Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, That’s What Social Media is Made Of?

Not quite.

While everyone does, for the most part, do a great job of putting their best foot forward, people are people and to even try to make social media be anything more than regular humanity is shooting yourself in the foot. Or shooting your bottom line…or something involving shooting and pain and bad times.

Yes there are barriers to entry, but they only last so long and eventually the Internet will mirror society pretty well - even if it is mirroring a global society rather than a North American one. The Internet looks so much different now than it did in 1992 when I received and sent my first .gif file. Back then I was one of the hottest chicks on the Internet and no man could resist me.

I’ll wait for you to stop laughing.

Ok, ready?

But yeah, the hot chicks did not find the Internet as fast as us nerdy, geeky “lots of time on my hands because I don’t date or party” types.

And by golly didn’t we all relish that fact and roll around in our own little MuSHy and MUDdy and MOOey universes while we were the pretty people and the rock stars. Oh yes, yes we did.

Now? Lots of beautiful people and not everyone is as smart as they were in ‘92. Heck, I remember in ‘92 we were lamenting because the people on Telnet weren’t as smart as they used to be in the late 80’s when I started rocking the bulletin boards. (Back when I used to walk uphill to school both ways in snowdrifts taller than the Sears Tower.)

I’m 33, in case you were wondering. I know I’m making myself sound pretty old, so I thought I’d share.

The thing is, we weren’t saying this to the people we were making fun of. We said it among ourselves, the elite. So the signs are there and I fully admit I sometimes engage in mockery of those not as technically savvy as I am. You know, those people.

What does this have to do with anything from a corporation to a micro-business?

If you pretend the mockery and elitism doesn’t exist, you aren’t going to be able to put out a successful or even remotely memorable brand - because you are only using half-assed information to form your opinion of the Internet and you will only use that information you have to devise a brand strategy online which, because you have inaccurate data, will not give you the results you were hoping for.

To pretend there aren’t snake oil salesman and a bunch of broke people pretending they make fat stacks of cash from social media consulting any snips, snails, or puppy dog tails is to deny the humanity and wholeness of society presenting itself on the Internet. Especially in social media outlets where transparency and authenticity are vaunted while people pretend they are experts because they know more than their next-door-neighbor.

Ignoring the bullies and know-it-alls does not make them go away, it just means you aren’t prepared for them.

So enjoy the amazing success stories and the friendly foks and the smarties that are friendly while you surf the friendly sites - because all those things are really out there and you could be the next big thing, I’m not disputing that…but remember that it takes all types and not everyone is as successful or as friendly as you might think.

For your business? Have a plan…and for better and for worse know your fellow humans.

December 2, 2008 | By: Jennifer Gniadecki | Filed Under Blogging, Networking, Online Marketing |