OK. I am like you. I subscribe to all the A-List bloggers too. You know, the ones who get 4,000 retweets for every post they publish. And for the most part, it is well deserved.
The content you find there is often stellar material. And worth reading. These are the people headlining most conferences, getting published, featured in all the hot interviews…
Like I said, well deserved.
But what is the really cool part about the social web? Finding thousands of blogs that are mostly under the radar. Trust me, there is great content out there. Pure gold. Thought-provoking content. New angles on well-discussed subjects. Humor. Sass. And yeah, world-changing ideas too…
It just seems most of us aren’t finding it.
Funny thing is, I scan about 250 blogs per day on my RSS reader, and a heavy majority of those are blogs flying under the radar. On average, most of them get about five retweets per post. This is a shame. I sometimes think we believe that content without a lot of retweets isn’t worthy of sharing.
Or, do we perhaps NOT share great a post because we don’t want to be one of just a small handful of folks sharing the content? I wonder if this happens. I sometimes catch myself thinking that. I promise to stop.
I also wonder if we are more likely to share the content of people NOT in our direct geographical space. Most of my retweets come from people who live far away from me. Or does it just seem that way? Do you observe this? Are locals less likely to share content because they perceive fellow locals as competition? I don’t know. I wonder about it though.
But I promise to make a much more concerted effort to share the little gems that don’t get much attention. Some believe the best art produced on Broadway is OFF of it. And that’s true. I have seen some “Off Broadway” plays – and they are in fact, outstanding.
Sure, it is cool to see the big famous productions. Those rarely disappoint. And it is fun to see the stars.
But sometimes “Off Broadway” gives you that fresh, new perspective you need. And there can be a lot of joy in discovering new talent, the future stars.
They can change the world too…
So join me. Make it a goal to share one new “Off Broadway” blog each week. Help bring fresh content, new ideas, new talent, to the front of the stage. We will all benefit!
[cartoon by @gapingvoid]