Recently I ran across a twitter post fr
om Kevin Smolker, CEO of BookTour.com about the fact that one of my favorite authors Malcolm Gladwell had eschewed the use of facebook and twitter. Here is the link to the Globe and Mail article from Canada that interviewed Gladwell and prompted this blog post. It’s an interesting and quick read.
Even before this interview I’d noticed that Gladwell hadn’t been on any social media. His absence is notable due to his penning the book that started a new understanding of how people start ’social epidemics’ The TIPPING POINT. Since my first observsation I noticed that some people had used Malcolm as a example for why you don’t need to be on any social media.
As I have said before on this blog, I think Facebook and Twitter can be an enormously powerful tool for good and that every non-profit, church, leader needs to jump in and find out how and why these tools can be useful in the future. Having said that, clearly there are exceptions to this rule. Here are a few that are highlighted by the interview with Malcolm Gladwell and a few of my own.
1. You Already Are So Famous/Successful that It Just Degrades Your Brand. In his funny book B- movie actor Leslie Nielson once stated that the less an actor works the more he gets paid for his work. Until before long, he’s being paid 5-10 Million to NOT act in movies. As humorous as that is, it’s true. The great actors limit themselves to the big movies where they can make a mark. Another way to look at it, there’s a reason Ashton Kuchar is on twitter and Bruce Willis is not. Ashton is doing amazing things and is incredibly innovative, but if he were as famous as Bruce Willis would he ever have had to do those things to get noticed? Probably not. Most don’t have an over-exposure problem. In fact they are not getting their message out.
2. You already have major outlets for your ideas/message. When Malcolm Gladwell writes a book it becomes #1 on the New York Times list immediately. He writes for the New Yorker and his ideas are spread by his fans all over the internet. You and I? Not so much. We need to find new ways to reach out to those who care about our ideas/values/Mission.
3. You don’t have anything to say and nobody to connect with. Some people really do love and feel the need to be isolated. But for the rest of us who want to connect with our kids, grandkids, friends, and lost acquaintances these kids of tools are fun and useful.
In the end it’s up to you to make it something meaningful or just a obnoxious intrusion into your life.
David Curry
