Are We Navel Gazing Social Media Narcissists?
February 26th, 2009 by Tom Francoeur
Two recent articles have got me thinking:
Twitter Leads to Narcissism, an article by Edward Barrera which appeared on ADOTAS, and a recent blog post by Jeremiah Owyang called Expulsion of the Social Media “Gurus” – Impacts of the Recession.
I don’t agree at all with Susan Greenfield, the neuroscientist quoted in the ADOTAS article who claims that social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter “shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered.” But the word ‘narcissism’ certainly gets me thinking when it comes to social media.
Jeremiah Owyang’s blog post makes a very pointed argument that if you’re a self-proclaimed social media guru who is focused more on your own reputation than delivering valuable information and measurable results – your days are numbered, especially with the recession we’re in the middle of right now. That I agree with wholeheartedly.
As for me, I’m a true believer in social media for businesses, but it took me some time to get here. I have a skeptical streak. I tend to hang back to see how things work before diving in, but I’m in now and I see the potential.
But there’s one area where I remain skeptical and frankly annoyed – that sense of ‘popularity,’ who’s ‘in’ versus who’s ‘out,’ and the self referential patting on the back that goes on with individuals and among followers. That’s high school and in professional circles, I thought that was over a long time ago – but I guess that mentality still persists wherever you go.
Admittedly, the ego trip can be all too tempting. We’re talking about self-publishing after all, and there’s no denying the thrill of seeing your own words on the screen getting shared and linked to and retweeted. And to have a forum for your ideas and viewpoints – what PR or marketing professional wouldn’t want that? But if you’re using social media on behalf of your clients or a business, it’s best to check your ego and personal brand at the door and focus on client needs and getting results.
Certainly, we all earn our stripes as armchair experts in the industries and markets we follow for our clients, and part of relationship building is demonstrating that you get it. But if you’re talking more about yourself and your personal viewpoints rather than providing valuable information to your networks and followers, then maybe you’re cut out to be a independent consultant or social media “guru” rather than a PR ‘hack’ or marketing exec.
And even then, I agree with Jeremiah Owyang that “times are different now, with budgets under scrutiny, layoffs at hand, companies don’t have time for gurus filled with opinion, over-used case studies and empty books.”
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these viewpoints.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 5:39 pm and is filed under PR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:50 am
Good post. Twitter, for example, has been invaded by social media “experts” and legions of people who’s only goal is to drive up their followers to proclaim their “guru” credentials. It’s ridiculous as the real benefit of Twitter isn’t having the most followers – but the right followers (especially if you’re using it for business purposes).
One big downside of social media is its addiction. It’s easy to get lost playing on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn all day – updating and checking status and responses. That’s why everyone needs a plan on how to use it.
I was a former journalist, so like you, I have a big skeptical streak. But I embraced social media pretty early because I could see its enormous benefits. It’s changing everything – from the way we talk to friends to how we discover new ideas.
This all very nascent, however, so mistakes and challenges are natural. That’s the way in which we’ll work out the kinks.
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Hi George. Thank you for your comments! I’m fairly new to Twitter so it’s interesting to read your viewpoint that it’s quality not quantity when it comes to followers. I tend to agree with you. I look at cultivating a Twitter following in the same way I would in building an email list. The most effective list is one that’s focused and highly targeted. Something I’ll try and blog about later in more detail
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Hi Tom:
Well, I’ll look for you on Twitter and we can connect. I’m making a blog post tomorrow about the 3 biggest mistakes new people make after joining Twitter. Stop by!