Social media is the new "Black", the new vogue that has taken the internet by storm. It offers everyone who has an internet connection the ability to voice their opinion, share what speaks to them, and provide context around a ton of content. It's a successful tool for reaching anyone at anytime. Most of the time for free. Oh - and it can be measured, well... measured as in you can see how many likes and shares you received and track what people are saying. One problem exists though that is making social media a messy, and noisy place to be. Anonymity.
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| No longer are our followers real people. They are bots who resemble real people. |
I had started using my Twitter account a few years back.
Mostly just to catch up on news releases, blog postings, and see the world one
highlight at a time. Back in November though when I finally launched my website
and began sharing, I noticed that I was getting a mass of followers in a very
brief timeframe. Too many that it raised red flags. I get that I’m good (save
your opinion lol) but I wasn’t that amazing. So I began reviewing my followers.
WOW! I didn’t know from my findings if I should laugh or cry. The vast majority
of people following me were fricken BOTS!
After taking a look at various hashtags that my colleagues,
friends, family, etc. were using it became apparent that social media was
becoming a vehicle for spam. It happened to email after all. I mean, did we
think we had reinvented the wheel?
So this raises a concern for the marketers out there: How do
we know if we are reaching the right audience online? How do we know the shares
and likes and friend requests are the real thing? Legitimate leads?
Social media - a valuable resource, but one that
should also be taken with a grain of salt.
