Friday Frustrations - Social Media Explorer
Friday Frustrations
Friday Frustrations
by

Podcasters

Image by jdlasica via Flickr

Author’s Note: This is a rant post derived on the eve of a week-long vacation which should tell you something about my energy level and mindset. I’m not trying to offend anyone, but I needed to get some of this off my chest so I could unplug (sans Twitter, of course) most of next week and relax for a bit.

Social Media Influencers Are Not Celebrities

A-list bloggers have an awfully bad habit of blowing smoke up each other’s asses. I’m probably guilty of it, too, though I don’t consider myself an A-lister, but for chrissakes people, you’re not celebrities so stop acting like them.

Granted, the inspiration for this little pithiness was Shel Israel’s shoulder cry about Loren Feldman Wednesday, which was probably warranted, a long time coming and something Shel deserved to post, but it’s not the only example of soap opera crap few people really care about. (I love your work, Shel. Your opinions shared on my Jim Beam project mean more to me than you’ll ever know. I just don’t think Loren’s sock puppet is news or worth being upset over. Sorry.)

And while I’m at it, Robert Scoble shutting down Twitter? Give me a break. Robert’s a nice guy, but no one with his job, number of online followers or (I’m guessing) income level needs unnecessary ego boosts.

I’ve hinted around as well about some A-Listers who have become much more interested in blogging about themselves than the subject matter that made them A-Listers in the first place. I could get all Chris Anderson-ish and name names, but it seems like everyone in social media follows these 2-3 guys, so I figure you probably get it.

The bottom line in all this is that the blogs I fell in love with last year have become the Young and the Restless and “Look at Me! I’m Important!” And it frustrates me because I learn from these folks.

At least Valeria still rocks. I just wish Pepper would blog more but he’s doing what I feel like doing … focusing almost entirely on his client(s) and letting the blogosphere continue to talk to itself.

Bloggers Are Making Asses Of Themselves

Kevin Rose is high profile enough to either check, or have someone else check, his facts. The whole Jared is dead thing is just another example of why bloggers are held at arms length by PR folks and not given the credit or respect many of them deserve. You may not have asked to be a media member, but you are a media producer. It’s the same thing. Grow up and respect your audience enough to not do stupid crap online. (Kevin has admitted the mistake and apologized. Good for him.)

And on a somewhat related note, I had the amusing experience of dealing with an anti-PR, anti-advertising and anti-corporate anything blogger this week. The guy was just a self-righteous, self-important ass. I wasn’t even pitching him a story, just emailing him to let him know if he was interested in a particular news item, my client had some images he was welcome to use. His response was to lecture me on how he was not going to shill for any corporate entity and that he was offended I would ask him to do so, which I didn’t. I reassured him he was smarter than me and dropped it.

What a dumbass.

Twitter Is Now Just Plain Pissing Me Off

I’ve discovered a work-around to use Twitter via instant messaging now. Sign up for Ping.fm to post to multiple networks for your statuses, either set it to only post to Twitter or forget to care where it also posts, then Tweet via Ping.fm’s IM connection. With that dialog open (I use Meebo) also have the Twitter IM receive-only stream open to see your friend’s stream.

But the point here is that Twitter has been “appreciating my patience” for a month or more. Give me the $15 million. I’ll find someone to fix your crappy service. You’re damn lucky there are so many of us there and we’re still holding out hope you’ll stop tripping over yourselves drawing birds and whales and work. Seriously boys, entire platforms have been built in less time.

Twit2Fit Is Bigger Than Me

I’ve been trying to find a white label social networking platform willing to build a home for a Twit2Fit community to show off their wares. You build it for free and you get to be the official sponsor and/or take the lion’s share of any advertising we agree upon for the community. It’s either that or I’ll find the time to build it in Ning and you guys lose a chance at a virtual showroom for what you can do.

I’ve had no takers yet and am frustrated that there is a real audience of people out there willing and ready to share, inspire and support each other, but the momentum seems to be slipping.

At least I’m still going to the gym.

Just One Person

Social Media Club Louisville is growing and going well. We’ve got a new mindset of educating the masses, one-by-one, in separate Social Media Breakfast events and using our monthly meetings more for networking and/or more advanced educational sessions. But one person can’t do everything. Or at least I can’t do everything fast. I’ve got a steering committee of people I love and think of as friends, but we’re all busy with our real jobs, families and lives and when something is No. 6 or 7 on the priority list, stuff just doesn’t get done. I don’t blame them. I’m just frustrated that we aren’t accomplishing more faster. It will happen, I just need more hours in the day, I guess.

Social News Is Dead To Me

Digg, Mixx, Reddit … bye. I’ve not missed you over the last couple of months. Traffic to the places I want traffic is much better when it’s organic anyway because it comes back. I still like StumbleUpon because it’s more about sharing and less about gaming the system to get false positives. I won’t be shutting off any profiles (other than maybe Reddit because I’ve always hated Reddit) but you guys go play your slightly more civilized version of learning the Mrs. Pac Man patterns and have fun.

The Irony Of It All

Finally, I’m now pissed off at myself for posting this, which is the kind of post that inspired my frustrations in the first place. This blog was never meant to be about me. Forgive me this time. I’ll see you after my vacation. I promise to be in a better mood.

The blog is in good hands. Kat will make sure you’ve got great content to enjoy next week.

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About the Author

Jason Falls
Jason Falls is the founder of Social Media Explorer and one of the most notable and outspoken voices in the social media marketing industry. He is a noted marketing keynote speaker, author of two books and unapologetic bourbon aficionado. He can also be found at JasonFalls.com.

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