Emerging Media Needs More Explorers, Fewer Experts

2 Comment(s) | Posted Oct 28, 2009 by Peter Wylie

Peter Wylie

I was catching up on reading my favorite opinion writers last night when I came across David Brooks’ Monday column, “The Fatal Conceit.” One of the most compelling statements in the piece, which is largely focused on executive compensation, has great relevance to the evolving world of emerging media practice.

“Every great action can be done in a spirit of humility or in a spirit of overconfidence,” Brooks writes.  He sees the past actions of financiers and the present actions of government officials as clearly overconfident, which led to a calamitous year on Wall Street and could lead to an even more damning outcome in Washington, if Brooks is correct in his prognosis.

I’m afraid a similar level of overconfidence is overtaking emerging media practice and commentary.

At the outset of social media, the novelty and authenticity of connections drove growth and adoption. No one contended expert status, because it was clear the space was too new for that. There was so much room to explore the new landscape, no one bothered to pretend they were an expert on the subject. With broad adoption came a flood of these so-called experts, and I’m convinced this flood needs to recede.

In his post “Social Media is not a Strategy,” Clay Schossow, product manager at New Media Campaigns, decries the rise of the “social media snake oil salesman,” who promises instant engagement, viral videos, connections with Rockstars and various other forms of pyrite. (Full disclosure: NMC is a 3Ships partner)

Like Clay, I’ve also noticed the exponential increase in the amount of “social media experts,” while I haven’t seen a corresponding increase in either the duration these “experts” have been interacting with social media or the number of social media campaigns that really wowed me. I can only conclude then that there is a healthy amount of overconfidence and hubris in the space that is simply not productive.

When people overstate their ability and knowledge of social media out of hubris, it only increases the skepticism of the people considering social media interaction. These networks gain utility and robustness with each new voice heard and fresh perspective revealed. Let’s not discourage people from engaging by intimidating the uninitiated. Rather, let’s pursue these fascinating dialogues with humility.

There are many more people interacting with social media with humility and genuine personal interest than hucksters, don’t get me wrong. And I’m sure I’ve been guilty of some of the faults I’ve just bemoaned.  I simply want to encourage more honest, humble interaction and conversation, while discouraging grandstanding and overstatement of ability and expertise.

I consider myself a passionate explorer (not an expert) in the mercurial emerging media ecosystem. I can’t help but advocate for more of the spirit of exploration, rather than purported expertise in our interactions through emerging media, because I believe there is still too much uncharted territory for anyone to act as if they know the entire lay of the land.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, as always.

- Pete

Filed under: Emerging Media