How to avoid being a social media w***ker

There’s been quite a lot on twitter recently about social media ‘gurus’ and ‘experts’ as demostrated by this cartoon from Hubspot.

clipped from blog.hubspot.com

To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken so long for the backlash. Taking a leaf from Jon Silk‘s book, I’ve deceided to put together a list of my own on how not to be a social media tool.

1) Don’t call yourself a guru

2) Have an understanding of what makes a business work (ie turnover, P/L, share price, competitors etc)

3) Be active and transparent on social networks

4) Acknowledge your mistakes and faults (ie don’t bullshit a bullshitter)

5) Love the tech but understand there is a time and place for it

WTF? Is being ‘old’ a characteristic of bad presenter?

Every year our client the Salesforce.com Foundation works with youths from under-resourced and low-income communities who want to learn about entrepreneurship within its BizAcademy programme. I had the pleasure of running a workshop with this year’s group on what PR is, how it works, tips on presenting and managing a reputation.

While I was impressed with the level of enthusiasm and interest they showed in what makes news, I was amused (and offended at the same time) when I asked what characteristics make for a bad presenter. ‘Old’ was one of the replies I got back.

Seems harsh. Perhaps at the tender age of 33 my best presenting days are behind me.

As it turns out he was referring to people who pretend to be ‘down with the kids’ as bad presenters. Phew.

LEWIS has been involved with the BizAcademy programme for many years and the group will be going on to learn more about being entrepreneurs and business from various departments within and outside salesforce.com. Judging by the characters, the future of UK innovation appears to be in good hands and I’m sure many (if not all) will go on to become champions of industry – as long as they don’t encounter any ‘old’ people along the way.