Social Tech | Lena West » TAG: Social Media Rants

April 19, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Without the tech, Web 2.0 sucks

TAGS: Social Media Rants

It's really easy to fall in love with a Web app. The slick design. The fancy logos.

But ultimately, it's all about the technology and being able to deliver what you say you can.

Just ask HP.

Posted by Lena West on April 19, 2008 01:52 PM

January 08, 2008 | Comments: (0)

This has got to stop

TAGS: Social Media Rants

Yes, the subtitle of this blog is "Less Facebook, More Business," but I found it interesting that Facebook has a group called This Has Got to Stop run by Evan Poteet of Hamilton Southeastern High School ... (ahem) ... class of '09.

As of Jan 8, 2008, group has 497,779 members (myself included) and the following is written on the group's Facebook home page:

I DON'T WANT TO BE A VAMPIRE I DON'T WANT TO BE A PIRATE LEAVE ME ALONE

POINTLESS FACEBOOK APPLICATIONS ARE RUINING FACEBOOK

I would extend that to include: pointless mini-applications are ruining social media.

Kinda like when you get the wrong set of neighbors moving in next door ... everything just goes downhill.

The problems erupt when brands think they can buy their way into social media success and start to create pointless Facebook applications, meaningless advertising and unhelpful widgets. The blogosphere is simply overrun with corporations' "throw money at it" flubs and ignorant "interactive" agencies' attempts to help their clients "go viral."

I can't tell you how many calls we've fielded that start with the words, "We think we need a widget."

It's worse than social media bling -- it's social media Liberace. In the name of all that is right with social media, please cease the onslaught of social media accoutrements.

If you feel the urge to create yet another widget, stop!

Instead, redirect the time and energy to:

• Refine your social media strategy.
  
• Visit and post comments to other, complementary blogs.
  
• Examine your social media metrics.
  
• Develop an editorial calendar for your social media efforts.
  
• Work with a social media expert to make sure you're getting it right.
  
• Just take a deep breath and chill.
  

Posted by Lena West on January 8, 2008 01:00 AM

December 11, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Keeping My Business, My Business

TAGS: Social Media Rants

Another reason people input false information into social networking sites...I know I've done it.

I don't think it's important that Facebook or LinkedIn knows my birthday, my home address or where I grew up.

How much information do you share?

Posted by Lena West on December 11, 2007 05:56 PM

October 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)

What's wrong with social media?

TAGS: Social Media Rants

In a word, alot.

I'm kicking off this blog with a two-part post (yes, already).

Lest you think I'm some pie-in-the-sky, kumbaya-singing, guitar-strumming, daisy-headress-wearing social media evangelist, I want to put my position on the topic out front.

Do I think social media will cure world hunger? Um, sadly, no.

Do I think it's got uber-potential of the likes we haven't seen in years? Yep.

But, let's get back to the rant, Dennis McDonald-style...

I know there are problems with social media and I'm going to outline a few below. However, it should be very telling that I took the direction of my firm from overall technology strategy to social media strategy in less than a year.

The challenges of social media as I see them are myriad.

It's ripe to fall prey to net marketing cults. You know the guys with 90 autoresponder series promising you the golden keys to making $50,0000 a day on Google Adwords if you just pay $5,000 to go to their 'Mentoring Sermon-ar'? It's just a matter of time before these same guys show up on the scene and do the same thing with social media. And, that's the problem with social media. Anyone can get social media 'street cred' if they've got a big enough list.

Stalker-Prone, Security & Other Nuts. Unfortunately, there have been more than a few cases of cyber-stalking of prominent bloggers. I've never received any death threats. Probably because I always travel with personal security and partly because, well, I don't give the impression that I'd tolerate it for one minute. That, and my sister is a Federal Agent. But, security concerns are real and the more involved with social media you are, personally or professionally, the more likely it is that you'll attract unstable personality types.

Lack of Personal Identity. Unless I came up with a totally false name, email address, etc. I could never start a hugely popular MySpace fan club for boy bands and expect to be taken seriously by my clients and peers. Google search results would 'out' me as sure as I am typing this blog post. If that didn't happen, my IP address would give me away at some point. And, if you think people don't care, try to start a online community focused on macrame, make sure it's really popular (or not) and see how many clients and colleagues send you puzzled emails. The days of an anonymous fan club with a P.O. Box are long gone. Let's not even touch personal identity theft.

Copyrights, Trademarks, Fair Use and Other Legal Snafus. As we become more and more a content and conversation driven society, making sure your content doesn't get ripped off is even more of a challenge - as is making sure we always give appropriate attribution to others for their contributions and content. Call it walking on eggshells or being a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but the risks are real, present and must be addressed. And, if you're publicly held with the SEC breathing down your shirt and shareholders and lawyers in your face, heaven help you.

Blogs, Podcasts and Wikis. Using these tools is not for the faint of heart. It's only for the ready. If the public even gets a whiff of disingenuousness, they'll nail your hide. If you're customer service is not up to snuff, you'll hear about it. And wikis? Just the thought of allowing the public to change a portion of any site you own, without prior consent is enough to send any organization into a tailspin. Most of the wikis I'm involved with a relatively small and/or private. As soon as they become heavily trafficked, the nuts and vandals appear.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and if you're ticked off by social media now's the time to chime in and share.

And, if you love social media and think it's the best thing since sliced bread, my next post is for you...

Posted by Lena West on October 22, 2007 02:00 AM