[SOC]

I have a problem. I have 5000 friends on Facebook. I can only have 5000 friends on Facebook. Yet, I keep getting friend requests. To make room, I post deliberately inflammatory material on my Facebook wall to piss off people of a left leaning persuasion or what I refer to as "leftards." This makes the figure dip under the 5000 mark briefly, so I can add others to the mix. This is my secret name for those 5000 people--the Mix. They are a truly diverse bunch.

There are two main groups of people I have in the Mix. The first are the atheists. The second are the libertarians, anarcho-capitalists, voluntaryists, and Objectivists. There is some lap over as many atheists are libertarians. But many more are leftards.

I don't defriend people unless they are spammers or assholes I deal with in real life that I need to edit out of my life. Otherwise, the Mix is like a big club that everyone wants to join. I feel like the DJ who spins the records for this bunch as I post links to be debated and fought over. I don't let anyone else post on my wall because I always get somebody wanting to spam the works with their bullshit.

I wonder why my blog is not more popular. But I already have the answer. I write notes for my Facebook wall that are virtually ignored. The ones who do read the notes seem to like them. I post links on the Wall to posts here on the C-blog, but the response is about the same. My status updates are wildly popular, but they are not more than a sentence or two. Yet, those get copied and shared. I've gone ahead and ceased writing notes, and I don't even bother linking my blog posts unless it is something I wrote that I want some feedback on.

People don't read. That is what I have learned about Facebook. The secret to success on Facebook is brevity. A video link will outdo an article link. The video should be about five minutes in length. Photos are also winners. Find funny pics and post them and people will eat them up.

I do Twitter as well, but that platform utterly blows. I only use it when some pithy aphorism hits me when I am not at my computer, so I text it in. But Twitter does have something that Facebook doesn't. There are no limits except on the size of Tweets. You can have one million followers or more which is why celebrities flock there. You can experience exponential growth in your fan base with that platform. But most people prefer Facebook.

I find that the different platforms have different audiences. Blogs aim at the high brow folks who want to read stuff that is denser and more intellectually stimulating. Facebook aims at the middle brow folks who enjoy some articles, pithy remarks, and stimulating debates. Twitter aims for the low brow types on the go with their smartphones. This will explain why most of my tweets revolve around my gastro-intestinal tract.

The idea that a cross platform strategy works is a myth. For instance, putting up a blog post and then tweeting the link is not going to do a lot for you. Similarly, I think I have only had a handful of people follow the links from my blog sidebar over to Facebook or Twitter to friend or follow me despite the fact that I get 15,000 to 20,000 pageviews per month here. As I said, the different platforms appeal to different segments of the population. If I have any kind of tip for people using the internet, it is to recognize this segmentation and tailor your stuff for those platforms.

With blogging, the secret is no secret. This blog "succeeds" despite itself because I break every blogging rule there is. I am not relentlessly upbeat and positive. In fact, my shit borders on nihilistic gloom-and-doom. If people wonder why I post so much bad but colorful self-made art, it is to balance the gloom. It is the same reason I keep two red shirts in my drawer because the bulk of my wardrobe is black. My posts are long, and they are not always in the form of a list. I don't put numbers in the titles like "9 Easy Steps to Intense Orgasm." People have to know what those 9 steps are, and you can really blow their minds if you can get it down to 3. The other thing to do is to relentlessly feed the narcissistic navel gazing of people with self-improvement topics which revolve around these two basic things--making more money and getting in shape. This is because these two things feed that last but unstated goal which is getting laid more. If you look at popular magazines like Men's Health, you will find that this is the bulk of what they publish.

People wonder why the minimalist bloggers have blown up like they have, but the answer is obvious. They appeal to the same self-development urges that other blogs and magazines feed except they give real answers instead of bullshit answers. I am amazed that Leo Babauta and Tim Ferriss are even friends because they are totally unlike each other. One is a vegetarian while the other is a carnivore. One is a devoted family man while the other lives out of a backpack for months at a time. One is down to earth while the other one is full of shit. One is a minimalist while the other is a maximilist advising people to overcommit and learn to let neglect do the editing for you.

I have learned between the two to go with Babauta's advice. It is achievable and makes more sense. I've tried the Ferriss thing, and it does not work. Go out and try his way, and the one thing you will notice is how fucking annoyed everyone around you becomes. This comes from sending them emails which gets an auto responder reply from you. The message to you is that I need YOU to pay attention to ME, but I don't really have time for YOU because I am too busy with ME. I know someone who is exactly like this which is why I don't bother with him anymore. When I feel that I am in a lopsided relationship, that relationship ends. My time is important, too.

I remember Penelope Trunk wrote a piece called 5 Time Management Tricks I Learned from Years of Hating Tim Ferriss. When I first read it, I thought she was just being a bitch. Now, I realize that article was spot-on. I read that piece now with fresh eyes. The gist of it is that Tim Ferriss is a narcissist with a shit filling, and the best way to manage your time is to not waste your time with people like Tim Ferriss. Believe me, that shit works.

Relationships are a mutual exhange. You give value for value. When this exchange breaks down, the relationship breaks down. I stole this idea from the Objectivists who will probably try and sue me because they are retarded like that. But they are right on this. People like Tim Ferriss abuse your time and you.

I am a take it or leave it type of person. It doesn't bother me when I am ignored. I am fairly generous with my time, but that generosity ends when I believe that the other person is just using me. And the moment that someone lets me know they are not interested in what I have to offer, I stop talking to them. I don't waste my time on them. This may seem mean on my part, but it isn't. The reason is that I don't want to waste their time either. This is the difference between me and someone like Tim Ferriss. I believe in giving people value for the time they spend on me. If I can't do this, I'm not going to try and lock the exit or con them into buying some of my other wares. You don't need marketing when you have value.

To tie this back into the Facebook thing, I have had people write to me to tell me that I "post too much." Whenever I get that, I defriend that person. The reason is because I have 4999 other people who eat that shit up. I have others waiting in line to eat that shit up. So, it is sayonara. It truly is take it or leave it with me. I feel like the Soup Nazi sometimes.

This turned out to be a long free writing session, and I need to get ready for work. I think best in the morning especially after coffee. Morning is the best time to write. I feel good right now, so I know this day will end badly. I must get my defensive pessimism in gear.

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