The Real Dirt on the Social Media Superstars

Have you ever wondered about the background of the big names in Social Media?  What did they do before they became names? And how does that affect their social media approach?

I recently unfollowed and unsubscribed from two social media experts: Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki. Chris seems like a really nice guy, but didn’t provide much practical, substantive information.  I unfollowed Guy after he tweeted “‘social media planning and strategy’ is an oxymoron. Basically, you try stuff and see what sticks”—a statement I found so ludicrous that it caused me to check out his bio. I realized he had little experience in social media beyond promoting himself and his Alltop product, something I found to be reflected in the quality of his tweets.

These events prompted me to dig a little deeper into some of the biggest names in social media. The table below shows what I found out. Under the table, I’ve noted my conclusions.

This table is divided into two sections, based on the social media philosophy of the superstars. Over time, I’ve found there are two main camps:

• The conversationalists—Who believe that the only way do social media is to converse online in order to build 1:1 relationships with customers. They may advocate a blog as part of the mix, too, but their core philosophy is that businesses need to build relationships with individual customers online.
• Beyond conversation—Who believe that conversation is one strategy to be used in social media, but that good social media marketing can and usually does include other strategies—even ones that are much less personal.

I determined which camp each person fell into by looking at their articles, interviews, etc. (This was not always easy, as a lot of the superstars didn’t have much in the way of specific recommendations or techniques.) I also determined their current primary purpose for using social media by looking at their website, blog, and activities. In some cases, a superstar may own a business that does consulting or work, but the individual is using social media primarily to promote themselves as a speaker or author.

With that said, here are my findings. In this table, superstars in blue are conversationalist. Superstars in green are beyond conversationalists:

*Was consulting until this summer, when he moved to own digital at Pepsico.

Conversationalists versus Beyond Conversation

I noticed several things, looking at this data:

• The majority of gurus come from either a PR/Marketing background, a technology background, or started as motivational speakers/authors.
• All of the people who started their career as speakers or authors are in the conversationalist camp. They all tend to believe social media is about building 1:1 relationships.
• All of those who have a marketing background and do work for clients (versus just promoting themselves or their business) advocate more than just conversation.

Pick your Mentor Based on your Social Media Goals

As far as social media philosophy, I fall firmly in the beyond conversation camp. I think one-to-one relationships are a great strategy, and sometimes the best strategy, but not the only strategy by any means. Moreover, for many companies, it isn’t the best strategy at all.

I primarily look at social media as a way to help business clients. I’m not making a living as a speaker or author. This data made me wonder, though: perhaps the best approach to social media depends upon your goal. If you’re promoting your book, your own business, or promoting yourself as a speaker, the conversationalist approach may be the best one for that purpose.  It’s all about you, in that case. Your goal is to build your reputation and get your name out.

If, on the other hand, you’re using social media primarily to help the company you work for or to help client businesses, then you should probably be looking at additional approaches. There are many ways to use social media beyond conversation, and the best approach will vary based on the organization and its goals.

For me, the choice is simple, I’m going with the beyond conversationalist. And, thanks to my efforts researching this post, I’ve got a bunch of new social media superstars to follow!

(Thanks to Mark Schaefer and Erik Qualman for their lists of superstars, which I used as an initial basis for mine.)

Think I’m missing someone? Leave a comment and I’ll do the research and add them, as time permits. Think the information in my table is wrong? First, please check out this page to see how I did my research. If you still think the information is wrong, please do leave a comment, preferably with some supporting references. I’m happy to make changes to reflect new information.