Last night I was wondering what I was going to write about that hopefully someone new or old in the marketing, social media and PR space would understand. It’s been a crazy week but there were a few posts that caught my eye that led me to this topic.
The first was by Todd Defren about the value of modesty in which he mentions that some of the solid thinkers in the social media space are truly humble about themselves and about what they have accomplished. Imagine that? The people that you admire in the space, have no idea how good they are and in the grand scheme of things, it’s not as important, as it is to help others. Humility in social media.
Another post that caught my eye immediately was authored by Steve Radick essentially stating that social media is scary and the reason is, social media gives everyone a voice, whether they want it or not. It can instill fear and it can intimidate. Which made me ask via Twitter if some felt intimidated or scarred to talk to some of the other better known Twitterati and the answer was a collective yes. Which made me immediately wonder if I did and how can I change that? How can you change that perception if it exists? it’s unacceptable so thus I learned about-Fear of social media.
So in 2 instances we have humility and fear bubbling up from social media. I wanted to write about respect and how we, as social media practitioners may not give newcomers enough of that and that stemmed from the following:
I did a vlog on how I was going to start viewing social media differently; and the more I look back at that vlog, the more I realized that it’s not that others have to do anything different it was me. I complain about the echo and the people that repeat things but fail to really consider who might be the person behind it. Or really who is listening? I’ve judged, I’ve deliberated and I’ve executed before even doing any legwork to justify some of my criticism. For that I apologize. Though I still want to see more from both the N00bs and the sage veterans in this space, I certainly see that not everyone came aboard at the same time. And, they’re still coming aboard! I welcome you with open arms. I apologize with all my heart. Contrition in social media.
Lastly I want to tell you about the good in social media and the good that can come from community and how quickly people can open their hearts for others. David Armano for those of you who don’t know him has a friend that you should meet and get to know. I’m not going to steal David’s thunder but if he doesn’t do anything the rest of the year, he can rest assure that what he did for Daniela will have changed her life forever. Impactful. Social media can be love, can be generous and can be impactful.
So you see, even when I said I had nothing to write and was struggling, it was there all along, right in front of me. To be honest, it’s always there, sometimes it just takes the community we’re in to point it out to us in an ever so subtle manner. I thank you for that. and thus I have gratitude for social media.
Direct Marketing Observations 
Thanks for the shout-out Marc – glad you enjoyed my post! Take a look at this page from Wikipedia, “Don’t Bite the Newcomers.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_bite_the_newcomer). It’s sometimes difficult for those us who have been operating in this space for a while to remember back to when we first started – it was a scary thing to just jump in and start contributing. I think we’d all do good to every once in a while, reach out to a new blogger or Twitter user, and point him in the right direction and let him/her know that it’s ok that they’re new and that people will support them if they just ask for help.
Love this post Marc. I am glad you are seeing things differently (again!) This is the wonderful part of social media that I want to share with others!
Pingback: Fractured Bloughts » Social media » Audience, visitors or people?
Rock on, my brother.
I wholeheartedly echo your sentiments.
😉
There’s plenty of room for all of us who care. And when someone who doesn’t care shows up at the party, we can simply ignore, unfollow, block, unlink, unjoin or unsubscribe.
(Wish it were that easy offline.)
Impressed by your thoughtfulness in this post. I have no doubt, it will truly help transform the way we all think.
THIS is social media-business-networking-outreach-conversation at its very best.
You nailed it!
😉
Kindest regards,
Renee Lemley
My single most important life lesson?
The secret to happiness is gratitude and forgiveness. (But, of course, that’s just one woman’s opinion.)
My single most important social media lesson?
Well, I guess I’ll just have to keep you posted on that one…
Marc
Fantastic post. Humble & humbling. It is always nice to see people revisit their assumptions and modify them accordingly, to me it is the sign of someone who truly has growth both personal and professional at heart.
Keep on pointing out the things you see as not working well in Social Media because its important that none of us become complaisant.
Thank you for providing thought provoking posts and for being willing to debate the issues.
Regards
Simon
@incslinger
Coming from a “noob” I will say that I am not intimidated by “veteran” social media users. I speak from the heart when I post or do anything in social media. I feel that being genuine is the key. Now whether or not people like that I can’t really help that.
That said, I do notice that some of the “veterans” tell “noobs” how to use social media. Then look down on them is they aren’t using it right. I thought the point of social media was to make it work for yourself not how others use it. What works for one person may not work for the next (and brands). I just don’t understand how you can have rules for a “media” so new. Isn’t is still evolving? Won’t it continue to evolve? To steal a line from Dan Patrick, “you can’t stop social media, you can only hope to contain it”.
Sorry for all the “”‘s
Brian – aka @ncmayhem
Pingback: My Habari :: Audience, visitors or people?
Pingback: Integration online and offline marketing | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing