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The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!

February 18, 2011 27 Comments

In 1775, the British army, without much resistance, conquered towns west of Boston.

Its commonly taught in American classrooms that those towns west of Boston were decidedly pro-British. As you will see, this is a fallacy.

Meanwhile to the north.

Paul Revere took a north route out of Boston to warn people about the impending invasion. As we all know, his message was heard.

People prepared the resistance and prevailed against the invaders from the British Empire. Too bad no one warned people to the west about the invasion.

Or did they?

A man named William Dawes was tasked with exactly the same mission as Paul Revere, but he must have fallen asleep in a tavern along the way, right? Wrong!

Mr. Dewes had traversed many long miles, met with many people and communicated the message to the townsmen west of Boston.

So what made a difference?

The difference was, Paul Revere was a trusted, connected man with deep ties within the communities which he visited on his harbinger errand; while Dawes was a virtual stranger, untrusted party, an outsider to the communities which he visited.

This lesson in US History is seldom taught in classrooms but was brilliantly recounted in Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point (Amazon Affiliate Link.) A great read.

Towns west of Boston were not pro-British as it turns out, they just got the wrong messenger to deliver the right message, so the message wasn’t heard.

Lesson: Your thousands of Twitter and Facebook followers are nice, but do they trust you? Are you one of them?

Who are you in this Social Media gambit; Paul Revere or William Dawes?

These are my Paul Reveres:

Glad to say that is totally only a partial list.

P.S. Can I get an amen for the most creative #FollowFriday post ever :-p

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  • http://www.expatlifecoach.com/blog John Falchetto

    Amen bro, this is the best #FF ever. I am so sick and tired of people putting tweet after tweet of names with #FF in front of them on Friday. Actually I have started to unfollow people who think its cool to send 20 tweets with lists of tweeps in them.
    Thanks for showing it how to do right

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Hey John…you totally should have been on that list…thank you for being a fan :-)

  • http://www.experiate.net Paul Flanigan

    Holy moly, that’s epic. I don’t believe I have ever done the traditional FF. I usually pick out one or two people a day and do a FollowToday. I spend one tweet on each person quickly explaining why people should follow them. Here’s the thing: The subject loves it just as much as the followers!

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      I think its nice to recognize people who contribute to your life in whichever way possible. Its just that I’ve found that #FF lists are pretty boring to everyone who isnt actually on the list. So this was my attempt at giving something of value to the reader as well as people on my #FF list…glad to see it hit the target :-)

  • http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ Keith Davis

    Come on Dino, try and stay with it.
    We’ve been and gone.

    I kept my readers bang up to date with my commentary on the Baftas.
    This is what I said…

    “Hi Everyone.
    I’m watching the BAFTA’s on telly.

    “Helena Bonham Carter appeared bemused and delighted as she picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress.”
    Will Colin Firth win best actor award?
    My wife has never been the same since she saw him in the lake scene in Pride and Prejudice.
    Even now if you mention Mr. Darcy… her legs turn to jelly.

    Best British film – “The King’s Speech”

    Best supporting actor – Geoffrey Rush – “The King’s Speech”

    Leading actor – Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech” Colin Firth did a super speech.

    Best film – “The King’s Speech

    BAFTA’s all finished for this year.”

    Looks likec only the Oscars to go Dino.

    Notice your concluding remarks Dino…

    “Lesson: Your thousands of Twitter and Facebook followers are nice, but do they trust you? Are you one of them?”

    Not a question you would ask in the UK… “Are you one of them?” LOL

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Is Helena Bonham Carter from Britain? I love her, she was awesome in the Fight Club…if she’s invading then Im all for the British invasion :-)

      • http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ Keith Davis

        Not seen the Fight Club but she is rather a stunning lady.

        Yes she’s one of ours I believe.

        Cheers Dino

  • http://markharai.com Mark Harai

    I love historians Dino and I like the analogy you used here.

    I would only say that trust is earned with consistent behaviors over long periods of time. If you’re a sleaze-bag, you can only hide that fact for so long. It comes out in what we say (listen to someone long enough, everything they’re about will be revealed) and also in what we write. A person’s true nature is always revealed, it cannot be hidden.

    The heart and mind deceive the individual — but not those who observe the actions and intentions therefrom.

    Cheers to you my man!

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Thnx Mark, its always great hearing from you…you’re right about the person’s character coming though even in their writing, you can always spot a sleaze.

  • Anonymous

    Not sure where I stand. I should ask my followers, I guess.

    Read the book a month ago. Loved it! (and I borrowed it to my friends coz they also wanna read it)

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Gladwell is one of my fav authors. Outliers is also an excellent read. I recommend a visit to a local Barnes and Noble, grabbing a medium sized coffee and settling in for a couple of hours of great reading :-)

      • Anonymous

        We don’t have that here…

        I bought the book two weeks ago (Outliers). :-) Waiting on the shelf to be read. I have to finish what I started first.

        I often find myself reading three books at a time (Tribes, literature by Stephen King, The Monk who Sold his Ferrari, etc.) – I feel hungry to devour them all but to be honest it doesn’t go too well. Gotta start one and finish it.

  • http://twitter.com/lavenderuses Patricia Millman

    Hi Dino

    Love the history lesson. History is always written by the vistors hey ;-) And your Follow Friday much more interesting than the usual #FF @ too many names to read! Will RT and maybe other #FF will start doing more interesting ones too :-)

    Patricia Perth Australia

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Hey Patricia…you know, I never realized you were in Australia. Kinda neat piece of info to have about a super-commenter :-)

  • http://www.twitter.com/fitzternet John Fitzgerald

    Awesome post. Tying historical events to social media always makes for an interesting perspective.

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Thnx John…just a fair warning, you’re on the next list :-)

  • http://twitter.com/dancristo dancristo

    Amen!

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      whoooo (hand raised ) hallelujah brother Dan :-)

  • http://www.itinerantentrepreneur.com/journal/traffic-conversion-swipe-file/ Robert Dempsey

    Wow Dino can’t believe I’m on that list man, thanks. That means a lot coming from an awesome dude I respect for his marketing prowess, and attention to comedy throughout.

    Great point here on the Twitter followers. It’s a huge reason for just being yourself and letting the numbers work out accordingly. I’ve noticed that since I stopped tweeting about web development and started tweeting nothing but marketing (and the stuff that pops into my head) a lot of my tech peeps started unfollowing me. And as I hate to see them go I understand, and thanks them for opting out of messages they don’t want.

    As always it’s about connecting with the right people, and there are a few ways to go about that one. My preferred method (for Twitter) is connecting with as many people as possible and then having them self-select. Works for me, and perhaps for others too.

    I’m working the Paul Revere angle. Takes longer, but is much better in the long run.

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Dude…first of all, I think thats a sound strategy, and second, the interview was awesome (which I knew it was gonna be) so NOT to put you on the list would be travesty :-)

  • http://www.thefriendlyblogger.com/ Lisa

    Superb #FF Dino!! This has got to be the best analogy of a FF I have read!!!

    • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

      Thnx Lisa, your turn…try to top it :-) The challenge is ON! :-)

  • http://nittygriddy.com/ Ingrid Abboud

    Seriously Dino,
    How in God’s name did you come up with that brilliant analogy? Incredible and YaY :) .
    I’m honored to be one of your Paul Revere’s my friend – truly! Thank you.

    You get more than an Amen! Love it!

    Cheers Mr. Dogan and thanks again for that rockin’ #FF post.
    PS – do we win a stallion? ;)

  • http://live-your-love.com/ Brankica U

    Thank you, Dino hun <3

    I love being on your lists :) and with such great company!

    You made Follow Friday live again… I sometimes take my cup of coffee and think about how do you come up with stuff like this? I've seen some creative people but you manage to surprise me every day! Thanks!!!

    • http://www.unleashingthetiger.com Dean Carlton

      I wonder that too, Branika. This is art!

      I’m loving how Dino grabs us by the nose and drags us somewhere else – to force us to look at things from a different perpective.

      Was planning on doing a regular FF type post on my blog, this is another level though!

      Dino, I’m going to look at how I do FF’s (and my planned regular FF posts) again - it may be a case of life imitating art, my friend!

      • http://diyblogger.net/about Dino Dogan

        Thnx Dino…I would be honored if you did a FF post that is similar to this one :-)