Seth Godin isn't dead wrong on social media, but he is semi-comatose

Seth Godin isn’t dead wrong on social media, but he is semi-comatose

A few weeks ago, I watched this video hosted at the Open Forum. You have to go to the Web site as they don’t have an option to embed the video, I don’t know why. Please watch it now and come back or very little of what I say next will have the correct context.

Seth Godin on Social networking. Is it good for small business?

What Seth got right
Social media and business is not about “keeping score” or making “fake friends.” He is right that these “friends” won’t be around to sign the $100,000 contract when you need it. Business is built on real relationships that people have forged by doing things for each other.

What Seth got wrong
He answered the question with all the arrogance of a geezer who had already made up his mind about what something was. He assumed that the objective of social media was a race to collect friends. He assumed that Facebook was a collection of people who are “not really your friends” even if in some cases, they are. He ignored the operational parts of Facebook and Twitter that enabled small companies to reach deeper into an audience that they may not otherwise have the resources to tap.

In short, he did Michael Silverman and the entire audience a grave disservice by being dismissive of Facebook and Twitter. It is true some people keep score on Facebook and Twitter, but it is also true that there are folks out there who are figuring out how Facebook and Twitter are helping their small business be more competitive; folks like the retail marketing trade association NARMS and a CPG brand like VitaminWater10.

Watching Seth and a cut-away to Tom Peters sneering at a snarky comment Seth made on the video reminded me of a blog post Seth wrote in 2007 about the Dip. In his post, he said:

But the real takeaway for me is how small-minded, snarky and downright mean the three judges are.

But then I read something like this at Seth’s blog and ask myself, how can man who is obviously incredibly smart say such dumb and irresponsible things to an audience who sees him as a rock star?

Perhaps Seth would have been more effective by encouraging the audience to look at social media tools beyond their book jackets and into their operational value. For example, Twitter is a powerful, cheap tool for gauging opinion trending, measuring social winds as it were. It effectively replaces the focus group. Or, a twitter stream is the 2009 equivalent of a police scanner or an AP feed for journalists. Want to get their attention in your local community? They are listening and they still want to scoop everyone else. How can a small business use that bit of thinking?

Seth, you should have done what you do best. You fling out some ideas and jump start people’s minds to get them thinking in new and different ways. Instead, what you did was snark out the same veneer viewpoint that every local newscaster parrots on a slow news day. And you convinced a room full of people that social media tools are truly a waste of resources and they were right all along about their lack of value.

Only I think Michael Silverman and Duo Consulting may not have entirely drunk your brand of Kool-Aid. Apparently, they are still hedging their bets on their “fake friends.”

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Update:
After posting this, I came across a video found at Maria Reyes-Davis’ blog. This is the part he is right about. However, to be able to give advice more fully, he needs to explore the other “hidden” hooks and tails of social media that helps small business operationally. Worth watching, but it would have been nice to see this delivered on the main stage.

About Gerard McLean

Hello. This will almost always be a boring space. You can best learn about who I am by reading my blog posts more in depth. If you have a more burning desire to know more about me, you should first see a doctor. Or at least read my story. It will tell you all you need to know to make wild assumptions of me that are probably not true.

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