I’m sort of over this whole social media thing. Not to the tools mind you but more the notion – less the doing and more the obnoxious selling (whoring) of the idea. For the last few years I’ve watched social media explode globally and people who initially sneered at the idea of posting your whereabouts or activities, now happily share links and post photos via Twitpic.

But the one thing that hasn’t progressed in that time is the marketing of social media. I’m still seeing the same examples used in the same presentations. The same “edgy” PR and Marketing companies are still going through the same needlessly salacious powerpoints talking about how you NEED to be a part of the social media landscape.

I’m not saying it isn’t effective, but it’s effective in all the wrong ways. Now everyone wants a Facebook page regardless of whether they have a community to build around or even a message to impart.

Twitter is overrun with accounts that only push out the most disingenuous content (we’ve update our app, we’re playing at this club, etc) and it’s tough to distinguish the spammers from the lazy and ill-informed.

Marketers – we’re the ones out there pushing its virtues, therefore it’s up to us to police its use.

There’s of course the other side other coin, where companies know they should participate in social media, but are like an overly cautious child staring down at the water from the high-diving board. They’ve seen all these horror stories about companies being pilloried on Twitter and had their reputations blogged into the ground and now they’re terrified that one false step will crush their brand forever.

They don’t want to take chances and that falls on us as well.

Can we get past the “how sexy is social media” thing and treat it as another effective and powerful communication tool? Some people are already doing this, or more accurately have been doing this from the start. But way too many are out there flogging this in all the wrong ways. Splashy statistics are great. So are in your face graphics, but let’s try and make sure these companies know what the hell it is they’re doing.

And while we're at it, can we move past the cash-grab that is the Social Media boot camp? Seriously?

I'm a huge fan of Mitch Joel. Watch this video to find out why.

You can see the original posting here at Mitch's site Twist Image

Over the past few days I’d been mulling over a theme for a posting when that same theme started cropping up everywhere. It made an appearance in someone's blog posting and then a magazine I was reading. It was mentioned in an audio book I’m listening to and even popped up in a casual conversation with a friend.

Basically, the reoccurring themes was – are we consciously putting limits on ourselves and our abilities? Let me explain.

I was reading an article by Robert J. Holland in which he questions how anyone can follow hundreds of people on Twitter and possibly get any work down. Holland goes on to mention (as if boasting) that he limits the amount of people he follows to 30 (now 44) because any more would be far too distracting.

Then while reading this blog posting from Chris Brogan, he cautions about spreading yourself too thin in the online world.

As I said, I’m seeing this all over the place. We are constantly setting limitations on our informational input/output levels or building dams on how much we can process. That’s fine and I understand the urge to set your own limits. Not everyone can watch television with a laptop in front of them and divide their concentration between both efforts. And not everyone has the time to write blogs, post to Twitter and keep their Facebook page up to date.

But what if future generations are simply expected to pull this off? Our hunger for information at break-neck speeds isn’t diminishing – it’s only becoming more ravenous. So isn’t it safe to assume that the next crop of communicators will be forced to have their fingers in multiple pies (so to speak)?

Alarmists predicted 10+ years ago (incorrectly) that email would be the death of face-to-face conversation. These same people screamed that Blackberries would have them working all hours of the day and would be a constant distraction (also incorrect, to a degree). Companies still don’t trust their employees to have full access to the internet as the temptation to slack-off is too great.

The reality is that these tools took time to adjust to. We needed to adapt our thinking and the way we approached our work but now businesses couldn’t survive without email, mobile offices and of course the internet.

Now here we are celebrating social media, but doing it all over again, with post after post instructing people to limit how much information they take in, instead of saying – take in as much as you can, find a comfortable place and work from their. Adjust your habits, try something new and push your limits.

I don't mean to point fingers at the "old guard" but are you really helping yourself by closing doors? By trying to force new styles of communication and technology into your old style of work habits aren’t you just putting a date-stamp on your knowledge and capabilities? 

How can you definitively say “I can only keep track of a few followers on Twitter,” when you’ve never tried to follow more? How can you say you have trouble monitoring more than one or two social networks when you’ve never attempted to start a third?

Social media is still in its nascent stages so you can decide now to fit it into your existing schedule or you can choose to adapt, try a new schedule and really test your limits.

Which one will you choose?


Tis the season for giving and sharing, so with this in mind I implore you to follow some of the cardinal rules to social media.

• Comment on someone’s blog today. Share an opinion on their post, tell them it’s insightful, tell them it’s mislead or tell them it’s a half-formed idea – but tell them something (constructively). Let them know you’re out there, because comments create discussion and that’s never a bad thing.


• Respond to Tweets, comments, questions, emails – don’t leave people hanging. For anyone that follows @unmarketing you’ll definitely have seen this tweet many times and it’s a very insightful and important piece of advice.


• It’s a community and you only get out of it what you put in. When I first started using Twitter I’d sign to my account and stare blankly at the screen, wondering why no one was sending me messages. I quickly learned that unless you give people something to comment on or engage them, you’re not going to get much out it.

• More often than not the most social aspects of life happen off line. Sometimes you need to turn it all off and interact with people face-to-face. If you’re looking to find like-minded people who share the same interests, industry, etc., try Meetup.com. It's a fabulous way to find out where people are organizing, build connections or start an event yourself.

  

I hope you’ve all had a great 2009 and are looking forward to the new year with as much anticipation as I am. And I hope that you've learned some new insights from reading this blog.

Thanks for reading and have a happy holiday season.

I’ve seen more than a few blog postings lately about social media snake oil salesmen, and so called “experts” who have all the answers when it comes to integrating social media into your business (at no small fee).

Sadly from the frequency of these types of posts from legitimate social media leaders (Jason Falls, Dave Fleet, Mitch Joel) and a quick glance through my own Twitter stream, it’s evident that people still don’t get it.

So for those who have fallen pray to these frauds and their unbelievably misguided teachings, here are few pieces on Twitter etiquette to keep in mind.

Never Retweet a Follow Friday recommendation or a compliment for the sake of self promotion. To call this tacky is an understatement. We all love to be noticed and we all love to hear nice things about ourselves but retweeting compliments makes you look desperate and in dire need of self-affirmation. It also make it look like you’ve never been acknowledge before, so next time just enjoy it for what it is and move on.

Never Auto Tweet. If you use one of these automated programs that goes out and finds people to follow and then – upon acceptance of a follow – pushes out some garbage, scripted message – STOP! The fact that I have to tell you this is mind-blowing, but your authenticity takes a nose dive when I read “Hey you, thanks for the follow. What are you working on?”

If this is what you think Twitter – or social media in general – is about, than you’re doing it wrong. If one of those “experts” told you this was a good idea, stop following them IMMEDIATELY. They’re misleading you and will cause you more harm than good. This also applies for auto-tweets. Don’t use programs that send tweets out like a conveyer belt, do the work. Building relationships takes effort.

Also, no need to thank someone every time they follow you or retweet something you said. I’m less strict about this, because your heart’s in the right place, but in my opinion, the thank you is usually implied. Exceptions for this are if they liked your blog posting and circulated it for others to read (that’s worth a thank you). - thanks to Breanna Hughes for this one

When tweeting – be yourself. I’ve talked about this a few times, so I’ll just direct you here and let you decide how much of your personality you want to shine through.

What all of this amounts to is authenticity. Developing your online persona means developing trust and if you’re scamming people or constantly trying to cut corners, than you’re destroying that trust piece by piece.

These are the things that drive me crazy on Twitter. What about you - what would you like to see less of?