A couple of good blogs and interesting posts on Social Media

Via the Ad Age Small Agency Diary, I came across a couple of what I think are good blogs. Both will be added to the blogroll at right as soon as I finish this post.

I was drawn to a scottberkun.com when a post he wrote on June 30th ("Calling Bullshit on Social Media") was mentioned. Read it for yourself here, but here's a highlight:

"For starters: social media is a stupid term. Is there any anti-social media out there? Of course not. All media, by definition, is social in some way. "

Here's another:

"The new media does not necessarily destroy the old. . . . Anyone who claims social media will eliminate standard PR or mass media is engaging in hype, as odds are better those things will change and learn, but never die. It’s wise to ask what each kind of media / marketing is good and bad for and work from there."

And finally:

"Social media consultants writing about social media have inherent biases. It’s difficult to take posts . . . about social media seriously [if they are] written by someone from a social media consulting firm without an ounce of humility or perspective. It’s hard to come across as authentic if you promote a revolution that you personally stand to benefit the most from."

It's good. Read the thing. Then go on to his other stuff. Great blog.

Ok, then that led me to this one -- bynkii.com -- and this particular post. A highlight here (brace yourself. this guy is pretty blunt):

"The best definition I've seen comes from my friend and boss, Mike:

" 'Social Media is people talking to each other.' That's really all it is. You can put all the fucking spin, weasel words, and supercaptaincoolguy terminology you want, but it's like painting a diamond. In the end, what's inside is far more valuable than the coating.

"All this shit, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, DoucheBlog, all of it, is just people talking to each other, in a fairly direct way. . . . It can be a one to one, one to many, many to one, many to many, or all of the above, but it's just people talking to each other."

And more:

"If you make it more complicated than that as a concept, stop. You're about to go off the cliff into New Media Douchebaggery, and you don't want that. Ever."