That's some rant and - to a degree - he's got a real point. There is only so far you can go and so much you can say and, anything you do say, should be tempered with a bit of realism. Yes, we can take advantage of 'social media' to gain exposure and communicate but there is a lot of rubbish spouted as well. The same goes for the blogging trade; there are too many "you must do it this way or else" sites repeating the same old crap ad nauseum - hey, who made those rules and who is to say that they should be THE rules to follow? meh! - Colin Walker from fftogo

Anyway, social media isn't a myth per se but it IS just another way for us to connect which facilitates easier sharing and communication over other methods of connection. Social media services are just tools. - Colin Walker from fftogo

@Colin - I think he's trying to burst unrealistic bubbles and get things to a semblance of reality. - Mark Dykeman

Good job too :) - Colin Walker from fftogo

First, I like CGT2099's passion ala' Bill Hicks "If you're in marketing or advertising... you are Satan's little helper." I don't "blog" or participate in social media streams like FF to make money, it's not my profession. I participate in these streams because I like to connect with people that are pushing these developments further. Social Media is NOT new, when I was just a wee little mouse scratcher on my Apple IIGS, BBS was a 'node' now FF is a 'node' that makes info easier for me to find- that's it! - michael sean wright

Hicks on Marketing- http://www.youtube.com/watch... - michael sean wright

I appreciate where he and others are coming from but this seems a bit like arguing that God doesn't exist because there is evil in the world or that sales and marketing is unquestionably bad because some people manipulate people through sales tactics to buy things they don't need - just because there are excesses doesnt mean that the thing itself is bad or - by his arguments - nonexistent - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

By his logic: there is no such thing as "the mainstream media" its just TV, radio, newspaper; there is no such thing as "smart phones" they are just cell phones. IMHO Social Media is any piece of technology that facilitates a significant expansion in our ability to share information (communicate) with a large (limitless?) group of individuals regardless of geographic boundaries - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

I wanted to make that point, but ran out of room! Obv. CGT2099 still 'believes,' the mixx and "addthis" buttons are there. It's akin to the SNL "I hate puppies, if you disagree, call" approach. But I'm here because I don't want marketers to tell me what I should read, if they get control then the noise will drive me out. He's right on though about "consultants" what a load, with exception of present company of course. - michael sean wright

@nice fish completely agree - that in and of itself leads me to believe that "social media" IS something different altogether - call it a subset of the internet or whatever but it brings with it different rules and expectations. - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

Social media on the internet has been around since posting on Compuserv or Prodigy bulletin boards (and before). Its changing and a few people are making $$ at it,I fail to see the myth point. - Robert

@ Marco marketing is a necessary function of a Free Market Society. I believe that whole heartedly, but when out of balance (content vs. paid placement) my frustration grows to the point of detachment. I just think there is rush to monetize everything too quickly. Let the audience find what they are looking for, build a loyalty and trust base and your crowd will participate with your recommendations. Leo Laporte is a great model of this. - michael sean wright

Perhaps part of any disillusion might be the fact that people's expectations lean toward using a trend or inflection point in the world as a means to figure out how they can " get rich" which is not going to be the outcome for most people. - Robert

@nice Fish completely agree - that is one of the great developments - companies that just dont get it see these tools as just another way to inundate a specific audience with messages - they dont understand that a new set of expectations is emerging that is impervious to scatter shot techniques like that. many of the people I see calling themselves "social media experts" are merely trying to help companies understand this - I dont necessarily have a problem with that - Marco(aureliusmaximus)

What's that you say? I'm too busy watching Dr. Horrible and trying to figure out how to order the DVD. Yeah, no, there's absolutely no money in social media... - XDpaul

@all - great discussion so far. It's certainly not fair to paint all sales and marketing activities, in any medium, as evil (or good, for that matter). I try to remain an optimist that there is some real "game changing" possibilities that come from social media and I think there are a few examples of how it can help. However, the social media user dictates their own success by both intent and execution. - Mark Dykeman