10 Reasons You Should NOT Be on Social Media

[Kyle Lacy]

I have been researching, reading, and listening for awhile now to the small business world in regards to social media and blogging. There are plenty of business owners and professionals in the world who accept social media as a new form of communications... and plenty who do not.

I decided to write a small guide for business owners to gauge whether or not they should be in social media.


10 Reasons You Should Not Be on Social Media As a Business


1. You would rather not change your business model of communication. You are content with direct mail and email marketing. You are right, they will be around in 5 years.

2. The only computer you have in your office is the black and green screen MAC.

3. You purchased a dial-up modem to "save money."

4. You are still struggling with the reply and forward functions in e-mail.

5.You are convinced that the only people using social media are college kids and pot smokers.

6.You feel that the newspaper is still a valuable form of advertising.

7. You designed your logo in powerpoint or publisher and all brochures were designed in the same programs.

8. When asked about time commitment you whine about an extra 30 mins a day to grow your business.

9.Your website was designed pre-2005 and has not been updated.

10. You find that building "trust" in a marketplace is a waste of time.

If you fit any of the following criteria... do me a favor and stay off social media.

Can you think of anymore?

[Trevor Bradburn]

Time on social networks almost doubles
this was the headline on www.msnbc.com
neilsen online reports that there is an 83% increase of people on social media networks from this month last year. Call me crazy but it looks like social media is heading toward the "expected" stage mentioned.

[Trevor Bradburn]

it may be fickle but that demographic is going to be taking over the business world in the next 20-30 years if social media isn't going to be used its just going to be some other technology interface that will replace it. eventually everyone will use one form or another of modern networking products it may not be for necessity or business production but it will be used.

[Mike Seidle]

Chris - Suggest you read up on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn user demographics. You don't know what you are talking about. Try using google, or do I have to start posting "letmegooglethatforyou.com" links to further make the point?

[Nicki Laycoax]

No one has ever said that social media is "King of all Marketing". That is something that you have interpreted...

[Trevor Bradburn]

I guess the title of the post could have been 10 reasons why businesses may not need to be on social media or 10 reasons why some businesses aren't on social media to circumvent the negativity that some felt was displayed by the "guide". That aside I thought this was a very satired look at the world of social media to be taken with a grain of salt and not looked at as intentional badgering of those who don't participate in social media. Non the less those business owners who do not use social media will not be affected by the post anyways because after all they don't use social media.

[Steph Woodward]

"Non the less those business owners who do not use social media will not be affected by the post anyways because after all they don't use social media."

Heh... a very good point, indeed.

[Patrick Sullivan]

A propos a recurring theme in this thread, and the bit about Kroger and Meijer, are the remarks by Peter Swire in the linked article. Peter was the Chief Counselor for Privacy in the OMB under Clinton- essentially the nation's chief privacy officer (a position no one is filling at the moment, but that might change). Food for thought, and maybe another discussion around the conventions of personal disclosure that come with social media, and what limits, if any, there should be on the harvesting and use of the information that folks disclose. This may also get at another implicit theme- what uses of social media actually advance and support one's business objectives, and what uses might be unproductive in the least, and outright detrimental at most.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/the-obama-adminstrations-s...">http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/the-obama-adminstrations-s...

[Sage McGreen]

At first I thought Kyle's post was a bit insulting. Poking fun at small business that didn't find a need to upgrade a comfortable business plan or their tools. Yes, Kyle would make fun of most of my office equipment because it's old and outdated, and I still use the fax machine I bought in the 90's. Faxing isn't dead yet.

I'm okay if I don't upgrade everything all the time. I think of it as being sustainable......

But when I consider Social Media as an upgrade, or as a way to monetize interaction and/or communication. I can't, I just can't. Communicating helps me find validation. If a brand wants to validate my feelings - they can try, but they'll end up in the dog house with the wrong approach.

I agree with Amy Stark who laments the fact "that we get too caught up in the how can we use social media to promote our business."

Social media isn't about money. It's about changing perspectives, changing communication habits, and changing attitudes. Attitude adjustments are good! The right adjustments can help us transcend behaviors that delay progress.

There are plenty of pre-2005 designed websites with excellent attitudes and wonderful messages to share. Early adopters and late bloomers can live together, we do it all the time in households and families.

I agree with the other nurturing perspectives in this discussion. I like Nicki's insights about our children using social media and making it better. I heard a higher thought process in Amy's alpha mom message about social media, "providing a sphere where global grassroots communication at the speed of light can occur for the FIRST time in the recorded history of our species."

Amen sistas!

[Amy Stark]

I was sincere when I said I would no longer follow this thread, but when I found out Sage jumped in I had to take a peek. I greatly admire her wit, writing style and opinions.

Well Sage, you didn't disappoint. =) You da bomb! I'm so lucky to live in a time when I was able to connect with you via social media. Without platforms such as twitter and Smaller Indiana the likelihood that you and I ever would have met is nil. Viva la Social Media!

[Kyle Lacy]

I want to make very clear that the post was very much written in the most energetic "satire" I could muster. Of course, I am not saying that all business owners should adopt social media but in the long run it is important to start... at least... looking. This was a great thread and with excellent conversation to boot. I couldn't have hoped for a better conversation (minus a couple of pages).

To top it all off... Amy, Sage, and Patrick have some of the best advice you can read regarding social media. This is the point of posts that bring out the best (and worst) of people.

I love this stuff and I love Smaller Indiana. Without this platform we would NOT be able to get our ideas, feelings, thoughts, and emotions across to others.

[PK Koduri]

Darn Kyle - you should have tagged the topic as Satire, it would have stopped all the bit-slinging (new word you think?). I am still cleaning bits off my hair :-)

[Kyle Lacy]

That is the whole point. :-)