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9 Things I Don’t Like About Social Media (And a Few Things You Don’t Like Too)

If you’re a newbie or want to learn more about social media, read this post: “What is Social Media? In plain English“.You could say social media is everything on the internet, but that’s another conversation. This post is a personal rant, so here it goes,

1. The “always on” factor:
A lot of people ask “how do you manage your time on social media, with emails, tweets and smartphones?” and I feel almost obligated to responded to everything immediately. Plus people can reach each other in various ways, and I sometimes think others don’t take into consideration whatyou have going on in your personal life. You have to have some self control and some rules in place to use your time effectively.

2. The immediacy factor:
I blame this one on Twitter. Everyone wants to be first to report or reply, or they want you to accept a friend request asap. We’re living in a microwave age,. People want content and replies, and they want it now. I think this is part of the reason newspapers are failing.

3. The expectation factor:
I’ve been dealing with this for a while. You create a web presence, build a brand, and people will put a label on you in a heart beat. I’m no master, expert or anything like that; I’m online to use the tools, build relationships, start a business, and go from there like the next person. If you are like me, you have put in time to build your brand and now that the space has become so crowded you have to work harder to prove your value and how you’re different or better than the next person.

4. The echo chamber factor:
Maybe I’m spending too much time online, but I’ve seen a lot of posts just copy the same stories from others.  For the blog’s sake don’t let an Apple “rumor” get started; you’ll read about the same story on 10 Mac blogs.

5. The rich are getting richer and the poorer are still trying:
The popular blogs are gaining more and more traffic, and although it’s easier for people to launch new websites and blogs, I think gaining sustainable traffic is harder. But it can be done .

6. The Lack of diversity:
This one is a touchy topic but true, there’s lack of diversity in social media. The space is dominated mostly one race and gender. Others have to work harder to succeed and they must have a thick skin and be strong to last.

7. Everyone is a judge:
Social Media has given everyone a voice. You can easily tweet, blog, or record a video about anyone and be heard. Sometimes people care about what you are doing on line, and sometimes they don’t, but when you make a few mistakes people will call you out. Pick and choose your battles wisely and always try to do your best.

8. The one-person or one-blog or one-tool factor:
Despite what anyone says, I disagree that any one person or blog has all the answers about social media. Social media is not just Facebook or just Twitter.  It’s so much more. A few years ago, it was all about web 2.0,  and before that it was about charging $35,000 to $50,000 just for a plain brochure website. I don’t have all the answers, and if anyone else tells you they do, run and run fast. Everything is in beta and I’m sure by the end of 2009 the world will be buzzing about the next big thing online. Either way, I’m going to do the best I can with what I’ve got, work on a few projects, and see where the web ends.

9. The “taking it to serious” factor:
Sometimes I want to say lighten up, we’re all different and entitled to our own opinion, and that’s what makes us unique. I’ve seen comments and conversations that have just gone too far. If you’re a business, protect your brand and your voice. If you’re an individual, be careful what you say online because it can come back to haunt you one day. And let’s try to just get along.

Conclusions
Ok, I think I’ve done enough venting for now, and I feel a little better. But there’s a lot I have to work on, to improve on as a man, husband, entrepreneur. I also want to improve everything I put online to try to make it great, because I’m getting judged on everything. I’m in beta folks, time to work stronger, faster and smarter in 2009, and see where the road takes me.

Twitter / Wayne Sutton: working on a blog post, th ...

By the way, I recently posted the following tweet: “Working on a blog post: Things You Don’t Like About Social Media – What are Your Pet Peeves? Reply to be included”  Below are the responses.

kevinpackler: – The perceived brain damage: http://burnurl.com/Q5ixKb

about 53 minutes ago

kmcgiveron: Dislike how girls are Prey to ….men. Have you ever tried walking around Playstation Home as a Girl? Facebook? Uh…

about an hour ago

dancharles: blip.fm tweets

about an hour ago

namnum: 1 thing I don’t like is that how easy it is to misunderstand one another. Social Media has the potential to be very unsocial.

about 2 hours ago

ClaudiaAAUW: When people comment on subject w/o taking time to research that subject first.

about 2 hours ago

Nick_Dodd: I don’t like how there isn’t a free widget out there that lets you post to all social media in ONE post.

about 2 hours ago

jphall: If we could move forward to a cross platform effort to allow access to your social sites, flock, open id help but not enough?

about 2 hours ago

timmyandmarvin: In answer to your question, things we don’t like about social media: http://tinyurl.com/ak7vo6

about 2 hours ago

reesie777: They eventually get taken over by spam

about 2 hours ago

vbpoutsourcing: spammers. I hate the spammers

about 2 hours ago

enthused: Having said that, I’m sure this has been/is currently being addressed by someone smarter than me. Good luck w/ your blog post.

about 2 hours ago

V_J: can be time consuming.

about 2 hours ago

enthused: In response to your question, don’t care for the redundancy of duplicate entries across multiple social media platforms.

about 2 hours ago

ChristianRep: @MomNeedsHelp – Can’t stand useless twits about nothing! When useful / thought provoding ideas are shared… all benefit.

about 2 hours ago

h2cm: There’s too many – just how good are the social media ‘dashboards’ – friendfeed etc…? No time to evaluate…!

about 2 hours ago

adamstahr: At times it seems as if there are more social media experts than students.

about 2 hours ago

complexcipher: sometimes crazy people with crazy harmful ideas get validated by other crazy people. It wasn’t as likely presocial media.

about 2 hours ago

kishau: (re: things Not to Like About Social Media) Info overload, Anonymity breeds spammers, unhealthy focus on quantity (vs quality)

about 2 hours ago

scrivs: I don’t like the experts who aren’t experts. They ruin social media.

about 2 hours ago

ryancmiller: with so many tweets, feeds, and posts, its easy to get overwhelmed and ‘monitor’ as opposed to creating / contributing

about 2 hours ago

rutgerblom: Social media is not so social. It’s very much about me, myself and I.

about 2 hours ago

eberlingeri: Lack of automated “spam” control

about 2 hours ago

Laforge129: I don’t like the spam that comes with social Media : (Tech-linkblog.com)

about 2 hours ago

julie_mo: Many people rely on SM instead of a handwritten note or other ‘human’ contact. Sometimes a phone call can’t be beat.

about 2 hours ago

jwilker: “Social media {gurus, experts, masters}”

about 2 hours ago

claudinerenee: When it is having technical difficulties! Hwevr, it cracks me up that people get ANGRY at free services – twitter, myspace, fb.

about 2 hours ago

FlyboyOState: SPAM!!! (*squints eyes at myspace*)

about 2 hours ago

Joesalome: way too many rabbit holes. its fun but keeping up with all the different options can get stressful.

about 2 hours ago

waynesutton: working on a blog post, things you don’t like about social media, do you have any? Reply to be included, thanks

about 2 hours ago