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Doing More Good Than Harm

The Social Media experts are at it again. They’re teaming up with businesses so that they can promote the newest widget/frankenfood/get rich quick scheme.

The Social Media Experts have a lot of press. More than you could ever imagine, they’ve been on the morning talk shows, they’re regularly quoted in the newspapers (both local and national), and they speak at conferences all over the world. Oh they speak, and we listen.

The Experts have webinars for their communities, and they may or may not disclose the relationships behind the edumacation. We might get a trinket, a toy or a gift card for attending their webinar. We might get link love, and really who doesn’t want to grow their site?

At the end of the day ask yourself why you are blogging. If you’re blogging for free stuff, make sure your hourly rate is above the minimum wage. I suspect it isn’t.

If you are blogging to build community, and I hope you are, who is your community? What are you going to ask them to do? Are you going to sell things to your community or sell them ideas?

I’m hoping to sell you on an idea today. Today the idea I’d like you to buy is the idea that we all strive to do more good than harm.

It’s simple to organize a boycott, supporting a non-profit is difficult.

Showing you what bloggers are doing wrong is like shooting fish in a barrel, but pointing out blogs that inspire, entertain, and educate takes more work.

I’d like you all to ask yourselves why you do what you do, and how you can retool it so that we are using social media to do more good than harm.

7 thoughts on “Doing More Good Than Harm”

  1. It does take more work, but it is worthwhile.

    One of the reasons it takes more work is that often those non-profits have shady partners and dealings themselves, so I work to support the good ones and also to get those who have the potential to be good ones to change their ways.

  2. The term Social Media Expert (or Guru) drives me nuts. Who the heck is this person to self-appoint him/herself as an expert? “Expert” sets people apart, creates hierarchy, and does the opposite of creating community. The real experts are the lifelong learners, the ones who create community to learn and grow with, the ones who contribute to others learning.

    In today’s world of social capital, teaming up with a business is tantamount to investing your social capital. You gotta believe so much in the business that you’re willing to spend your social capital in the hopes of gaining a few dollars. Hope the Experts believe that much in charities and causes to spend the capital in the hopes of creating a better place to live.

    @askdebra

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