“Do Social Media” Without the Snake Oil

There are certain things that simply make me want to knock people down and drizzle boiling lava on them.  In no particular order:

1.  “I’m a social media guru.”  Unless you’re from India and you teach meditation, knock off the guru stuff.  You do not have devotees.  No one is sitting at your feet, waiting to learn how to send a Tweet.

2.  “I’m a social media expert.”  Your ability to use Hootsuite does not make you an expert any more than my ability to follow a cookie recipe makes me a baker.  Just because you ignore your real job to post on Facebook all day does not qualify you as a thought leader.

3.  “I’m building my personal brand.”  Coke is a brand.  IBM is a brand.  Kleenex is a brand.  You are a person.  You can make yourself more visible in your family, community, or industry, but unless you are Charlie Sheen, you are not a brand.

4.  “I have 14,553 followers and have made 34,863 updates to my Twitter account.  I am a legend.”  No, most likely you paid some service that netted you 14,553 followers who are also looking to build a huge following.  Most of them, along with you, are constantly Tweeting and no one is listening to anyone else. 

5.  “I greet each new follower with an automatic DM (direct message) on Twitter to welcome him and offering my newest, WEB 2.0 sales technique special, plus links to my affiliate websites.”  You are a DM spammer.  Die spammer, die.

6.  “I want to be everyone’s Facebook friend, even people I have never met or spent any time talking to.”  You are either promiscuous or a stalker.  Maybe a promiscuous stalker.

Here’s the thing.  Social media—Twitter, Quora, Facebook, and all the rest—is new and the rules are in a state of flux.  Still, we need to apply the basic rules of humanity that have served us well for the last 10,000 years.  I’m no guru, but here are Paul’s Guidelines to being a Decent Human in Social Media:

A.  Always provide value.  Don’t post just to jack up your numbers.  If you have nothing to say, shut up.

B.  Be considerate.  That means, be kind to new users.  Be thoughtful and giving toward your community, both in real life and on the net.  Don’t waste people’s time.

C.  Constantly remind yourself that this is not real life.  Social media is a means to an end.  We use it to promote a political view, engage experts, sell products, and to have fun.  The end is not to have the most followers or the highest Klout number.

Have I offended you?  Do you want to follow me @paulmyoung_net just to have the pleasure of unfollowing me?  Go ahead, but first leave me a comment and tell me why I’m wrong.