Twitter Fans–Stop the Logorrhea!
For God’s sake people! I’m trying to work here! My tweet deck has been pinging relentlessly with mindless yap from people who are savvy enough to know better. When did all these social media experts cross the line from helpful reporting and commentary to navel-gazing narcissism?
log⋅or⋅rhe⋅a
–noun
| 1. | pathologically incoherent, repetitious speech. |
| 2. | incessant or compulsive talkativeness; wearisome volubility. |
I’m a fan of Chris Brogan, who is arguably one of the top social media experts in the field today, and a real genius in my book. He commands big prices to speak, and generally has a lot of authoritative things to say about new tools and where the industry is headed. So why is it that he, and so many other social media pundits, feel the need to enlighten us about every detail of their day?
Dude. I mean really. Why do you need to tweet me about the long line at the airport? How cold it is in Wisconsin? The bad service you got at a restaurant? Are you so hopped up on your own narrow niche of celebrity that you think a) people have time for this and b) people care?
I know, I know. Social media is about being social. Letting people get a little glimpse of you, up close and personal. Making friends and influencing people. If that means you’re distributing film of your latest drunken kareoke exploits, then let everyone see the man behind the curtain. I see it a little differently. I tend to think of social media as one big cocktail party. Everyone is having conversations, exchanging relevant information then BOOM. You run up and scream in their ear–I’ve been circling this airport for 3 hours!
The people who comment on these blogs are often just as bad. We’ve all been given the instructions that we must comment on what we read to be fully engaged in social media. I couldn’t agree more. Just have something to say, people. Responses that amount to “you’re so cool.” “Dude, loved that tweet” are a waste of space. How about responding when you have a legitimate question, insight, or link to include? It’s great to have fans. But there’s a certain amount of this fawning that’s contributing to a bad case of ego inflation, which leads to more logorrhea, and ultimately, more time sapping frustration for those of us who are really trying hard to stay on top of the news.
Look. Even god is on Twitter. He doesn’t have much to say, either.
