Finally a remedy for the agoraphobic, the stay-at-home moms who crave adult conversation, the corporate disgruntled Gen X and Gen Y-ers, and all the college students needing a study break from Eastern European Lit. It’s called Social Media!
Ok call me an old curmudgeon – I suppose I almost qualify. But for those of us who don’t even have the time during the day to fill up our coffee mugs, social media is just NOT something I WANT TO EMBRACE! Yes I know it’s all the rage… it’s all the thing to do and saying this pretty much disqualifies me as marketer of the year. In fact, I know marketers everywhere who are building their PowerPoint decks, pitching their expertise and even running to the bank to cash their checks after helping their clients get up and running on “social media”.
Let me clarify - you cannot blame me for just being ignorant. Oh contraire! I am all TOO in the know. I have a blog, a Facebook page with gawd knows how many “friends”, Linked in and Plax profiles with 140+ contacts, and I even have two Twitter accounts. Yes I’m there. And I get it – it’s easy – it’s NOW and it’s viral. It helps with SEO, it connects you to the world, and it even does your laundry.
But really… are we so distracted and suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder that we all need to get our news in 140 characters tidbits and constantly alt/tab back and forth 100 times a day to see what our high school friends are doing RIGHT NOW?
I just came back from the Forrester Marketing Summit where social media topics peppered every conversation – how X company used it to rally the troops, how we need to get into it because our readers/customers/clients/competitors are there now and talking about us, and more. Yes I know we need to be there. But I don’t wanna! Without dedicating someone to do this full time (good luck with that!), all us marketers and customer service people and everyone else are just supposed to add it to the pile of growing things we all already do every day. I’ve got to cut out something – and I cut out sleep a couple of years ago so I’m not sure what else to give! Professionally, it’s a pain. And personally, unless you really have no life… really who has time for it?!
Question – how would you like to spend your Saturday? Jeeping in the mountains, getting a pedi at the spa, or updating your Facebook page with pictures from your 1986 yearbook?
I have had very heated debates about this with the now famous Twitterer Holly C Hickman who is both following and has 250+ followers at last count. To check her procrastination meter I just visited and found she Tweeted today approx 2 tweets every hour pretty much all day today. Ok, so it’s like her smoke break.
“But seriously,” she says, “you can use it connect with like-minded souls, express your brand, find new clients, get to know others on new levels….” And I add, “to feed your obsessions, let your narcissism shine and spy on your competitors.”
If Dr. Suess were alive he’d no doubt be saying, “You can tweet from a bar, or Tweet inside your car, you can Tweet from train, tweet with others in Spain, you can tweet it from a mountaintop, or Tweet inside the hardware shop. Tweeting is all I do, Tweeting is for me and You!
Do I sound like Any Rooney?
Discussion to be continued...
BTW, I just checked my Mr. Tweet profile stats (because I have time to do that) and I only tweet an average of 4.7 times per day. Not twice an hour all day long! Phhhpppttt.
Posted by: Holly | May 27, 2009 at 05:29 PM