Twittering on the Brink of Failure

I don't have a Twitter account or a Facebook account. They're a waste of time; gossip machines reflecting their own images from the pool of Narcissus. Fox Business on why so few business leaders use social media:

As of 2014, 8.3% of Fortune 500 CEOs actually have Twitter accounts. Meanwhile, the report says, “many are not actively using the service, which means they are missing important opportunities to engage with customers, partners, employees and other stakeholders.”

But is that really true? Are they really missing out on opportunities to engage with those stakeholders? And even if they are, is that really the key metric that social media marketers and consultants make it out to be?

A recent Harvard Business Review article asks, “Is Social Media Actually Helping Your Company’s Bottom Line?” The answer, according to the accompanying graphic, is “#NOPE.” And the article provides an impressive data-driven argument to back up that conclusion. You can read it here or I can just boil it down for you this way: the ROI is simply not there.

Social media is about as valuable to your business as the half billion tweets sent every day that nobody has time to read because everybody’s too busy tweeting and retweeting, posting and sharing, linking and liking, messaging and emailing, playing games and watching videos to pay any attention.

Well, I’ll tell you where it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t lead to business. And it doesn’t lead to effective stakeholder engagement, at least not nearly as efficiently as old school techniques such as in-person meetings, one-on-ones or simply picking up the phone. Even socializing over dinner, drinks or a golf game is far better.

As a sales manager, I fully agree with that last sentence. Unfortunately, a generation who has "grown up" behind a computer screen is now entering the workplace, and they're showing all the social skills of a dead hamster. They've "grown up" hurling snarky barbs on social media; when they have to host lunch for a delicate contract negotiation with a customer or engage in a friendly verbal sparring match with the competition, they're at a complete and utter loss. They spend most of their time muttering, staring at the ground and tripping over their own feet -- that last bit literally, in some cases. When criticized concerning their lack of social skills, they get mad and quit. Yet they wonder why nobody will promote them.

Hey young'uns, want to succeed? Don't be a Twit.