There are lots of us guru types out here–people with an edge or a perspective or some tips to offer. Some are useful–as I work very hard to be. Some are hollow or narrow or limited. It is important to remember that no one, and I mean no one, has this Social Media Tech Tiger by the tail. Look at the big names, the high pressure Start Up whiz kids, the pundits and pronouncers. Stories abound about companies that swell and shrink, of valuations without value, of missteps and mistakes.
That is because Social Media is–stay with me here–social.
It rides the currents and eddies of the flow between people. And people are only so predicable. Which is a very good thing. We can and probably do need to stay informed about the plans, innovations and strategies of the providers who seek to dam, shape and harness the flow of Social Media currents. Social scientists can map our aggregate behavior and make predictions and draw conclusions about the likely behavior of groups. Again, this is useful and interesting. But it is not foolproof. A Gangnam Style event was possible, maybe even probable. But it wasn’t predictable. If it was, Harlem Shake would have been a whole lot more satisfying distraction and a whole lot less creepy, manufactured intrusion.
Ultimately, the engagement is about the ride. It is about interacting with people. The apps are tools. The sites are arenas but the value is in the connections between people.
It is the time to experiment–prudently, of course, and with as much information as you can comfortably gather. Go talk to someone. Encourage a stranger. Share someone’s great story with your contacts. Express a tactful but thought provoking opinion to someone with a track record of embracing conversation not hyperbole. Don’t send any money to a deposed prince or give all your personal details to anyone who is listening. Go make a friend, even for a moment or two. And take the advice of us gurus with a grain of salt–we’re learning along with the rest of you.
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