UpYourSocial

Let me say it again. No one cares about your lifestream.  For the vast majority of us, this statement is absolutely true.  You might have followers on Friendfeed, so you could try to argue that those people care about your lifestream.  However, they don’t.  Let me explain why.

The real reason those people follow you is that they are looking for those golden nuggets of information that you share every so often.  These great pieces of information are buried among all the other noise in your stream.  This is the reason people follow your lifestream.  Sometimes sifting through the excess is worth it just to find a great article or application.

I recently wrote a post about Louis Gray being my filter, and I do follow lots of his activity online and really respect how much he helps me stay up to date on all things tech and social media.  However, I don’t read every little thing he does.  I mostly follow him through his Google Reader shares or filter down his Friendfeed lifestream.  I have found this to be the most efficient way to keep up with what Louis is looking at around the Internet.

Exceptions

Steve Rubel changed his blog to a lifestream not too long ago, and he appears to have found some success with it.  Why would he succeed if no one cares about his lifestream?  Well, like every rule, there are exceptions.  Steve has built up a great enough following from his previous blog and keeps his lifestream focused on certain topics.  This allows him to add value by not making his readers search through a lot of extra information.  So really, his lifestream comes pre-filtered, so is it really a lifestream then?

How many other people could do what Steve did and find success?  Very few is the answer.  Most people don’t care about what you have to say, as a whole.  They will probably only like a few links or facts here and there.

Focusing on Lifestreaming?

My final advice is that if you are thinking about making lifestreaming a focus, don’t do it unless you have a devoted following.  Twitter is as close to true lifestreaming as you need to get.  Keep your blog going strong and build your audience.

What do you think about lifestreaming?  Do you agree or do you think I have understated its importance?  Let me know in the comments.

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