Mike Arauz is a strategist at A Passionate Rant About Social Media
(I'm normally not a hater, so you'll have to excuse this temporary deviation from my typically rosy blogger personae. It's just because I care.)
I try not to use the term "social media" very often. I removed it from my profiles and mini-bios some time last year. But, it's not because I don't like it, or because I think it has lost it's meaning. I love social media! And I know what social media means to me:
Rather than a wholly new medium of its own, social media is the next evolution of all media as we know it. If media refers to our society’s means of communication, e.g. books, newspapers, radio, TV, film, and the Internet, then social media is the enhanced experience of all media in the context of a self-authored digital network of personal relationships, i.e. a Social Network.
I've stopped using the term social media because it's too important to me.
Over the past few years, this incredible monumental world-changing thing has become so over-used and misused that it's starting to be perceived as nothing more than a conman's snake-oil. Here's who I blame for ruining a great thing before we've even had a chance to glimpse its potential:
I blame everyone who claims to be a social media expert when no one can even begin to imagine what social media is going to become.
I blame everyone who says social media when they really just mean Facebook.
I blame everyone who asks for a social media marketing strategy when they really want a mass-media strategy without having to pay for it.
I blame everyone who treats social media like a game to be won by getting more followers.
I blame the mass media journalists who write and produce story after story about the latest buzzwords without ever bothering to even attempt to understand what the hell they're even talking about.
I blame every agency who uses the term social media just to win new business.
I blame everyone who calls themself a social media blogger. (Really, are there any blogs that aren't social media?)
I blame publishers who sell empty and meaningless books based solely on the popularity of the buzzword in their title.
I blame middle managers who are more interested in the short-term goal of doing what their boss thinks is cool, than they are in cultivating the long-term success of their company.
I blame the executives who ask their teams to do whatever they read was cool in this Sunday's NYTimes Magazine, or heard was cool this morning on MSNBC, or was told was cool at the last TED conference without bothering to ask if it's the right thing for the long-term success of their company.
I blame everyone who convinces someone that social media is a magic wand that can solve all of your marketing problems.
I blame the agencies and consultants who keep their mouth shut and take the money, all the while knowing that what they're getting paid to do is bullshit.
I blame everyone who expects social media to solve the problem of having a mediocre product or unremarkable service.
I blame everyone who thinks that if they get good at social media, the can stop being great at what they do.
I blame the content owners who think that social media steals value from what they create instead of adding value to what they create.
I blame celebrities who use social media as another PR broadcast channel.
I blame the brands who think that social media = free labor.
I blame the media buying industry for treating social media as merely a more powerful way to read people's minds (and hearts).
I blame the advertising industry for taking something that is inherently built from the ground up, and trying to force it into a top-down model because that's how they make money.
I blame everyone who wants to think that social media can work like mass media.
And I blame myself for all the times I've done these things.
We're all to blame.
The way to fix it is to start taking social media more seriously. Start treating it with the respect it deserves. And stop using the term so often.
Everyone on the internet is currently in the process of building a network of personal relationships, unbound by time and space. We are building a worldwide network of shared thoughts and information that will enable us to communicate and collaborate in ways that human beings have never imagined. Social media is not a bumper sticker slogan, it's the future of mankind.
Consider this your invitation to vent. Comments welcome.
I try not to use the term "social media" very often. I removed it from my profiles and mini-bios some time last year. But, it's not because I don't like it, or because I think it has lost it's meaning. I love social media! And I know what social media means to me:
Rather than a wholly new medium of its own, social media is the next evolution of all media as we know it. If media refers to our society’s means of communication, e.g. books, newspapers, radio, TV, film, and the Internet, then social media is the enhanced experience of all media in the context of a self-authored digital network of personal relationships, i.e. a Social Network.
I've stopped using the term social media because it's too important to me.
Over the past few years, this incredible monumental world-changing thing has become so over-used and misused that it's starting to be perceived as nothing more than a conman's snake-oil. Here's who I blame for ruining a great thing before we've even had a chance to glimpse its potential:
I blame everyone who claims to be a social media expert when no one can even begin to imagine what social media is going to become.
I blame everyone who says social media when they really just mean Facebook.
I blame everyone who asks for a social media marketing strategy when they really want a mass-media strategy without having to pay for it.
I blame everyone who treats social media like a game to be won by getting more followers.
I blame the mass media journalists who write and produce story after story about the latest buzzwords without ever bothering to even attempt to understand what the hell they're even talking about.
I blame every agency who uses the term social media just to win new business.
I blame everyone who calls themself a social media blogger. (Really, are there any blogs that aren't social media?)
I blame publishers who sell empty and meaningless books based solely on the popularity of the buzzword in their title.
I blame middle managers who are more interested in the short-term goal of doing what their boss thinks is cool, than they are in cultivating the long-term success of their company.
I blame the executives who ask their teams to do whatever they read was cool in this Sunday's NYTimes Magazine, or heard was cool this morning on MSNBC, or was told was cool at the last TED conference without bothering to ask if it's the right thing for the long-term success of their company.
I blame everyone who convinces someone that social media is a magic wand that can solve all of your marketing problems.
I blame the agencies and consultants who keep their mouth shut and take the money, all the while knowing that what they're getting paid to do is bullshit.
I blame everyone who expects social media to solve the problem of having a mediocre product or unremarkable service.
I blame everyone who thinks that if they get good at social media, the can stop being great at what they do.
I blame the content owners who think that social media steals value from what they create instead of adding value to what they create.
I blame celebrities who use social media as another PR broadcast channel.
I blame the brands who think that social media = free labor.
I blame the media buying industry for treating social media as merely a more powerful way to read people's minds (and hearts).
I blame the advertising industry for taking something that is inherently built from the ground up, and trying to force it into a top-down model because that's how they make money.
I blame everyone who wants to think that social media can work like mass media.
And I blame myself for all the times I've done these things.
We're all to blame.
The way to fix it is to start taking social media more seriously. Start treating it with the respect it deserves. And stop using the term so often.
Everyone on the internet is currently in the process of building a network of personal relationships, unbound by time and space. We are building a worldwide network of shared thoughts and information that will enable us to communicate and collaborate in ways that human beings have never imagined. Social media is not a bumper sticker slogan, it's the future of mankind.
Consider this your invitation to vent. Comments welcome.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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23 Comments:
i can understand where you're coming from – i feel the same way about the word design(er) and new media...
on a side note, i stated noticing a couple months ago that a lot of the links that i was saving to delicious were being tagged with either socialmedia or socialnetwork. that was also the time that i started playing with twitter a lot more too.
Amen, Mike. In many, many ways "social media" was just a way to describe what made the Web intrinsicly different from the way other media worked. Even as far back as 1998, evaluating funding proposals for the Web Development Fund, our watch word was, "Any project that doesn't embrace a many-to-many experience doesn't get what the Web actually is." I fear, like you, that "social media" will join the pile of destroyed buzzwords, for all the reasons you outline.
We're seeing mass adoption of digital technologies happen in the 'ad/marketing' industry. For early adopters, that means the lemmings have begun following the 'leaders'... right off a cliff if they don't quit being lemmings.
Wow; so many of these rang true that I'm thinking this should be the new social media manifesto! ("I will not...")
I think part of the problem is that the term social media is so broad that everyone uses it to describe just about everything 'Web 2.0', without really thinking about what they're saying. They figure that, with enough buzz words and key phrases, they'll sound like they know what they're talking about, and no one will ever question them.
It's definitely reached a tipping point though, and a lot of people share your feelings, so I think we're going to see a major shift in the way we talk about and think about social media.
I, for one, can't wait!
I think you're right. I agree with you 100% and also realize that I'm part of the problem.
There is an interesting vent froma different angle at http://katiechatfield.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/guest-post-peter-bray/
future of mankind is big mate - but i agree with you - i scrubbed out social media as a term in my talk on social media in vegas last week.
i'm going for the radical decentralisation of the economics of cultural production instead.
bit of a mouthful though ;)_
Blame must fall upon a social system that has routinely discouraged and suppressed change and advancement, particularly of the technological ilk. Resistance is futile. Social media tools are only the beginning of a transformation that has already demonstrated validity, strength and sustainability. We are tasked with their development, implementation and management. I enjoyed learning about CI and where we're heading. Thanks.
"I blame everyone who says social media when they really just mean Facebook."
I agree--social media is clearly a misnomer. But is there a better word for all things online that are not traditional, above-the-line marketing channels?
It sounds as if we recognize that the label is already divorced from the reality. In which case, is there a downside to letting the "s-m" word flame, sputter and die out, while the interplay of mechanisms and interactions it claimed to represent continues to evolve and grow? This would not be the first occurrence of that kind of progression. Let's just be prepared for the "rediscovery" of s-m in two or three years, and smug reassessments that maybe it's grown up at last.
The best parts of social media - egalitarian, merit-based, low barrier to entry - are also the worst.
It's a bit like Punk Rock - everybody could "do it" so a lot of people with no talent jumped in, and those with talent had their genre destroyed.
It's important to remember how new this all is. Many of us would recoil in horror at the idea of not being able to use Twitter for three weeks straight, yet how many of us had even heard of Twitter two years ago?
Will the term 'social media' be crushed by its own weight? Possibly, but more importantly the ideas behind it will live on.
A few years ago a friend from the PR world opened an SEO firm as a way to escape reality and immediately wrote an article called 'Fire Your PR Firm."
I believe we have come full circle now, and the current trend says that article's title should be, "Fire Your SEO Firm."
Selling social media is akin to selling snake oil.
Holy shit, dude. I think I just started cheering...
Nice to see more people coming around. Let's not get disheartened though, let's redouble our efforts to move beyond this point and keep the web progressing into whatever it is it is going to become. At the end of the day it is still exciting to eb along for the ride.
I keep reading this and re-reading it. Because...instead of highlighting what is *wrong* with social media, it somehow drives home all that is *right* with it. I hope that was your intention. :) Nothing has changed my life in quite the way social media has. Nothing is as exciting as trying to figure it out along with all the people who are as passionate about it as you. Glad to be on your side.
Brilliant. I'll do my best ;)
I agree. I had a rant like this a few weeks ago which I put in a presentation.
I gist of it is: there is no social media. There is an online reflection of people and culture. And because it's online, it's archived, easily searchable and time-shifted. Which makes it so powerful.
What everyone seems to be doing is using the medium to try to influence people when talking about brands.
Which is silly.
It's like if after the invention of the telephone, brands figured out people where talking about their brand over the phone and called that phenomenon "social media".
So they all figured their brands "should do something with phones".
Which is ridiculous.
People talked about brands over the phone because the brand is interesting and does something worth sharing. Not 'cause that brand also has a phone number.
here's the afore-mentioned presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/Crusty/put-your-social-media-strategy-where-the-sun-dont-shine
I think the big problem is that social media was created with no rules. Use it in the way you want to use it.
So who can really blame people for using it wrong when there is no defined way to use it in the 1st place.
Sure there are guidelines but those were just created by early adapters and aren't meant to be an end all.
Well said!!
Great post Mike. Nothing like a good rant in the morning. I've written something since reading you might want to look at. I'd be interested in finding out what you think. It's all about using shhh S M with common sense. Hopefully that's a way to get back to solid ground again. Cheers for the post.
you had me at hello.
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Ruth
http://besttoddler.com
very well said!
i mostly like the bit about how the ad biz is taking something built from the bottom up and forcing it into their top down model...
its something i try and fight daily
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