#TCOT IS DEAD. LONG LIVE #TCOT.

Let’s Take The Ego Out Of It

Petty disputes between the #TCOT ¹ co-founders are leaving a black eye on Conservatives this week. I think it’s just a matter of less ego, and more big picture thinking. As we say here in Houston, “Credit is Infinitely Divisible”.

On today’s Social Media Hour w/Chris Heuer, I called in and asked Jackie Peters and Nicole Jordan to tell me the biggest problem they’ve had when dealing with their Social Communications* clients. Nicole said that organizations don’t understand Social Media Etiquette or why they’re doing it in the first place. While Jackie said that clients are scared to give up control of their message and terrified of losing the starring role in their own organizations. They don’t want feedback or transperancy. They want to play in the Social Media Space, but they don’t want to get their jeans muddy.

This reaction is typical of individuals and organizations who don’t understand the Social Landscape. For them, it’s more important to have control and ownership over their ideas, then to see those ideas spread.

Which brings me back to the #TCOT Scandal (Yes Scandal is an Exaggeration). #TCOT stands for Top Conservatives on Twitter. And to most of the world it’s just a HashTag. But apparently there is also an accompanying website. So I’ve traced back the tweets, and as far as I can tell (feel free to correct me if you believe I’m wrong), this is where it all began:

This was accompanied by the following letter describing the conflict:

http://kithbridge.com/tcot/index.php/tcot-feed

The backlash from the Twitter community was immediate and harsh. Here’s are just some of the sentiments expressed.

As the bickering wore on and tempers continued to flare, some of the more liberal twitterati decided to grab a bowl of popcorn and watch the cat fight.

And of course, the Techies & Open Source folks had to voice an opinion too.

There is much more, and you can read all the tweets and replies by going here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tcot+rneppell or here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tcot+michaelpleahy

One of the original founders of the #TCOT hashtag (and subsequent website) stated that the reason he was fighting so hard for this issue was that it was his work. And he wanted credit for it. Fine. Except. It’s just a Hashtag. And one person didn’t single-handedly make it popular. Lots of people were responsible for it’s adoption and popularity.

Let’s contrast this with #FollowFriday. #FollowFriday was originally created by Micah Baldwin. And to date I haven’t seen him ever attempt to issue guidelines or control over how #FollowFriday is used or spread. It could be argued that #FollowFriday is much more popular than #TCOT, and yet we don’t see Micah claiming to be the reason for it’s success. We see just the opposite.

I’m one of the biggest capitalists around. I believe in making lots of money and being paid what I’m worth. But what this #TCOT co-founder was talking about was not Capitalism. Whatever the original intentions of #TCOT might have been on the part of the founders, they were not responsible for it’s success. If you did all the work, then you can take all the credit, but #TCOT was a combination of luck and passion on behalf of all the conservatives who finally had a flag to wave on Twitter. Lots of popular politicians and twitterati adopted and spread this meme. I don’t think they would have been so quick to spread the good word, if they thought the intentions of these founders was to capitalize and attempt to cash-out on #TCOT. And if that was the intention – maybe they should have stated it more clearly.

As Laura Fitton so brilliantly expressed in a chat we had earlier about this issue: “Human Nature tells us to dominate others to prove our own value.” It looks like the people on Twitter aren’t interested in being dominated or controlled. #TCOT is DEAD. LONG LIVE #TCOT.

Note: *Social Communications – An alternative to Social Media, New Media, and New Media Relations.

Popularity: 32% [?]

If You Like This Article, You Might Also Like:

• Sorry, No Related Articles

Erica OGrady is the CXO of Peanut Butter Media. She is currently HOMELESS while working on a project called Twilight & Tea. Erica is a Writer, Adventurer, Explorer who Still Believes in Santa and Following Your Bliss -- For more information Text ERICAOGRADY to 50500