What is your measuring stick?
At the thoughtful online-J blog Ricochet, Chrys Wu today points us to a first-rate post by Chip Griffin titled Throwing Out the Social Media Rulebook. This is very, very useful for all the journalistic folks who are trying to evaluate whether new online stuff you’re trying out is working — or not.
I’m here to tell you that most of the rules are bunk, and we as an industry do ourselves a disservice by frightening off potential participants with absurd proclamations of the way things must be.
Griffin has constructed a list of nine “rules” that do not always apply. I will step right up and admit that I myself have voiced several of these rules (such as: “It’s all about conversation”) in workshops and other venues. Griffin doesn’t say the rules are always wrong, but it’s not true that “one size fits all.” Some sites, blogs, packages or stories will deviate from “the rules” for good reasons.
(Really good comments on the post too.)
Your summary of my piece is right on the mark. Thanks for posting about it.
December 14, 2007 at 11:18 amWell I think Chip proved Mindy’s point that it IS all about conversation. Chip’s just chipped in to the conversation about emerging media channels, is all.
Anyway, nice list but if i had a dollar for every list of rules — or in this case, an anti-list list — written down by us journalists about life, the universe and the best Top 40 singles in existence (not including the Beatles or Frank Zappa) then i’d be richer than whoever’s beating Bill Gates at the moment.
Let the lists continue, but that’s all they are … there is no longer a definitive rule book.
cheers for the festive season!
December 14, 2007 at 7:11 pm