What Part of “Social” is Unclear?

Are you the kind of guy who hands out business cards in church? Who, dining out at a restaurant, goes from table to table selling bowling balls? Who, when meeting friends for drinks, tries to get them to join your MLM scheme?

If so, then social media marketing is for you!

If not, however—if, that is to say, you are not a huge asshat with boundary issues and an underdeveloped sense of self, or at least don’t want to seem to be such—then please resist trying to use Twitter, Facebook, and blog comments to hawk your wares.

Now, I know that you’ll get lots of Twitter “followers” and Facebook “friends” even if you’re in perpetual sales mode. Getting followers is not hard; I know of at least one Twitter account with no updates and more than 1500 followers. But guess what? Those followers will be in perpetual sales mode too.

You’re all yammering at each other, and nobody is listening.

Many of us like to use social media socially, to meet other people for pleasure, to form educational and entertaining connections with other human beings.

Trying to sell to us using social media is like trying to teach a warthog to sing (just like a pig, but uglier and with long dangerous tusks).