Comments on: Bursting the Social Media Bubble

By: Mondi

Mondi — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:09:59 +0000

I'm not really sure if I want to scream and cry, slap you, or hug you.

Hmm. Well done.

By: olivierBlanchard

olivierBlanchard — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:30:42 +0000

So far, there hasn't been a response. I kind of doubt that I will get one. The organizer doesn't have a leg to stand on, and the SM “guru” crowd is too busy lobbying for a seat at the table to actually call foul. Shame on them for selling out to this kind of shameless crap.

What also concerns me a great deal is how easily the “follower” crowd is jumping on this slimy bandwagon of mediocrity without flinching. Just blindly running off the cliff of common sense like sheep. It's very disappointing.

By: olivierBlanchard

olivierBlanchard — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:30:42 +0000

By: glecharles

glecharles — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:20:10 +0000

Thanks, Olivier. I've been following your new series of posts and I've especially enjoyed your calling out of the Social Media Success Summit on Twitter yesterday and today. You're exactly right that it's the kind of thing that gives social media a bad name, and that some prominent and respected “gurus” are associated with it is even worse. Be interesting to see if/how the organizers and speakers respond.

By: glecharles

glecharles — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:15:01 +0000

Thanks, Patrick. I've sat through two social media presentations over the past couple of weeks, and both were given by clueless “experts” who pulled together some generic info from Google and made vague pronouncements about “the future of marketing”. And these Twitter “boot camps” that are springing up absolutely blow my mind. It's the old PT Barnum line: “There is a sucker born every minute!”

I'm tempted to become a social media guru myself! Ugh.

By: olivierBlanchard

olivierBlanchard — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:01:23 +0000

Great post. Sadly, much of what you state here is true. But once you get beyond the BS, there is a real measurable link between SM strategies and hard black-on-white R.O.I. for businesses looking for real results. Sadly, most self proclaimed “social media experts” don't know how what they're talking about. This might help reframe the conversation a bit:

http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/05/18…
http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/05/19…
http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/2009/05/20…

By: Patrick Boegel

Patrick Boegel — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:04:41 +0000

Excellent, excellent, excellent job. It will come as no surprise I suspect that we totally agree on this topic Guy. Having spent the better part of the last 2 years immersing in Social Media tools and platforms for both personal use and more critically the need to keep clients informed one great theme developed, especially in the fast pace motion of the last six months. There is a whole lot of BS going on, guru and expert are red flag words. Social Media has a lot of Sham-Wow! going on right now. I think that some very dedicated early adopters have been making bold almost utopian assumptions of how this will all play out. It takes more than posturing and diehard belief in the tools.

By: glecharles

glecharles — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 02:53:47 +0000

Thanks, Brad. I've been enjoying your posts on the subject, too.

By: Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:31:35 +0000

Guy, this is a great post. The core idea — “use”, even being a “power user” does not automatically mean expertise — is very important.