On this date way back in 2008 I needed a new website. I was transitioning from a job in a related industry and needed a URL that better reflected what I was now into. Mortgage > Title > Social Media/WordPress (with a detour along the way to do a bunch of Facebook Development stuff).
How or Why did I come up with the name?
Glad you asked… But 1st, is it my website’s Birthday? or Anniversary?
I’m not sure if you remember, but at the time there were a few social networks around and each had a slightly different feel. I was going to be writing about tech, social media and how to use the tools social media provided. I did know that social networks come and go, so I wanted something that didn’t specifically mention a social network but had a somewhat generic reference to them.
Twitter was the party place. We were having interesting conversations on Twitter. It wasn’t news so much as it was a small circle of your friends having a conversation (sometimes with alcohol). My friend Andy had me join Twitter in 2006 right when they launched. I didn’t get it and shortly afterwards I deleted my account. Fast forward to 4/16/2008 and I saw the Twitter Light and rejoined. Sadly, my 1st Tweet wasn’t earth shattering.
Heading home
— Mike Mueller (@MikeMueller) April 17, 2008
Yup. That was literally it. Sad, eh? The next bunch were nothing to write home about either (pun intended).
In Twitter terms, you FOLLOWED someone that you liked. I thought at the time that it sounded kind of creepy, but that creepiness has diminished over the years. I currently have almost 30,k tweets, followed by 12.4k and am following 13.3k peeps.
Facebook wasn’t so much party, more like family gathering (at least in the beginning).
I joined FB the day it opened up to non students. I had a feeling it was going to be big. I honestly didn’t have any idea how big it was going to get. I joined FB in July of 2007 and it used to be a big part of my day. I commented on friends and family items, accepted all friend requests and the day “Fan Pages” came out I created a Page for my business (February 2009). I hit the 5,000 friend limit early on and have a bunch of people that “Subscribe” to my Profile. I have since deleted a bunch I had no interaction with but stopped accepting new requests.
In Facebook terms you become “FRIENDS” with someone’s Profile, you become a “FAN” of their Page (now a “LIKE”) and you “JOIN” a Group.
SIDENOTE:
I’ll bet you didn’t know I haven’t been on FB in over a year, did you? Really. The constant political squabbles that were happening in every conversation kind of drove me away. I still have my Page and technically I still have a Profile but that’s only because I use their Messenger service still. Honestly, I don’t know if or when I’ll be back.
If Twitter was the party, Facebook was the family gathering, then Linkedin had to be the one social network just for business.
Well, at the time it was. Today it’s much more a great place to get unsolicited “JOIN MY WEBINAR” and other sleazy, spammy, sales offers. I’m often reminded of the quote from Chris Brogan who said, “I just met you and you are already trying to stick your tongue down my throat!”
Back in the day, Linkedin really was dignified. If you go back far enough the only way you could connect with someone was if they had the same corporate email as you did. That was a bit archaic and it really doesn’t fit with who or what they are trying to be today.
The point is that all things change. Oh, did you hear that? I said “CONNECT“. That’s the magic word! You see, 11 years ago I knew that while I might still be talking about ways to use different tools for business, I had the foresight to know that social networks change. Sometimes they’ll go completely dark (remember SEESMIC?) and sometimes they’ll morph into something completely different (remember FourSquare?).
I thought the idea of being “Connected” was generic enough to future proof the URL and I think it still is. While the focus of this site has veered a little the basic premise has not. I’m here to help you use technology and tools to better your business. You might have joined in the ride 11 years ago while we delved into Social Media, or somewhere in the middle while I focused on Facebook and Facebook Pages, or just now while I tend to talk more about WordPress and SEO.
No matter when you jumped aboard, it’s been an amazing 11 years and I can’t thank you enough for your support, your comments, your tweets, likes and shares. Hey, just your being here puts a smile on my face!
BLOGGING SIDENOTE: I started blogging somewhere around 2001. I was using software that was called Pyra Labs at the time. They went through a rough patch, almost folded when a bunch of us donated $$ so they could buy new servers, then they were bought by Google who renamed them “BlogSpot” , and then “Blogger”. That person who sold to Google (Evan Williams) went on to help create another company called Twitter. I moved away from Blogger years ago when I first found WordPress and have a been a huge supporter ever since.
When did you start your site?
BONUS: Check out this timeline of the most visited websites on the Internet from 1996 to 2019. Worldwide statistics based on websites traffic measured by monthly visits.
Photo by Perry Grone and Terrance Raper on Unsplash
Mike Mueller
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and wants a really small one). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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