Is it Social Media Advice — or Self-Help 2.0?
Posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Anybody else dropping to their knees in worship of the social media “snake oil” peddlers? You know — the guys who promise fame and riches if we chug their elixir of techniques? I did for awhile. Now I call much of this rubbish “Self-Help 2.0″ — social media fortune-seeking advice for Everyman.
Sad but true: Not everyone is destined for Sergey Brin-level success in this (or any) arena. Yet, precisely because the Internet is the great democratizer of comms, we easily fall prey to the fallacy we’re all the Web’s answer to Demosthenes, and that fame & fortune are but a click away.
The funny part of this kindergarten-level business advice is how serious it tries to be. Most “gems” are just time-wasters. Aw heck, they all are! Herewith a few of my favorites (and if it sounds like I’m contradicting something I’ve said before, it’s cuz I am. Remember what Emerson said about the petty consistency of small minds, you hobgoblin):
- “Be a Trust Agent.” No, no, that can’t be right. To be successful in social media you have to be like Dr. Evil.
- “Create a Unique Persona.” Good point. Dr. Evil’s not unique enough. I’ll be Mini-Me.
- “Establish a Niche”: You mean act like I know what I’m doing? That runs counter to the practice of 99% of U.S. corporations. Forget it!
- “Comment on Other Blogs”: Or “Extend the exercise of saying nothing by saying more of the same.” Roger that.
- “Answer Qs on YahooAnswer”: Will do — I love chasing my tail. Last week I advised a prominent Himalayan author how to publish his original work on yak (yuk? I forget) butter. I happen to know a lot about that.
- “Get a Big Following”: All in favor. I now have nearly as many twits on my tail as have me on theirs.
As I pore over this sage advice from my growing stack of social media books, why am I reminded of the words of Eric Hoffer? –
“The quest for fame is a desire for a self that is not the true self.”
Oh, no matter. It was a worthwhile investment. Winter draws near. Brr! Time to throw another expert on the fire.
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