More Than This

As I skip through my online life, I am reminded that so many of us see the world as being divided into online and offline personae.

Managing Your Friends (Photo credit: cambodia4kidsorg)

A Division

There are many folks who separate the two, and may even do so successfully. Online friends are online. Offline friends are off, although emails are exchanged, and there may be a Facebook friendship there or an exchange of tweets. But that’s it, right?

But then there’s the moment when a Facebook friend introduces you to another, and it’s for some purpose or another, such as playing Scrabble. Or a LinkedIn connection who you’ve never actually seen – just some networking friend of a friend – suggests coffee.

A Collision

And suddenly the worlds begin to collide.

Who’s online? Who’s off? Does it matter? Should they be separate? Were they ever?

A Confrontation in a Dark Alley

And what about trolls? What are the differences between their online and offline personae? The person who is nasty to you online, do they really behave that way face to face? I’ve got my doubts, but hey, you never know. Maybe they really do have a misshapen nose, from all of the times its been broken by someone they’ve insulted.

A Hug in Person

But most of the time, there is little difference between the online and the offline world. At least, that’s been my observation, when I have met people and have had occasion to hug them in person. Sure, online we have some time to reflect on what we’re going to say. And we can ignore and unfriend and step away from the keyboard. Real life, offline, doesn’t really work that way. But a lot really is similar, and I can attest that it’s a blast to meet people who you’ve never seen before. I have honestly never had a bad experience.

Normal precautions, of course, should be taken. Don’t meet in some unknown, private place. Don’t leave without someone knowing where you’re going. Get information as you can before departing. Don’t be stupid.

But go out and meet ’em. Meetings, gatherings, conventions, whatever you want to call them, they bring online people even closer. It’s a lot harder to flame someone if you know them.

Oh, and I can practically guarantee – once you’ve heard someone speak, you’ll hear their posts in their voice from then on.

Quinnipiac Assignment #06 – NESN Key Indicators

This week, our video assignment was about Key Performance Indicators. Once again, I chose NESN (the New England Sports Network). They are admirably open about their online metrics. I love how they never seem to shy away from revealing all.

What was perhaps most amusing about this particular video was when I checked out NESN’s listed demographics and came up with a buyer persona.

My typical buyer persona turned out to be – ta da! – Spoiler Alert! – my husband, Jay Siegel.

Why?

NESN Typical Buyer Persona

Quinnipiac Assignment #06 – NESN Key Indicators

NESN’s audience, by far, was dominated by men. Their age group was mainly within the 25 – 54 age range, although that was not anywhere near as dominant as the gender imbalance. Finally, their geographic placement was mainly clustered around the New England and New York areas.

What was rather fascinating for me was that the biggest American state for NESN viewership isn’t in New England at all. It’s California. But that is, perhaps, more a function of California’s gigantic population than anything else. California accounts for a good fifteen percent of the American viewership of NESN. Massachusetts holds the number two slot, with ten percent. New York is third, with nine percent. Hence the New England/New York combination is already greater than that of California.

Unfortunately, Chartbeat did not show (on their free report) any states beyond the Top Five. But it would not shock me if the Top Five were rounded out by at least one or two of the other five New England states, and other Northeastern states, such as New Jersey, or Maryland. The map rather clearly indicated a bias in favor of the Northeast.