Is Social Media BullSh*t?
So, I went into the library the other day and saw this book in the new book section called: Social Media Is Bull Shit by BJ Mendelson.
I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve been feeling fatigued by social media the past few months and thought it might make a good discussion here on social media! Should a discussion on the potential bullshitedness of social media be conducted on-line or in person? Good question.
Can you believe that discussing this topic gave me enough energy to write a blog post?
Maybe I’ve been too engaged with face-to-face interaction in my town and my creativity group, not sure. Actually, the past few weeks I’ve been commenting on this leadership group on Linked In that found me and invited me to join. I must say that I’ve found the questions really intriguing. Is that BS? Not sure.
Anyway, I think part of the social media BS phenom seems to revolve around the promise of making a gazillion dollars if you just spend enough for a high end coach – like $50,000 and up for a year. If you do that they say, then you’ll make it in the biz world. If you don’t want to spend that money (to make them a gazillionaire), then you are somehow not invested in yourself.
Those arguments make me crazy. I tend to think that the earlier folks in the social media pyramidish scheme made it big and the late comers have a harder time because so many folks now understand that it is a pyramid of sorts. I had to get rid of so many newsletters because everyone sounded the same because they were trained by folks who coached them on what to say based on what they were coached to say. Those templates that get passed around.
I’m doing well with my face-to-face organic marketing campaigns. I do good for the world and meet folks that way. Often my clients aren’t the people I meet doing good, but friends of friends who get referred by the folks I’m doing good with or take time to have coffee/tea with. And I’m not doing that to even get clients. I do it because it makes me feel like I’m contributing to the world in some way.
I enjoy listening to folks and sharing my own experiences in the hopes it might be of use to them.
Maybe it’s just me, but I do the thing that makes me feel good – which is speaking out – and if folks want that they contact me.
I’ve met some wonderful folks on social media and that part is bullhumble (golly, is that even a word? I’m trying to find the opposite of bullshit.). It’s the template training that feels fraudulent to me.
How about you? What’s your take on social media? Is it really even social?
thanks! G.
RSS
I found you from Justine Musk’s blog. I like this topic. For a long time, I kept trying to find other Mom’s who were writing. There is this huge industry of Mommybloggers out there. But so many of the blogs don’t say much. They want to sell me something. I just want to read and learn from one another. I don’t find as much joy in being a mom, as griping. I basically gave up on mommybloggers, because there was so much negativity. The posts that would go viral were about not wanting to have to play with their kids, or when will they be big enough to be in school… I adore my kids and we have a blast together. For me, the social media world does seem to be a lot of people thinking that if they build a blog, they can quit their jobs and make a gazillion dollars. I don’t think that really happens. I think we still need to work – we may not need to work in the way corporations want us to work, but we need to be providing something substantial for ourselves and our families – and perhaps the few people who find value in what we write on our blogs!
Happy to have found you. I’ll be back!
Hi Liesl!
I appreciate you stopping by after visiting Justine’s site. I’d never been to her site before but it flashed across my Twitter feed that I visited for the first time in awhile and it intrigued me. Loved that blog post about permission.
Liesl, such a lovely name that reminds me of the oldest child in The Sound of Music’s Von Trapp family. Were you named for her?
That’s wonderful that you have a great time with your kids. One of my high schools friends has mentioned what you say about the griping when she has loved raising her children.
Thanks again,
G.
I believe the pie in the sky, let me coach you into being a better, richer whatever, is bullshit. But how it met you… via someone from Skirt tweeting the link to one of your essays and me finding your blog and realizing you are awesome… not bullshit. 🙂
Hi Angie,
This is a brilliant point Angie (and not because you said such nice things about me …), social media is great for meeting cool folks you might not normally meet!
Great idea for a campaign – bring the social back to social media.
Sometimes when I go on Twitter, it feels like one endless stream of “buy my products.”
I feel the same way about networking, which of course brings me back to why I loved organic – eating, marketing,living.
You just gave me a super idea for a blog post.
And I feel rejuvenated to write!
Thanks Angie …
G.
Love this topic, G. I’m pretty late to social media. Don’t have FB, just got on twitter at the end of last year. But mostly it seems like B.S. to me. Yes, twitter is pretty much one big stream of people trying to sell their stuff. But here’s the thing I’ve found really odd: a number of people whom I’m kind of interested in (and might someday buy from) don’t follow me back. And then I’m not so interested in them anymore! There’s a weird hierarchy in Twitter, almost like if you’re not one of us we don’t want to interact with you AND we don’t even want you to buy our stuff. Kind of like anti-marketing.
Also, I know they say you should try to have “conversations” on twitter but really how much conversation can you have in 140 characters?
Funny you should mention having to unsubscribe from newsletters. Me too! And it’s not just the constant sales pitch, it’s also the false urgency and the sad, sad story: “if you don’t buy this now it will go away AND woe is me why can’t I fill my programs?” If you read between the lines there’s subtle blaming/manipulation that’s going on, as in: “you’re not smart enough to see how good my offering is for you and that’s why my life sucks right now.” It’s so strange and convoluted that it mostly makes me laugh. And I’ve been working really hard not to get sucked into it because that’s the danger of this stuff.
I agree with you that organic marketing face-to-face is so much more rewarding and real. I think people are craving that human connection right now. I work with lots of clients who aren’t entrepreneurs but are on FB, and they’re burned out.
Would love to hear more about that book when you read it too!
Hi Patty,
I’m going to drive over the library right now and get that book! Yes, on the human connection. I’m convinced that the young men doing the bombings/shootings are interaction deprived. They don’t feel loved by anyone or love anything. Here’s to more interaction (the next big thing …)
It is weird that folks on the bird won’t follow you that you are interested in following BECAUSE you thought you might want to buy their stuff. How ironic! Even comical.
I bought a few things and they sat on the shelf collecting dust. One a year ago, I never even opened! That’s when I said forget it. Unless there is human contact in phone or in person, or in email even, it will be a waste of money.
I will say that meeting other kind and terrific blog writers and commenters has been a plus. That’s where it’s been social for me. Maybe I leave the media part out? Can it just be social?
I need to read your blog post on re-remembering!
Thanks, G.
Hi Giulietta,
Glad to see you’re back – if only once in a while. I’ve been absent from blogging – and don’t miss it – for a while, but will have to start again. Joking apart, I’m hoping to finally get my book out this autumn, plus another I co-authored. I will need to do social media, and a lot of it.
Is social media all BS? A large part is, but I just saw the difference between an author with social media presence and an author with practically none. The former’s so-so book has a high Amazon ranking and the latter’s excellent book is ranked about 2,300.000.
While I think social media is largely a waste of time, if you persist you gain a following and it helps if you want to reach a larger national or international market. However, you have to be willing to spend several hours on social media every day. I average 2-3 hours daily and still can’t keep up with it. Once a week
I spend the better part of a day catching up. I’ve come to resent the time invested in social media rather than in something else that I’d enjoy more. At the same time, social media can be entertaining, informative, and rewarding to build a social network. In the end, if you have a goal such as selling your book, social media is essential to get the word out. If you don’t do it, how will people know about your book or product? If you do, as a friend and new author told me, it’s a mixed bag. An author I know despite her many social media efforts has sold well under 1000 books, but her name is out there as a speaker, publisher of an anthology, founder of an online group with swelling numbers, and winner of four awards.
In the end, it’s a toss-up either way.
Hi Penelope!
I agree that social media is an important way to get news out about a book. It’s replaced the old way of the publishing company doing it.
Then as you point out, your friend has had trouble selling her book. Yet, has been successful in other arenas.
Despite, what folks say there’s probably the same element of chance as there used to be – some books take off for reasons unknown and others don’t take off for the same reason – social media has no control of the random nature of events.
I still want to read your book! And miss your blog. Please let me know when it’s out in the world.
Blogs give me great ideas for my own posts or essays or books.
I will use it for my own book – halfway done, maybe a tad more.
Will be back in the “more-often-saddle” blog saddle.
Thanks for swinging by! G.
Nothing can replace person-to-person contact. Social media is a tool and offers wonderful opportunities, but it isn’t a substitute. We get caught up in the numbers and the friends and the fans and the stats – that we tend to forget that quality of what is being said or the person being the words or what exists beyond the numbers and the stats. Like verything else, I suppose it is learning how to use social media and learning when to turn it off for quality and balance!
Hi E!
Great to see you here again. I agree it is not a substitute — just another tool and folks need to keep that in mind. Think we are going to see a returned emphasis on face-to-face in the near future. Did finish the book on social media I referenced above – really worth the read. Author has a good sense of humor!
Thanks, G.