NEW WORKSHOPS ADDED

PHIL SIMON

THE WORLD’S LEADING INDEPENDENT WORKPLACE COLLABORATION & TECH EXPERT

Maybe I Am a Social Media Expert

Reevaluating a term that I truly despise.
May | 9 | 2013

May | 9 | 2013
}

Like countless others, five years ago I started using social media. To use it effectively, I did what I always do: I educated myself. I read a bunch of blog posts and a few books. (Trust Agents was especially helpful at the time.) I attended conferences and spoke to smart cookies who knew more than I did at the time.

That’s just how you learn.

Change the behavior and you may change the outcome.

It didn’t take long for me to get the hang of it. Social media isn’t rocket surgery. Within a few months, I understood the following:

  • Less is more.
  • Don’t tweet every eight seconds.
  • Hashtags were useful.
  • Engage with others.
  • Respond to comments on your site—and others.
  • Avoid link bait.

Yet I didn’t like calling myself a social media expert. The term just seemed pretentious, and there were plenty of poseurs claiming to be experts because they knew how to set up a Facebook fan page. Plus, I didn’t spend all of my time on social media. I fancied myself a business and technology guy, not a Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn specialist.

These days, though, I’m reevaluating things. I see far too many companies that fail to abide by generally accepted social media practices. I’m talking about using Twitter and Facebook in downright spammy ways. Some will tweet but fail to include the Twitter handles of the people who wrote the very article about which they’re tweeting. And then there are the questionable calls to action.

Maybe I really am a social media expert?

Simon Says

It seems so basic to me. If you want to use a tool effectively, learn how. In my experience, people and companies who fail to see the benefits from social media are probably making some fundamental mistakes. Change the behavior and you may change the outcome.

</rant>

Feedback

Receive my musings, news, and rants in your inbox as soon as they publish.

 

Blog E Faves E Maybe I Am a Social Media Expert

Related Posts

How Fancy Text Helps Me Identify Spam

Like millions of people, I've been off Twitter for months now. I now spend much of the time that I used to spend tweeting and reading tweets on a different social network: LinkedIn. I suspect that I'm hardly alone here. A second-order effect of my switch has been...

Power, Prestige TV, and Packages

Would you mentor your replacement? Maybe, but I suspect that many folks would go all Brett Farve and flat out refuse. Now, ask yourself that same question about AI. Hmm, probably not. And that is one of the core issues behind the decision of the Writers Guild of...

What CD Sales Teach Us About the Future of Work

hose of us of a certain age remember the compact disc. At the turn of the century, consumers bought about a billion of them per year. Even if you only liked a single song, you grudgingly paid $16.99 for one simple reason: there really wasn't...

Why I Don’t Write With ChatGPT

ChatGPT continues to get a good deal of play, including an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning. It's a neat tool, but I'm not using it to write The Nine or any of the posts on my site or for my clients. Here's why. It's Not Accurate Creating a bibliography is a manual...

0 Comments

 

Blog E Faves E Maybe I Am a Social Media Expert

Next & Previous Posts

Related Posts

How Fancy Text Helps Me Identify Spam

Like millions of people, I've been off Twitter for months now. I now spend much of the time that I used to spend tweeting and reading tweets on a different social network: LinkedIn. I suspect that I'm hardly alone here. A second-order effect of my switch has been...

Power, Prestige TV, and Packages

Would you mentor your replacement? Maybe, but I suspect that many folks would go all Brett Farve and flat out refuse. Now, ask yourself that same question about AI. Hmm, probably not. And that is one of the core issues behind the decision of the Writers Guild of...

What CD Sales Teach Us About the Future of Work

hose of us of a certain age remember the compact disc. At the turn of the century, consumers bought about a billion of them per year. Even if you only liked a single song, you grudgingly paid $16.99 for one simple reason: there really wasn't...

Why I Don’t Write With ChatGPT

ChatGPT continues to get a good deal of play, including an appearance on CBS Sunday Morning. It's a neat tool, but I'm not using it to write The Nine or any of the posts on my site or for my clients. Here's why. It's Not Accurate Creating a bibliography is a manual...

0 Comments