4 Social Media Quotes and Responses to Them

Below are some popular social media quotes and my reactions and responses to them.

Like any popular social phenomenon, social media has spawned a number of great minds to share their words of wisdom with tweet-appropriate brevity. Below are four social media quotes from industry leaders and observers and my reactions, interpretations or responses to them.

“Social media has infected the world with a sickening virus called vanity.” -Kellie Elmore

Yes – it’s true that social has further engrossed the ego of the already self-absorbed Generation Y (among others). But I can’t agree with the fact that vanity is a product of social media.

Vanity has long been in existence. Consider The Portrait of Dorian Gray when considering vanity. Surely, Oscar Wilde was not all that active on Twitter. What social media has done, however, is provided the world with a self-publishing tool. The results are often going to be self-absorption. But is that always such a terrible thing?

People can now showcase talents, reach broad audiences and education is a tweet away. Social media has also shrunk the business world so significantly, that the largest brands in the world can now devote seemingly undivided attention to customers in need.

“Distracted from distraction by distraction.” -T.S. Eliot

Fine, so T.S. Eliot wasn’t talking about StumbleUpon when he wrote this. But can you think of a more fitting reference?

As noted above, the world is a much smaller place thanks in large part to the advent of social media. That does not mean, however, that there is any less activity taking place within it. Take a minute to research an article online, and you find yourself having devoted three hours to becoming the world’s leading expert on sounds foxes make.

Though we can easily waste days sifting through the endless sea of content shared to social channels, I like to think of it as the world’s most comprehensive library. Every article, page, blog or video offers something we have not seen before. (Or, in some cases, something we have seen many, many times before and just need to see again.)

“You are what you share.” -Charles Leadbeater

Few things are truer than this when it comes to social media. A perfect example of this ringing true is the polarity the world witnessed as a result of Facebook status updates reflecting political preferences during the last American election.

Reputation management, Social Care and content strategies are all infinitely more important than ever before when it comes to social media. One misstep could land you in water hot enough to burn away all the hard work you have put into building your brand. Companies and individuals need to remember that they are participating in conversations on a megaphone, and everyone can hear them.