That original post of mine that you kindly linked to was originally publishing in March 2009 – it all would have died a long time ago, I certainly didn’t bring it back to life, Ken did.

I don’t think Ken is even that obsessed with PR and Alexa – I think he’s absolutely obsessed with having the last word and having everyone agree with him. Not going to happen, Ever

http://www.gurudaq.com/internet_marketing_guru_index.php

Of course I could name a bunch more people but I think you’ve already stated that you think most of them are hacks, so why open myself up to that right? I’ll save myself that argument; not my goal to change your mind on anyone, only to offer my opinion in general from time to time.

I think you’re too forgiving when it comes to Brogan. He is, first and foremost, marketing himself and his services. There’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe he doesn’t use the word “expert” in referring to himself, but he sets himself up as one by writing books and instructing others. A real expert wouldn’t have followed 131,000 people. Not unless they were cheating to pad the numbers. That’s what Brogan did, and it is not forgivable.

As far as him being a good guy, well…I would have given him the benefit of the doubt, except for the way he responded to Bill on your blog — by insinuating anyone who didn’t have at least 4,000 Twitter followers didn’t deserve to have an opinion. That’s not a good guy move.

Can you point me to some of these rock stars? So far, every one of these big-time guys (and even some of our local “experts”) I’ve run across is a hack. They are dishonest and, at best, ill informed. And all of them are just out to make a buck while they still can.

Keep up the good work Mitch.

Of course you know me and part of my take on this. I might be kind of pollyanna on this whole thing but I think this thing about being “expert” on things is a bit overdone. Others usually paint people as expert; I don’t think I’ve ever seen Brogan call himself an expert, even when marketing himself.

For that matter, however, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of people in our same Twitter stream that fawn over everything he says or shares. The same goes for Godin, for whom I probably have more disdain for that you might for other people. The thing is that Brogan really does engage people. He’s talked to me on Twitter and he’s been to my blog a few times. I don’t idolize him as some might, but I see him as kind of a good guy.

I will go with you on one thing specifically. I find it hard to believe that someone with his experience wouldn’t have known that following 131,000 people had to have a downside. There is a game that I’ve seen many others play where, to get those high follow numbers, they will follow almost everyone else who follows them. Heck, there are blog posts I come across every day that advocate that nonsense, as well as using software to help build the numbers.

Now, could it all have gotten away from him and his better sense at a point? Possible; but as I said on my blog, I would have just cut everyone and not announced it, then gone back to follow who I wanted to follow. And as you said, if people are including his Twitter name in their posts, it wouldn’t stop that at all. But it would immediately end all the DM stuff, since you can’t get DMs unless you’re following people back.

Final word, if I may. I disagree with your title, but for a different reason. There are rock stars in social media. It’s the people who decide to follow them that make them that, however. For my part I only follow one person who I know will never follow me back, that being Matt Cutts, and only because I want to keep up with the latest and “greatest” (sic) things that Google comes up with. I don’t blindly follow celebs or anyone else whom others follow. But I’ve always believed that the audience determines who a star is, plain and simple.

That and I wouldn’t mind being a star for a few days if it brought in more money. lol

What one finds is that any business not into at least one social media medium that fits their business is going to be left behind. Now, figuring out which medium is the best one might be difficult for some of them, but they need to be out there in some fashion.

I don’t follow any businesses because I know they’re not engaging with people. I do follow some people who lead with their business logos, but only if I see that it’s more the person than the business talking. I don’t mind some of the advertising, and as a matter of fact, I really feel local businesses that understand both Twitter and Four Square could gain a lot of attention and customers if they played their cards right.

Twitter’s not for every business; Facebook isn’t for every business. I can’t say anything about MySpace because I hated it the first time I saw it & never went back. But any business not on LinkedIn is shooting themselves in the foot, unless they only want to do business locally. That’s my take on it anyway.

I actually like Twitter quite a bit, despite my rants. I’ve met tons of great people (including you) and I’ve learned to follow only those who interest me. I use it as a news reader, as a means to keep in touch, and a way to keep on top of the day’s issues. I don’t, however, use it as a way to impress clients.

Thanks for the plug. Here’s an older article I wrote that you’ll find relevant:
Hypocritical Mass: The Big Lie About Twitter http://bit.ly/30pMci

I’ve come close to abandoning Twitter several times, but have only stayed because I teach social media classes and workshops, and need to know the major platforms.

Freddy

The world needs the voices of true revolutionaries — people who aren’t afraid to call BS on this stuff and are willing to provide thoughtful alternatives that go beyond buzzwords.