It was inevitable that sooner rather than later, the multi-level marketers, the out-and-out salespeople, the spammers, and the promise-the-moon-for-a-nickel types would show in the social media arena. It was as inevitable as ants showing up at a picnic - and just as annoying.
The other day I received an email through my Linkedin offering to sell me a high-end golf villa near Disney World in Orlando. When I replied I wasn't on Linkedin to have people try and sell me things, the emailer said he was trying to provide a service. Say what? A sales appeal is not a service.
Besides being incredibly tacky, the would-be seller violated a central tenant of social media. He was trying to push marketing by making statements that included "buy it now," "there are limited quantities", "they are going fast," etc. Nowhere in the email did it tell my anything about these "villas." Only that they were low-priced and they were seeking foreign buyers. There was a link provided.
In social media, you want me to buy something reasons must be provided. Those reasons cannot come from the seller. Why should I believe the seller who has a clear self-interest in making things look good, no matter the real condition? I want third-party endorsements. That's what influences my decision to buy.
Incidentally, my ever-present Webster's Dictionary defines villa as "a country house or estate, especially when large or luxurious and used as a retreat or summer home." The company's website says these "villas" are Villa Condominiums. A condo is defined as a multi-unit building or a series of connected buildings. So, saying something is a villa condominium is an oxymoron. Sorry, I am a language geek.
Unfortunately, this kind of pitch is happening more often I am seeing posts promising 50,000 followers if I only do this or that. Would you really want to pick followers that way? It is true that I have a lot of followers on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. But I have never used any kind of automated program. I have built my following organically, one at time.
What these people are doing is not what social media is all about. Quite the opposite actually. I think it is fair to say social media became popular because of tactics like that erstwhile real estate salesman and others operating like that.
One of the largest appeals of social media to me is honesty. You expect people who marketing to be honest. If they are not they get outed. As I am sure you all know, that's a very bad thing. Many a company has rued the day when they got caught fudging the truth.
On the same theme, I keep getting requests from people I have never met to endorse them. My rules for endorsement are I have to know you, worked with you, or had a long on-line relationship with you. I do not endorse strangers. I am lending my authority to people I endorse. It is not something I do lightly.
In fact, that is something that is beginning to disturb me about Facebook's BranchOut. People join my "empire" and then I am asked to endorse them. I don't know most of these people. I am sure they are fine people, but I just said I don't endorse those I don't know.
This is all just indicative of what can wrong with social media when the people who use don't understand its purpose. What to do about it? Whenever you run into one of them, call them out. It is the only way to deal with it.