If you’re interested in Social Media, here’s the must reads from Friday on the web.
1. Geoff Livingston, Co-Author of Now is Gone (on my reading list) holds forth on “Vapor Gurus,” people who put forth theories and ideas with nothing to back them up:
More than ever vapor gurus stress the need to deliver cases studies and real world examples to back opinions up. Chip’s column sparked great discussion, but there were no examples of everyday companies who have had great successes using his suggestions. His suggestions may be correct or demonstrate that there is no black or white truths (just shades of gray), but where are the proof points?
I look forward to meeting Geoff when he comes to NY for his book signing, hopefully with my friend and his co-author Brian Solis.
Next, I’m reading what Chris Brogan is saying in this great piece,
Marketing is NOT Social Media-Social Media is NOT Marketing:
Marketing is a discipline with lots of emphasis on channel thinking, on campaigns, on message shaping, on control and covering all the bases.
Social media is a set of tools that permit regular people access to potential audiences of shared interest. These tools give voice, give preference, give rise to individuality, give flexibility, collaborative opportunity, and a whole lot of other things that don’t resemble traditional marketing the same way gym class felt absolutely nothing like social studies.
I’m not going to give away the punchline, and much of the value of this is in the discussion in the comments. Thanks for the weekend reading, gents.