1. Respond to news/rumors about yourself

Waaay back in Feb Seth heard about someone with a twitter account in his name and posted this response.

Which leads to this post. I don't use Twitter. It's not really me. I also don't actively use FaceBook, and I'm not adding any friends, though I still have an account for the day when I no doubt will. I also don't use Flickr or MySpace or Meebo.

He responded right away, personally, he cleared the air. Then he goes on to explain his reasons for not using twitter.

My reasoning is simple, and it has two parts. First, I don't want to use a tool unless I'm going to use it really well. Doing any of these things halfway is worse than not at all. People don't want a mediocre interaction. Second, I don't want to add a layer of staff between me and the tools I use and the people I interact with.

Lesson: if you decide to use a new online tool, really use it. You can't do it all so choose where you want to talk with people.

2. Like most rumors they tend to crop up over and over. Scobleizer on twitter propagated the rumor again and within minutes there was a response on Seth's blog.

Seth's Response

[This post is cynical. You've been warned.] If you think that's a friend of yours on twitter, don't be so sure. [...] Online, rely on direct, personal interactions to be sure you're seeing what you think you're seeing. Trust, but verify.

If someone else is talking about you, join the conversation, join it right away, be real and use it as a lead in to teach something of value. Oh and motrin's response isn't something to copy (also a Godin hat tip).

So to all you politicians out there (and anyone else for that matter) people are talking - are you talking back?

p.s. in case you missed it I'm a fan of Seth Godin and I recommend reading all his books (especially Tribes)