Is there really a right or wrong in social media?

When I write with a pen, I do it wrong. I draw letters backward, and my knuckle sticks out awkwardly.

"You hold your pen all funny," drawled iconic Senator Howell Heflin while I was trying to interview him for a newspaper article in 1996. "That's how I hold my pen! I've never met anyone else who holds one like that."

Just as I began to feel that this might become a bonding experience...

"Of course, I was shot in the finger during the war. What's your excuse?"

I was reminded of that moment today while reading Chris Brogan's provocative blog post, "You're doing it wrong."

With no introductory comments, Brogan posted a list of social media missteps, including:

• You follow too many people on Twitter.
• You have ads on your blog.
• You use partial RSS feeds.
• Your blog posts are too short (too long).
• You shoot really long videos and don’t edit.
• You swear.

It doesn't take long to realize that Chris is joking, or at least intentionally challenging our notions of "right and wrong" in social media.

"Guess what? We’re all doing it wrong," Chris writes. "Because we’re all doing it our own way, and it’s not always going to match the way you think it works best."

This is a fantastic point. The more we use tools like Facebook, Twitter or even just blogs, the more we all create notions of what we think is proper and what is out of bounds.

I've said before that there are no rules in social media. This is one of the best things and one of the most frustrating things about the arena I work in.

On the one hand, it can leave you paralyzed with uncertainty about what you should or shouldn't do. On the other, it can empower you to ignore the pros and pundits, so you can just be yourself. Or at least hold your pen however you damn well please.

Comments

[Steven Groves]

David,

I love this post! I look at the evolution of social media in a similar way; we cannot predict how the medium will play out or be used best.

Marc Andreessen last year suggested that just now, we're seeing the Internet beginning to fulfill the vision and potential it was meant to have when it was new.

Likewise, I cite the evolution of the phone and television; initially the phone was wired and TV was un-wired, today the phone is untethered and (virtually) every TV is connected to a cable.

As a culture, we sometime have no idea on how to do what we want with the technology we have. Is social media nay different? Are we any wiser than we were 100 years ago?

[Lisa Marie Mary]

I hold my pen 'wrong' when I write, too - and I've made my durn second finger crooked because of it! Gets nail ladies mad every time! LOL!

I'm so glad that you posted this and that you brought Chris' post to my attention, as well. Goodness gracious, all the 'shoulds' can just about drive a person crazy in this social media web we're all weaving!

[Jay Marlin]

More than once I've read 'experiment, try different things, see what works...'

Sometimes I'll try something new or different and not see immediate results. Before long I'm starting to wonder if maybe I'm still doing it wrong. I was even starting to think of material for a post on mistakes I've made so far!

Maybe I'll wait a couple more months and really give my readers some ammo. Until then, I think I'll keep holding my fork wrong, use my boarding house reach and continue to eat like a prisoner!

[Natalie]

Great post. BTW I got my finger shot in the war too. Oh oops, lying is something else you're not supposed to do in social media. :D

[Erik Bower]

Here is an example on Marketbright 's blog (a marketing automation software provider)about how Serena Software did a great job with their very funny campaign.
http://blog.marketbright.com/2009/03/02/social-media-marketin/

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I agree there are no rules in social media..but some so called experts are trying to sell services..and the so called gurus can't sell them if they say there are no rules..how can you sell an ebook on what to do and what no to if there are no rules...right?!

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