Let’s say there is someone you want to communicate with online. In some situations, an email might not work because it might slip through the cracks or come off as too much of a sales pitch. Maybe you do not have anything in particular to say, but need a way to catch their attention.
You might consider connecting with them on a social network. You are interested in what they are up to, so you should probably ‘follow’ them on Twitter anyway. Unfortunately, following someone on a social network does not mean that they are following you. They might receive a notification email after you connect with them, but if the person you want to connect with is similarly targeted by others, that notification email is likely to go ignored.
There is, however, a way to stand out without being too intrusive. By doing a small amount of research, you should be able to find other instances of the individual’s web presence (other social network profiles, blogs, etc).
By adding an individual as a friend on multiple networks at the same time, or AcmeAdding, the potential contact will receive a few notification emails saying “John Smith is your newest contact on __.” Generally, the reaction begins with confusion and results in intrigue, leading to investigation. They will ask “Who is this?” and try to find out who you are and why you’re adding them. If who you are or what you do is relevant to them, then they are likely to connect and/or open the door for conversation.
The term “AcmeAdd” was coined after an observation of social networking expert and Phoenix photographer Adam Nollmeyer of Acme Photography. He usually uses the name “AcmePhoto” on social web sites.
Personally, I am not extremely “popular” but I do receive 15-20 notification emails per day regarding new contacts on various social networks. They do not get opened and I have them filtered so they do not distract from more important email. However, I do see them. Whether or not I take notice of who connected with me, skimming over the names makes them more familiar the next time I see them (in another notification email, in a comment on my blog, or anywhere else).
Brian,
Great post, Thanks for explaining it to the rest of the world. AcmeAdd sounds a lot nicer than “AcmeStalking” for sure. :-) Although if it’s non unwanted and friendly, can it be called “stalking”?
I first observed this effect on flickr.com before I knew all the dynamics of the site. Flickr has a section for the “top 500” photos of the day. (called Explore) This is determined by an unknown algorithm of views, fav’s and comments. Some of my photos would make it into explorer without me promoting them, or adding them to a ton of groups.
When this happened I would receive more comments on that photo, and gain many new contacts. I observed when people commented on my photos, then added me, I would be more prone to check out their flickr stream and thus be more prone to add back.
I then applied the same strategy to my social networking “strategy”. It’s important to note that while I am open to adding most people, if you have been acmeAdded, that means *you* must be interesting, knowledgeable, etc, enough to be pursued in this manner. Does anyone else have an adding strategy? Is it similar or different?
Adam N. – Phoenix AZ
I do things in much the same way that Adam does. When I get a notification that I have a new contact, I usually check to see what’s going on before reciprocating the add. If I’m unusually intrigued by a person, I’ll “AcmeAdd” him, checking to see if he’s also on Twitter, Flickr, etc.
It’s also interesting to be on the other side of this coin. I remember after I first discovered your blog, Brian, that you explained this whole thing to me in an email after I popped up on your radar several times in one night. I try to make myself relatively stalkable on social networking sites, linking to my most-used ones on the “Extras” page of my website and using the same username throughout teh interwebz for easy Googling.
P.S. I like that this has an official term now. Too bad it isn’t a built-in feature with social networking sites… “Click here to AcmeAdd Your Mom!” Man, that would be sweet.
The Social Graph API would allow this to happen automatically (without the “research” part).
http://code.google.com/apis/socialgraph/