The Dawn of Spamalot

With apologies to Monty Python, be prepared for an onslaught of spam brought on in the wake of "The Social Network."  Legions of the previously disinterested buisness people are diving into social media with an "if that punk Mark Zuckerberg can do it, so can I" attitude, and little more than a vague idea that they've got to get stuff out there.

They're jumping into Twitter, creating a presence on Facebook, and otherwise frantically attacking social media worlds with little more than a vague impression of the social landscape as little more than another billboard on which to post their wares.  In the next few weeks and months, you'll see (or in some cases, will be totally unaware) crude attempts at social media.  I've heard first-hand from some who were previously borderline hostile to the concept.  Now, a great piece of filmmaking has created a wider awareness of social media, but, in the short term, a lot of media garbage.

Yes, I know all this has existed before, but now it will explode as never before across the landscape.

 - The use of Twitter as little more than an advertising platform, with little interest in engagement, and little knowledge of how Twitter can be used for such engagement;
- The creation of a presence on Facebook with little understanding of how to build and maintain that presence; and
 - The attempt at building communities without the understanding of little more than a "build it and they will come" mentality.

The result?  A flood of new users, a rapid burnout, and a bonanza for social media "experts," and, finally, perhaps, a long-overdue shake-out in those who see this as a "get rich quick" scheme.

Despite all of this initial mess, the ultimate result just might be a better informed, wider community of users.

So, it's not all bad.  To quote Monty Python, "Spam, Wonderful Spam!"