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In this edition of Web Enlightenment we'll be talking about how social media is golf.

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Social Media is Golf

Recently I've been spending quite a bit of time chatting about Social Media. My friend Nancy Marshall and I gave a talk to the Society of American Travel Writers earlier this month , the title was Blogging and Social Media.

Social Media is the sort of problem a guy like me finds very interesting - everyone is very excited about it but no one is quite sure why. Many of the explanations tend to philosophically defy measurement and of course my mathematical brain insists this is just because no one has really figured out the correct formulas.

I attended a talk given by Rich Brooks in Portland last week and it was lots of fun. One particular thing he said really leapt out at me: "There is no ROI on Social Media, no definable business purpose at all". Ah-HA! I thought, here is a very honest guy who perhaps doesn't realize his entire audience is about to stand up and walk out. He just told them there was no real point to what he was doing and as much fun as it is to watch a guy like Rich having a good time (and he obviously loves social media) I couldn't imagine a bunch of business people being fascinated.

And yet they stayed - and asked questions - and had a really nice time. Hmmmmmm, that didn't make much sense to my mathematical mind at all. I got going on a rant about what presenters say vs what audiences hear - a good thing for me to think about when I give seminars. So anyway, last weekend I was sitting around thinking about this while using one of my favorite mind numbing devices ( My Television ) when it hit me - this social media stuff is just like golf.

When I ran my web development company on Cape Cod in the 1990's I had to play Golf - once. As those of you that have seen me attempt anything physical already know I was pretty awful at it. But there was this big insurance company we wanted as a client and my mother said it was a good idea and the folks that ran it loved golf and next thing you knew I had on these really horrid looking shoes I had rented. They were there to play golf, because they loved golf. I was there to pitch them on my services while hoping I wasn't such a bad golfer that they wouldn't do business with me. So for me Golf had a brief but actual business purpose.

In some industries Golf is very important - I don't know whether or not it is true but friends in California have told me that ad agencies there do all their important business on the Golf Course. I do know that in Japan it is actually important to play golf in certain companies, but in others it doesn't really matter at all.

So is Golf recreational or for business? Yes.
Is Social Media recreational or for business? Yes.

For most of us the "correct" business thing to do about Golf, or Social Media, is to play when you have to. I have a Linked In account but I never actually log in there unless I get an email message. (when someone asks to link with you you get a message). LinkedIn is pretty boring and while it might technically be a social media site it is really best thought of as myspace for adults. No online games, no time vampire type activities exist there - it is all pretty serious and stuffy.

LinkedIn is the only social media thing that I do - I don't have a blog, or accounts at MySpace or Facebook or any of the other myriad of new sites that seem to pop up every week.

I must confess that just like Golf I don't really like Social Networking very much. I'll do it when I must but I don't get a charge out of it or love it in the way some folks do. I often wonder why rational people who could email me get excited about leaving me a message in another way. Now it is important to remember that this confession is coming from a guy whose hobbies include recreational algorithm creation.

Most people that play Golf all the time do it because they really love Golf. When they talk seriously about the business purposes we all smile and nod, knowing that while of course it is correct some business was conducted on the course the vast majority of people who play lots of golf would never want to divide their hours spent by their business gained - it'd be a horrible ROI loser.

Folks say golf is seductive (never was for me but I buy that) and I think Social Media is seductive in the exact same way. It's fun for people, they like it, it seems like work but it is primarily recreational. How very nice indeed.

For some narrow business types and business situations Golf is really important, failure to play it is a significant business handicap. The same thing is true of social media, my friend George Dratelis leaps to mind, he has 311 connections on LinkedIn and I would guess he participates in just about every social media site out there. George is a newspaper guy and a master of networking generally, knowing "everyone" has always been a big part of what he does - so social media is a perfectly natural fit for him.

The bottom line for the Internet Entrepreneur is this: if you love social media, then you should do it. I think you should keep in mind that "golf" danger, and remember that while there are a few exceptions the vast majority of folks that say they play 5 rounds of golf a week for business reasons are kidding themselves.

If you are like me and you don't personally like social media you'll find that the time required is very minimal - you have a profile or two, you answer messages as they come in - but overall I'd say I'll probably spend less than 5 hours this year working on social media. So the one or two good things I might get out of it in fact do have a decent ROI.

And those insurance folks on Cape Cod ? They never invited me to play again , I assume that's because I mostly hit the ball into the woods, but they did hire me. So my "social/business" mission was accomplished even though I still suck at Golf.