You Do Not Have to be Social Media Famous

  By Tac Anderson | August 10, 2009 - 7:50 am | Comm

Lego WarholI see a lot of marketers get into social media with the goal of being the next Steve Rubel, Louis Gray, Robert Scoble, Chris Brogan or Jeremiah Owyang. Really? That’s what you want? Why?

Don’t get me wrong, I know all of them and they are all great. They deserve their *fame* (assuming that’s what they want). They’re brilliant and nice guys despite it all.

But why would you want that headache?

I guess it’s some basic human desire to be famous. Even if it’s just “famous” in certain circles .

Personally I like being a lurker, being on the fringe, an outlier of sorts. I like being able to speak my mind and not have hundreds of people argue with me. I like not having to worry about everything I say being scrutinized. I don’t have to worry about the barnacles of social media latching on for a ride. I don’t have to worry about people I’ve never met hating me.

I think some people believe in order to work in social media they have to be Social Media Famous. I’ll tell you a secret; you don’t. You don’t have to be from Silicon Valley (or in Steve’s case NYC) you don’t have to have tens of thousands of subscribers to your blog or hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter.

You are not them and you don’t have to be. You may be brilliant. You may be a nice guy/gal. I have worked as a social media professional for the last 5 years and never had anywhere the *fame* others do. (And I don’t want it.) Yet I’ve still managed to turn social media into my career.

Here’s my secret:

Whatever you are doing now, turn that into a social media job.

Seriously try it. I don’t care if you’re a fry cook or an accountant. Unless you’re in the Marines you can make social media a significant portion of your current job. Learn the tools and figure out how to use them in your job. Social media is not just about marketing.

I’ll tell you the down side: It will take a while. It probably won’t take you years to do it like it did for these early adopters but it may take a while. It also takes personal investment. You may have to start learning these tools on your own time. Consider it night school. Eventually it’s all you’ll be doing. Just ask Heidi Miller.

The next 5 years are going to see social media become a part of every job out there. Some more than others.

But stop worrying about how many followers you have. Stop worrying about how many subscribers you have.

I’m also not saying you should do social media in a vacuum. That kind of defeats the purpose. It’s nice to be connected enough to get feedback and participation.

So, to paraphrase Tyler Durden:

You are not the contents of your Twitter stream.
You are not your blog post.
Nothing is static.
Everything is evolving.
I say never let me be an A Lister.
I say may I never be Social Media Famous.
I say evolve and let the tweets fall where they may.
This is your life and it’s ending one status update at a time.

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Photo credit by Balakov

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About Tac Anderson

Social media anthropologist. Communications strategist. Business model junkie. Chief blogger here at New Comm Biz.
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  • http://www.louisgray.com/live/ Louis Gray

    I'll swear up and down that I'm not social media famous, even if very small niches are more aware of me than others. When I started blogging a few years ago, it wasn't for attention. It was just for having an outlet for what I was seeing and thinking. That others have similar thoughts and want to engage is fantastic. But being visible shouldn't be the goal, for that would be the wrong purpose. I'm driven by engaging with peers and entrepreneurs, and now, by helping people understand those things where I have invested a lot of effort myself. It's not about where you end up. It's the process.

  • http://www.louisgray.com/live/ Louis Gray

    I'll swear up and down that I'm not social media famous, even if very small niches are more aware of me than others. When I started blogging a few years ago, it wasn't for attention. It was just for having an outlet for what I was seeing and thinking. That others have similar thoughts and want to engage is fantastic. But being visible shouldn't be the goal, for that would be the wrong purpose. I'm driven by engaging with peers and entrepreneurs, and now, by helping people understand those things where I have invested a lot of effort myself. It's not about where you end up. It's the process.

  • http://soloprpro.com KellyeCrane

    Terrific points. I've long felt that “flying under the radar” is underrated. Many people who are seeking fame for fame's sake (not those listed above, but those who are trying to follow them) are very obvious and not commanding a great deal of respect. Following does not equate respect, as you note. Here's to all the unsung heros that truly make social media great!

  • http://www.squidoo.com/virtualliving Youpele

    That's a great blog on how to become more creative and in tune with what I'm applying ro Social Media. Everyone wants success and the best way to reach that potential is to invest my personal time to better understand how to build lasting relationships online and offline. Social Media is a wonderful gift and the people are the gem of the earth

  • http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

    Louis, 100% agree. My advice would to keep thinking that ;) It makes you much more approachable and 'human'.

  • http://www.felgner.ch haraldf

    Absolutely agree with your prediction: “The next 5 years are going to see social media become a part of every job out there. Some more than others.”

  • heidimiller

    Wait… do you mean I'm not social media famous?
    Wait… what do you mean, I'm not the content of my Twitter stream?

    :-) Thanks for the shoutout. Truth is, if I can learn how to use social media tools, anyone can. And it is important to set our own goals. Do you *want* 100,000 followers on Twitter? Why? Can you meet your business goals if you have 5,000 Twitter followers and engage them well? Can your blog start as boring or kinda crappy and then develop into a useful business tool to meet your goals?

    I never mind getting more followers; I love hearing my questions and messages are spreading. And to an extent, higher numbers *are* an indication of resonance and relevance with people. However, they still need to be placed in context to the original marketing goals.

    In short, figure out who you want to be, then go be her.

  • http://www.newcommbiz.com tacanderson

    Heidi,
    I used you as an example because I remember when you started your podcast it was about what you did not about social media itself. But as you used the tools and became experienced in *using* social media that became more and more of what you did, until now that's all you do.

    If it helps, you'll always be *infamous* to me :)

  • heidimiller

    Tac–

    That's the great thing about social media, I suppose. Since it's so new, it's a bit of a leveller. We're all relatively new at it; no one is really an expert yet (and you should probably run away from anyone who does call himself an expert). And it's like anything–you become good at it by doing it, being curious, trying things out, cataloguing the experiences. Truly, that's how I got my French degrees: I took classes, sure, but the process of learning a language is the process of trying stuff out, taking risks with speech, and seeing how it goes. Constant course correction, as it were.

    Like much of life. :-) Thanks for the thoughtful post!

  • http://twitter.com/doverbey Derek Overbey

    Tac, I have to admit that when I started in social media about a year and a half ago, I thought the goal was to be famous or at least have as many followers, friends, peeps, etc. as possible. But a funny thing happened when the followers and follows got to an unmanageable level…I lost the connections and I lost interest.

    I stopped the madness of getting more followers or trying to become social media famous and just did my thing and now I get so much more enjoyment out of the whole experience. Fame is a wicked thing and has much more downside than up IMO. Good post.

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  • http://36545.matheggem.com/ matheggem

    Hey, this is great – and I think you're right. I have been doing social media for the last few years – for the arts and now for a social service non-profit. But, I am curious about how people can achieve the 'almost famous' results. I started this blog http://36545.matheggem.com/ as a social experiment, and a genuine interest to share… But, it's funny how putting yourself out there in such a committed way can affect your psyche – and in fact your presentation of you. I will try, though, as best as I can to commit to being honest and myself… which is what I tell all people when they ask me how to 'make it' work in the realm of social media. Cool.

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  • http://twitter.com/jennygirl207 Jennifer MacDonald

    Tac thank you for this post. It's a great point to remember for those of us who have only been using social media for a few years, and are building a career around it.

    It was definitely a reality check this morning for me, and made me remember why I started in social media & why I love it. To be famous was not the reason!

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