Steve Beger Photography via Flickr, CC license

there was a recent interview i read of a social media consultant’s take on status update tools that syndicate or “autoblast” your status to numerous social networks.  you know the tools – ping, hootsuite and so on.  this individual suggested that people avoid these tools entirely.  well, as i’ve said in the past, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to social media, and each of us has our opinions and thoughts on what works and what doesn’t.  well, here’s my opinion.

everyone’s got one

and my opinion is neither right nor wrong.  it’s simply my opinion.  just like the person cited in the interview.  his opinion.  to be fair, the individual made a point later in his comments that suggested that these tools are ok to be used to update a couple network sites, but shouldn’t be used to update every network you’re on.  i agree with that.

but i don’t agree that these services shouldn’t be used occasionally to post your status updates on more than a couple sites.  i can’t be everywhere at once, but i do want to inform my other networks about what’s happening from time to time. so i routinely post with tweetdeck, su.pr and other syndication tools.  but i do so in moderation.

one big difference

if i do post using these tools, i still visit the social networking sites i’ve posted the status update on to see if i get any response.   i know a lot of people that post from elsewhere and never visit the sites they post to.   how will they ever know anyone responded to their post?  sure, they’ve got email notifications (unless they changed their default settings), but everyone gets busy and may forget to respond to those low priority emails.  after a few instances of this, people stop responding to posts made from elsewhere.  if they know you’ll never visit and engage, what’s the point of commenting?

crazy.

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if you’re relatively new to social networking, let me offer one word of advice: don’t talk business all the time.  ok, that’s more like six words of advice, but it bears repeating: don’t talk business all the time.  there.  now you’ve got twelve words of advice.

what i’m talking about here is the status updates so prominently featured in all social networks – facebook, linkedin, plaxo, ecademy, twitter, etc.  you know them by various questions – “what are you doing?” or “what are you working on now?”  invitations prompting you to tell your network what’s going on in your life at that moment.  handy little snippets of information to help your connections keep up with you.

some take the status update literally, offering up every nuance of their day, such as “having pancakes with my 9 year old,” or “going for my 3rd cup of starbucks this morning.”  not that there’s anything wrong with that.  just as long as these types of updates are done in moderation and with a modicum of taste.  believe me, when you start telling me about your dog’s bm’s, i’m gonna have to pass and say tmi.

others take the status update opportunity as an open invitation to smother you with marketing messages.  in the real estate industry, i see this all the time, and especially on facebook.  realtors who throw every listing into their status updates, hoping to expose their property to a buyer lurking in their network.  these same realtors place every price reduction, open house, buyer tour and offer they’re presenting in the feed, thinking that their network wants to hear about it.  well, newsflash kids.  they don’t.

would you subscribe to comcast if they only showed commercials?

the reason i accepted your friend request on facebook or decided to follow you on twitter was that i wanted to get to know more about you, the person.  heck, even connecting with you on linkedin i had hoped to learn something more than the product or service you were selling.  i was looking for some value in our connection.  instead, you give me spam.

you see, i’ll take a promotional plug every once in awhile, but if you’re going to pollute my stream with advertising constantly, why would i want to stay connected / continue following / be your friend?  i mean, would you pay comcast a monthly subscription if their programming only offered commercials?  didn’t think so.

stop social network pollution

if you’re currently using your status updates, wall posts and tweets to talk business incessantly, stop it.  stop it now.  do it before i unfollow / unfriend / disconnect you from my network.  and if you run across someone within your networks that’s bombarding you with marketing, send them a nice note encouraging them to provide those messages a little less frequently. and if they continue spamming you after your friendly warning, nuke em.

if you don’t, they’ll make you crazy.

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