Could Social Media become any less authentic?
0If you work in social media like I do, you probably see a lot of tweets, blogs, emails, mobile messages and status updates. We probably read more updates in a week than most people see in a year. Here’s six things I am seeing more and more often, and its kind of disturbing:
1. Wannabe media outlets - If you get your “BREAKING NEWS:” tweets from a fish bait shop or a seamstress, please be skeptical.
2. Google update – fed auto blog posts and auto tweets. Seriously?! You are the equivalent to roadside litter. (Forgive me for this: “Twitter Litter.”) Do you want to read a blog post from someone who never took one second to type even one letter?
3. twitter spammers - If you see a tweet from a profile with an account with a default avatar, 5078 followers that’s following 0, it’s most likely a bullshit account. In fact, I think twitter should restrict users with no avatar. Like, no RT function and a cap on followers until you enter a Captcha word. Or – better yet, make us users enter a captcha word at random sometimes. Like a DUI checkpoint, kinda.
4. facebook event update madness. I have said for a long time that facebook should overhaul their events functions. Again, more captcha, please. I’d love to see more targeting and less “Update All Fans” – but that would be a conflict for facebook, as they rely on event ads for revenue. Investing in more customization in free features probably goes against their bottom line.
5. Everyone’s an expert. The majority of SM experts are really sharp and I appreciate the hell out of them, but some aren’t practicing what they preach. Reduntant tweets for the same blog post? Isn’t this the same as sending me repeat email blasts? What about those who preach authenticity, yet schedule and cross-post (see #6) their tweets, sometimes 20 at a time?
6. Duplicate posts across networks. Some of my friends do this and it drives me kinda crazy. Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter = all different animals with different uses. Mix it up a little, if you must cross-post. Honestly, when are people going to accept that LinkedIn is a virtual resumé. Would you attach a sheet of typed out tweets to your resumé? I didn’t think so.
What’s the most annoying new trend you’re seeing in Social Media, as the industry evolves?
