An Open Letter to Marketers Who Abuse Social Media for Selfish Gain

Posted by businessavante under Social Media
From http://blog.kissmetrics.com 5179 days ago
Made Hot by: BusinessBloggerPro on September 21, 2010 6:23 am

Social media can be a wonderful thing for everyone, but it isn't helped by the gang of self serving marketers who exploit the medium for nothing but personal gain. Here's an open letter to those people and a hope that they will just stop now. Social media can be a great place to hang out or a place polluted by spammers who push products and offer nothing at all in return. Which will it be?

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Comments

Written by saraib820
4900 days ago

Anita,

Hi. I just wanted to make sure you might see the top comments in the thread that were directed toward our Duncan.

He has, and continues to build a real sense of community through his leadership, support and his un-biased approach. He is bringing energy and enthusiasm to the members through his valuable comments, support, feedback, opinions, and yes, his thousands and thousands of votes.

If Duncan ran for public office, he would make a great mayor or representative. Here at Bizsugar, he makes an excellent moderator who goes in my opinion, way beyond the duties of a moderator. He is a true gentleman and a great asset and breath of fresh air.

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Written by profit613
4901 days ago

Duncan,

See picture:

http://www.pimpmyspace.org/comments/code/4421279/

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Written by profit613
4901 days ago

Don't blush. You earned it!

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Written by profit613
4901 days ago

Duncan,

My turn. I am finishing my year abroad here in two days and will be returning to the States. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to visit Biz Sugar in the future. But I wanted to say thank you. Thanks for your votes, comments and support and for creating a real sense of community!

I wish you luck, health and success in everything you do now and in the future!

Love,

Rochelle Rochelle

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Written by saraib820
4901 days ago

Duncan,

My turn to say THANKS. You are a beacon of light in a world where sometimes it seems that things are crazy.

No pre-conceived views. No bias. You give opportunity. You build bridges. You create. You foster. You care. You connect. You open doors. You create community and unity rather than divide.

I say this straight from my heart. You are a gem! I wish there were more people like you in the world.

Your honesty, integrity and your heart are much appreciated!

With love and utmost respect,

Rivkah

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Written by yoni67
4902 days ago

Duncan,

I'll be away from my desk for the next 10 days or so (Internet access, but Social Media blocked). Continue your great work keeping things lively around here. Keep bringing life, dialogue, energy, enthusiasm and your immense wisdom and insight to this place!

All the best!

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Written by yoni67
4902 days ago

Duncan,

No. Thank you! - on behalf of all who have their submissions read, analyzed, commented upon and receive valuable feedback from you day and night!

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Written by businessavante
4902 days ago

Thanks!

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Written by yoni67
4909 days ago

Duncan,

Welcome to the exclusive "50 Vote Club!" I toast you with a pint of Ireland's finest...Guinness!

Yoni

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Written by yoni67
4909 days ago

Valentine,

Hi! I've read and commented on several of your articles and also wished you well with being a single-parent to your kids after you commented on my article about being sick. I know that you've been contributing a lot but didn't make the connection that you are a moderator!

WELCOME!!!!!!!!

Yoni

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Written by yoni67
4909 days ago

Duncan,

By all accounts the pilot was a hero. He must have known that once the passengers jumped and his ballast was gone (in addition to hot air rising), the blimp would shoot up in the air, a one-way trip to his death. As any good captain, his thoughts were the welfare of his passengers and he was ready to go down with the ship.

keep up the good work...it is most appreciated!

Yoni

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Written by bigmoneyweb
4909 days ago

Hi Yoni,

I am one of the moderators here and I have been working since March 2011.Thanks for the wishes! @Duncan, Thanks too for sharing this article though it's old but would be looking forward to see your next post!.

Valentine -Aka-Bigmoneyweb

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Written by businessavante
4909 days ago

Yes, Valentine Belonwu - aka "bigmoneyweb".

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Written by yoni67
4909 days ago

Duncan,

Thanks for the Ajay 411. Is Valentine a moderator? I suspected he might be. If so...WELCOME ABOARD Valentine!

Yoni

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Written by yoni67
4909 days ago

Meeester Campbell,

It has now been 269 days since your last submission. You have posted three articles and they all became HOT. If you were a baseball player you are batting .1000. how about another submission for us?

BTW: you have been talking about blimps a lot lately, I'm sure you saw the news about the tragic Goodyear accident in Germany yesterday.

Yoni

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Written by businessavante
4909 days ago

Hi Yoni.

I'd heard nothing about the blimp crash till now (I 'Binged' it). They've crashed locally, but not when on fire - usually they bump into a tree, get stuck and/or punctured, and then deflate fairly close to the ground letting people get out. The one I saw last week was flying very low - not far above the tree-tops at all, and there was a very strong cross-wind it was tacking into - it was flying in a skewed line, moving forward while pointing maybe 20 degrees to the left. It's an awesome sight to see that close up, but I did worry whether it would make it that day.

I actually don't have time to scour the web for articles to share (Valentine is doing very well on that now, in addition to writing some great posts of his own). It takes me an average of 4 hours a day, 7 days a week just to do what I do already.

I came across the 1 above on FaceBook - serendipity.

Duncan

p.s. You'll find Ajay on page 3 of "Top Users" - he left some time ago, but his work remains intact.

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Written by marketingm8
4975 days ago

This is a great article and hopefully all the spammers will finally give up and realise that their methods just won't work with Social Media. They will eventually go the way of the cold calling telesales guys!! Cool post!! Thanks, Peter

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Written by moneyonlinesorg
4979 days ago

OMG, ROFLMAO, priceless...and I quote from this post "The Social Web is not your "traffic honey hole.""

I'll be back to amend this post, but I HAD to vote this and comment for the initial.

A VERY nice read Duncan, however, I think the main issue relates to all the noise out there from the "gurus" ranking so high in search results that don't have a clue. They spread information encouraging everyone, business, new initiates, etc. to game the systems...ANY system as the means to obtain metrics.

I've been trying to tell people for YEARS now that metrics are a TERRIBLE yardstick for ANYTHING but sales. Sheer volume is not the answer, bigger is not always better, and in the end, QUALITY always wins out over quantity.

The analogy I like to use the most, concerning volume/quantity, relates to website traffic and monetization as example. If we have a website predominately catering to 50 year old single males, and we decide to put up links for them to buy 5" pink pumps, no matter how many we drive in volume, our chances of sales is pretty dismal. Quality would mean people wanting to buy such things, and driving them in QUALITY volume.

Some, I think, will just never get it. They can't get out of the super sized world and bigger is better thought. I wish you luck in helping me convince them otherwise :)

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Written by KidNickles
5005 days ago

I'm totally new to the field but the first thing I learned about social media marketing was that it was so great BECAUSE it was more about building direct, tangible relationships with consumers rather than pushing content and being self-serving.

Which is to say I'm baffled by spam. Promoting yourself is acceptable as long as you are putting forth effort to engage and contribute, but pure spam... I don't even understand how that could be a good idea. I wouldn't and don't click on spammy links and unfollow(or whatever the term is for whatever site it is) people who post lots of spammy things.

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Written by smallbusinessadvertising
5110 days ago

Hey, it is really a good article, you shared great information.

Some people forget that social media is about making friends and building real relationships not about spamming.

If you use social media the right way you can achieve great results.

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Written by lyceum
5175 days ago

I understand the author of the piece, but I don't see a conflict between a rational self interest and market your services in a proper way. As an experienced purchaser I agree that marketers and salespeople have a tendency to abuse social media, but they are welcome to contact me and I could teach how to do it in the right way! They have to understand the trader principle.

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Written by businessavante
5175 days ago

Hi Martin,

I was looking at it as an article that was against those that spam great websites like BizSugar, not legitimate postings. As a moderator fighting spam, that's what appealed to me personally.

businessavante

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Written by ShawnHessinger
5175 days ago

Hi Martin,

I know where you're coming from and I respect the value of the trader principle in any truly effective business model. I think the problem has to do with an unfortunate paradigm in at least some modern business philosophies and perhaps the modern use of the word "selfish" in this context. I would substitute the phrase "short-sighted" here, because I believe many of the techniques being discussed end up not being in the marketer's self-interest since they destroy trust and sacrifice the possibility of long-term profitable relationships for the possibility of a quick but much lower return.

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