On one side you have Bryan and Matt that believe strongly about educating the masses (whether they’re necessarily drones or not), and on the other you have Carlos, Monica, & Tim who’d rather let them worry about themselves and push the medium forward.

Though my own disposition leads towards the latter, I certainly see the need for the first. I was going to conclude that in most circumstances you have to pick your path and follow it, and that while there can be some overlap it’s tough to truly do both.

Justin’s proposed solution has me thinking differently. Can someone effectively do both at once? Would Carlos even want to?

Bingo. People feel the need to stroke everybody else’s back and ego, just so that other people can do the same to them. I’m all for collaboration, working on projects together, and that sort of activity.

But there’s a big difference between that and promoting a world of mediocrity for the sake of building your own drone fanbase.
Tim Jahn´s last blog ..Fifth House Ensemble

I don’t think there are “some” drones, I think there are “MANY” drones, but that’s SAMantics… <– see what I did there? There's NOTHING wrong with supporting friends or even weak ties, provided that it's for the right reasons and you're as intent on challenging them when necessary as you are about praising them when deserved.

It seems like you are promoting a model of mediocre content that would not normally be shared but is because these weak ties feel like they have to reciprocate.

I agree that it is nice to retweet others, but I won’t do it insincerely. I don’t ever retweet many of my friends and I do retweet plenty of strangers. My friends are still my friends and the strangers are still people who produced something really interesting that was worth sharing with others.

Using weak ties as your main promotional tool might be the substitute for actually producing something worth talking about.
Monica O’Brien´s last blog ..Next on the Digital Chopping Block: Cable Television