Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Is It Just Me? [Social Media Gripes]

View Comments | Posted In Opinion, Social Media by David

In this line of work, I see a lot of things. We all do. And some of those things are annoying.

So, I’m going to spill 10 gripes of mine when it comes to social media and blogging. You know, just to get it off my chest. ;)

  1. Calling yourself a social media expert is like saying you’re an expert in talking. It is just human interaction like we’ve been doing since we rubbed two sticks together and made fire. I know “social media” is a buzzword these days, but let’s just be honest here, shall we?
  2. Foursquare? Mafia Wars? I could not possibly give less of a sh*t.
  3. People who tweet quotes all day bug me. It tells me you cannot come up with an original thought on your own.
  4. I always get a little chuckle when I get an invite on Facebook to be a fan of the person who just invited me. OK, I understand why they’re doing it, but you gotta admit, it is ironic. :)
  5. Facebook. Your interface is frickin UNGODLY. Were you spiked on weed when you thought up that interface? Why does stuff have to be so hard to find?
  6. The people who fail to find value in Twitter are the ones who are socially inept in real life. Twitter is a platform. If you have nothing to offer on that platform, you’re hosed. You’re the problem, so stop saying that Twitter has jumped the shark. It hasn’t.
  7. People who declare email dead or blogging dead are idiots. We go through this circular wave of people declaring various things dead. Lately, its been blogging and email. Yeah, right. It is a shallow ploy for attention. Or perhaps trying to explain failure.
  8. To those bloggers who think that there is something wrong with making money as a blogger, that blogging is pure and that you are sacrificing your honesty to violate this pure medium with financial aims – bullshit.
  9. People who think there is a difference between a blog and a website just crack me up.
  10. People who say they don’t have time to tweet really don’t get it. How long does it take to type 140 characters? I mean, seriously.

So, do you agree with this? Disagree?

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  • I agree with most of it, especially about the Mafia Wars! Never really got it.
  • I totally disagree on #6. People that fail to find value in Twitter are social inept? Are you kiddin me? I think I'm totally fine socializing with others in person, I enjoy it!
    The reason I don't find much value in Twitter is because whenever I go on it, almost every person has their own conversation going on with themselves! Sometimes I see replies to other people, but usually it's like "I'm reading....", "I'm at the park...", "Check out this...", well, great for you. And most people on there are because they own internet business and try to promote it! I'm not saying it doesn't work, I'm just saying I don't find a lot of value in it!
  • Hi honey. ;-)

    (a) If you don't find value from the tweets you see, then you're following the wrong people.
    (b) You get what you put into it. If you're not willing to be proactive, it'll look boring. For example, if you wouldn't walk up to somebody out of the blue at a party and start a conversation, then that carries over to Twitter.

    Twitter is just a microcosm of social interaction in real life. People who don't find value in it are probably also reactive rather than proactive in their social interaction in real life.
  • Re (a): Agree with both of you. I grew an account with about 1.5K followers then recently closed it due to the excessive spammy sales noise. Worthwhile tweets were far too hard to find in my timeline. That's cos I let in all and sundry. Not any more.

    Re (b): "...if you wouldn't walk up to somebody out of the blue at a party and start a conversation, then that carries over to Twitter." But David, there's one big difference - on Twitter you'll usually get back either no answer or if it's someone new you follow - then a useless automated DM. Reason for former is I think due to the noise - recipient will be hard pressed to see your tweet if they're following a big #. Either that or you haven't built a relationship with them first - why should they reply to a stranger?

    "Twitter is just a microcosm of social interaction in real life." You really think so? I think your wife's right on about the stream of 1-way "conversations" there. That's because even if they've put the sales megaphone down they're conversing with someone not in your timeline. How can that ever be interesting, no matter how proactive you are? Unless it's watching @garyvee tweeting his beloved Jets to a win in today's do-or-die game! Now that was classic demon possession!!
  • Izkata
    "People who think there is a difference between a blog and a website just crack me up."

    I don't see why. "Blog" is as subset of "website" - you can have a website without it being a blog, although it is getting rarer and rarer.
  • A blog is a website.
  • David,
    This is real hoot. I mean it made me laugh, but scary thing is it is all so very true. One of the funniest one I say, was a post on how not to get sucked into the "Make money online Syndrom" then right after the post, was this big ad on how to make money online. Duh
  • Nice list here David...

    On FB I have given up getting annoyed on all the weird invitation that friends send me.

    I get more tickled when Tweeps send me DMs with "I Just Gave You a xxx' or 'I made $xxx from this system'... and I don't know who these people are...

    Also don't Tweeps that mention my username in Tweet '@username you can get 200 followers from whatever system...' and make it look like this is something I support. And when you check their profile they have from 0 - 100 followers...

    I don't follow users that call them self makemoneyxx, millionairexxx or something similar...

    #8 is why we are here... but I want make claims that I can't stand bye. Have to earn it the way you teach David, one blog step at the time.

    I believe we can make money from blogging and Social Media in general. It's all about the presentation on how we got there. I'm pretty you David as a professional blogger have spent some time build relationships and trust to bring your blogs to where they are today.

    Cheers.. Are

  • People who tweet quotes all day bug me. It tells me you cannot come up with an original thought on your own.

    And also people who just post of top blogger also come under this category as well.
  • I can agree with all of those. Actually, I haven't experienced all of them yet, like number 4 and 8, for example, but I agree with your position on those too, Your'e a wise man;)

    Take care
    Leif
  • Yes, I myself hardly ever say anything that I campe up with in Twitter. I godda change that stuff.
  • Hi David.

    ~ I love what you said about Twitter -- to sum it up: Twitter's a platform and if one doesn't like it, one doesn't have anything to say, which means the trouble lies with that person and not with Twitter! You put it superbly, and I think I'll use it the next time someone tells me why they hate Twitter. (maybe i'll even quote you on Twitter, LOL!) ;)
    ~ Can't stand the Mafia War thing. I've been invited via FB and Twitter to join in Mafia role playing. Even if I had the time, why would I want to do THAT?
    ~ Blogging and email dead? How ludicrous...
    ~ I crack up at those "hobby bloggers" who consider blogging so sacred they think professional bloggers shouldn't have the right to earn a living like everyone else via their craft. Professional bloggers provide services and products, so deserve pay accordingly. And bc a blogger monetizes doesn't mean he gives up his integrity when he writes. I stay true to what I believe when I blog. And I'm very puzzled, wondering where these "hobby bloggers" got the notion to begin with that monetizing blogging is somehow "evil." Then again, many of the bloggers I am speaking of are against capitalism in ANY form, to begin with, so what can we expect? Sigh. What is happening in America? I also believe there's another motive I've found amongst my hobby blogger "friends" to speak against probloggers. That's just plain jealousy. They secretly wish they were earning themselves, and sometimes instead of trying, will just attack probloggers. They need to grow and try on problogging for themselves if that's their desire. ;)
    ~ I agree that there's enough time to use Twitter. We have enough time to do anything that's important to us. Sometimes we need to use time management skills such as better scheduling practices.

    Thanks for a great post, David,
    krissy knox :)
  • martegale
    Well, I agree with almost all of this. But I happen to love running across great quotes from people like Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Ben Franklin, etc.... so I enjoy those Tweets. It really kind of amazes me how many of your commenters agree with you.

    The ones that bug me are the ones that talk about sports scores, TV shows, and celebrity gossip. Or the ones that just post links to music. And the ones who have one ad that they post over and over and over. Oh - and the ones who tweet about stopping for a bathroom break - some things we just don't need to know!

    As for Facebook - I don't enjoy it. I find it annoying, and I always feel guilty for not doing these things I'm invited to do - play games, send gifts, etc. But I'll admit that I haven't spent enough time there to figure out where I'm supposed to go and what I'm supposed to do.

    And being asked to be "friends" with people I've never heard of before seems a bit goofy to me.
  • It would be nice if there weren't so many Twitter counts being hacked and turned into spam machines.
  • Glad to know that I am not the only one who has a hard time finding stuff on Facebook. And #3 is really irritating to me as well. When I see these I envision someone sitting n front of their computer with a book of quotes in front of them and every 5 minutes they flip open a page and copy a quote.
  • I don't get Mafia Wars either. But i was never into PS3, XBOX, Wii or any of that stuff.
  • Damn Dave, tell us how you really feel! Haha, I totally agree with #1. Recently, it seems as if everyone is a "social media expert". I think it's because so many people are enchanted by the technology behind the social media movement... but like we've talked about at the Tampa meetup, social media and internet marketing is no different from direct TV sales, door-to-door selling or friggin MLM... it's all about communicating your message and building your brand.

    -CD
  • I'm probably guilty of no.4 but my fan page is different to my actual FB page.. my fan page for beginner blogger just happens to have my mug on it ;P

    What the heck is foursquare? I avoid games on facebook and most apps - I just feel uncomfortable downloading a 3rd party app on facebook, I'm not sure why.

    And, I'll have to disagree that there is a difference between a website and a blog. AT least in my view. Websites can be static containing just contact information, an about page then something like a menu, or store directory, services etc.

    I guess it would depend on what you techinically think a 'blog' is.

    Blogging 'dead'? I thought we were the 'new media' ;P
  • 1; People who tweet or DM 'hey is this you? link'
    2; Tweeters who re-tweet everyones names in the hope of getting followers, no kidding I got 50 of these last friday!
    3; Follow friday, how about f--k off friday!

    Sorry but thanks for the vent lol
  • The bottom line here is that why waste time complaining, playing games, and prophesying the future of Twitter and other giants. Anything can happen. In one swift second our world can turn upside down, and who cares about such trivial stuff then? Why not put our energy into doing business and not losing it, by losing precious time. Now as a newbie, I have to get back to setting up Aweber. They have great service so far, and have helped me immensely when i get lost in the forest and fall into the Grand Canyon and don 't know how to climb out. I have one person signed up at Aweber, so I have a looonnnng way to go.
  • Well, to be honest, I got hooked to mafia wars, but I actually see it as an opportunity too.

    (guilty :))

    It is a huge community of people, and even crappies blogs get a lot of viral promotion, so what I do is basically research what is it about and I am already making some stupid blog with nothing else but Adsense ads, and will be testing out my own luck now...

    Foursquare? What is it O.o?
  • I agree with everything on your list except for #9. I don't see a website being the same thing as a blog or vice versa. I would be interested in hearing your reasoning behind that statement.
  • Thanks for the reactions, guys. Interesting stuff. :)
  • Preach it!

    But I have a small issue with #1. There are people who are experts at the old fashioned and still effective networking thing - the guy who owns every room he walks into and makes his best sales on the golf course. And so I think there can be experts at social media, too. But there is an important difference between these two - the first guy will never promote himself as an expert.
  • bobhere
    Let's look at them in order


    1. Agree...but I guess people are buying stuff or even hiring these cats who call themselves SME's....let the buyer beware.
    2. Right with ya
    3. no time for Re-Tweeters...same as RE-Bloggers
    4. Do the fanbases ever go anywhere anyhow...ramp up then down if anywhere at all
    5. FB...serious system issues...I still wonder how they fund all this or even make money...cause the ads suck if any.
    6. Twitter is great but there is way way too much garbage to sift through...even on your page I would rather not see the comments and just only read your posts
    7. Email and blogging are just other mediums and they are very much alive and well
    8. Same people who think that all software should be open source and free...yeah right
    9. have to disagree with you on that...I have both...and they both serve different functions for my company
    10. We are all time wasters
  • There was me thinking it was me with Facebook - just can't get the hang of it at all! Totally agree with the rest of them - especially the quotes and the mafia thing - jeez!
  • #6 is really spot on, David. I get into countless conversations about Twitter in my travels "offline" and almost everyone has no concept of it's actual usability. "Why do I care what people are doing every minute of their lives?" Mind you that these are the same people who spend hours on Facebook taking quizzes and can't stop letting me know how well they scored on "How much do you know about [insert name of person I don't even know]"
  • I agree with these in the way you meant them. But you could probably take a couple of them in a different direction.

    With #1 - I'd say social media experts are overrated (but I don't like the whole declaring yourself an expert thing, period), but I'd also say that social media consultants are legit. Large businesses, and local businesses, in particular need some guidance on how to get to get involved in the social media atmosphere, and social media consultants can help fill that knowledge gap.

    With #10 - I've totally gotten too busy to tweet before. It's not like "I'm too busy to type 140 extra characters today". It's "I'm too busy and haven't even thought about Twitter today, until it's 4am and I could either write a tweet or go to sleep." And I think we've all gotten too busy to tweet: the difference is we make the choice to unplug over the weekend and be with family/friends, etc...versus those who say tweeting takes too much time. Tweeting takes about .5 seconds - it's just a matter of whether or not it's on my radar at that moment, as I don't work with Tweetdeck open or any of that.
  • It's not just you because I have been thinking some of the same things. Thanks for listing them. I enjoyed reading it.
  • 1. What if I am an expert at talking? I love presenting and talking - thus, I'm a social media expert by proxy?

    2. Amen.

    3. I just tweeted, "People who tweet quotes all day bug me. It tells me you cannot come up with an original thought on your own."

    4. No Comment.

    5. I think they are utilizing a decent design trend whereby you focus your obvious navigation on the items that are used most frequently. They have made the other stuff to hard to find though.

    6. No Comment.

    7. Google Wave has the possibility of redefining email. Wave is to email what email was to snail mail. I bet $100 an iteration of Wave becomes dominant in 10 years.

    8. Capitalism > Socialism. Just ask all us immigrants.

    9. I would partially disagree here, I'm willing to write SEO optimized pages deep in my website; whereas, on my blog everything has to be super high value (blog.mintek.com) for the readers. Content> All else on blog. On my website their is a balancing act (and yes I know the blog is part of my website), but I like to consider the SEO architecture much different for the two. As are the intent of the two different style of pages. (one such SEO article ranked for 60 of my keyword phrases in 2 days... I couldn't stop using those types of pages).

    10. Twitter pushes to Facebook & Linkedin for me. Thus, it saves me time and keeps me connected to everyone (while driving typically) iPhone mobile clients FTW.
  • I LOVE #3, David!

    I stopped using Twitter for quite some time, because the endless string of quotes was annoying, and it seemed as though the people behind them were invariably socially inept and generally quite rude.
  • Haha. I just thought about #1, #2, and #3 yesterday. I never could get my head around what exactly a social media expert is. And who wants to play mafia wars when you can be building an online empire anyway? Let's not even talk about the quote people. I think there's some kind of underground base somewhere below the Fiji islands where all the quote people hang.
  • People who gripe on blogs bug me ... LOL ... totally kidding dude. ;-)

    Love your sense of humor man ... was cracking up the whole time.

    Can't wait to hang out again,

    Ryan
  • No, it's definitely not you.

    I'm really over all of the invites to Farmville, etc. And they're not just coming from my friends from high school that I never wanted to talk to again. They're coming from so-called internet marketers too. I wish I had free time like that.

    I try to avoid Follow Friday as much as possible, but I'll give in and do a quick one to thank my core group of followers that included me in there's. But there's people who seem to do it all day and just about every day. Then there's the people that just RT those. And then there's people who Follow Friday me and just started following me. I guess I have some built up anger, these things kind of annoy me. lol
  • I do agree with most of them but not all. I think there is a difference between a blog and website. Blogs are dynamic and social, websites are not, or blogs are websites, but websites are not blogs. Blog is the new black and all that. And it's not like Twitter has any better interface than Fb, but who cares when everyone runs'em on Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, etc.

    And even if you personally don't care about games in the social media, people do, just take a look at Farmville. I don't care about that, or the games you mentioned, but man when Civilization comes to Fb next year I'm doomed :)

    But as you said, tweeting quotes is lame, even more so through some API (to "make you look active"). And it gets hilarious when one so called social media expert does this ;)
  • gaz4695
    Agree with them all. #2 and #5 especially.

    Give it a rest with Mafia Wars! (And Farmville. And Bejewelled Blitz), for the love of everything holy!

    And Facebook: Just because you have loads of users, don't mistake that for thinking you actually have a good product. Microsoft did the same with Internet Explorer. So which app will be the Facebook equivalent of Firefox?
  • mrcybersmart
    Great job! No sh-t on the quote thingy. I see one pro blogger on my list who does that all day. I also agree about Facebook. Not only hard to find things- but it burps, farts, skips and pops all the time. I have to chase the text box around to type!
  • Love the list Dave, you're right...especially with the Facebook stuff. I get tired of getting tons of Fan Page Invites.
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