Comments on: Twitter me this… how do you define “guru” in social media marketing? http://www.brandinsightblog.com/2009/11/09/twitter-me-this%e2%80%a6-how-do-you-define-%e2%80%9cguru%e2%80%9d-in-social-media-marketing/ Tagline about this blog .... Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:33:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Natty http://www.brandinsightblog.com/2009/11/09/twitter-me-this%e2%80%a6-how-do-you-define-%e2%80%9cguru%e2%80%9d-in-social-media-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-250 Natty Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:28:32 +0000 http://brandinsightblog.com/?p=322#comment-250 Great Post. Can you email me back, please. Thanks so much. Great Post. Can you email me back, please. Thanks so much.

]]> By: Chris Cozea http://www.brandinsightblog.com/2009/11/09/twitter-me-this%e2%80%a6-how-do-you-define-%e2%80%9cguru%e2%80%9d-in-social-media-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Chris Cozea Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:34:15 +0000 http://brandinsightblog.com/?p=322#comment-136 Based on the etymology of the word 'guru", the locution "self help gurus" has a distancing and somewhat critical connotation. I believe we all had one or two gurus in our formative years and only later in life we (some of us) tend to become more critical of those who think they know best what is good for us or for the survival of humankind. I still respect (the notion) that some of us are more expert at something than others (the natural or socially-engineered division of work is perhaps the main factor), but when I see the mental prosternation of people vis-a-vis gurus like Anthony Robbins I simply cringe. Personally, I was lucky to experience such awakenings about the roles these gurus play in our life and how phony they could be. One example is (Dr) Andrew Weil when, during a televised conference, (he)explained how toxic celery sticks are. I didn't touch celery sticks for a couple of years after that and one day, cornered by politeness, I had to munch on the only snack a graceful hostess put under my nose. I felt like Gustave Mahler must have felt when he was offered pork to eat at a party in his honour. I don't say that (Dr) Weil is an idiot; on the contrary, I am grateful to him for opening my eyes and helping me with discerning amongst true experts and self-titled experts. The net and the web 2.0 have produced a plethora of self-proclaimed gurus and, unfortunately, because we are highly developed social & societal beings, we tend to choose a leader of sorts from amongst us. Yes, I agree with Chris Locke that the deafening noise of social media (marketing) is preferable to the old methods of all kinds of indoctrination. And John, the fact that we chit-chat freely about that shows that we still have the capacity to discern, criticize and ridicule the resellers of old get-rich-quick or become-an-expert-in-five-minutes hucksters --- the latest kind of nouveau riche riding on the waves of social media. Their crass lack of modesty and (intellectual & moral) decency is another manifestation of the homo homini lupus world we still live in after 10,000 years of human...evolution. Yes, Jamie is right in his first paragraph, but then who could enforce the "simple rule"? Yes, we could ignore the so-called gurus, but they are becoming better and better at marketing themselves. We all look pretty much alike and the differences appear and become evident mostly when we open our mouth and prove who we really are. Based on the etymology of the word ‘guru”, the locution “self help gurus” has a distancing and somewhat critical connotation. I believe we all had one or two gurus in our formative years and only later in life we (some of us) tend to become more critical of those who think they know best what is good for us or for the survival of humankind. I still respect (the notion) that some of us are more expert at something than others (the natural or socially-engineered division of work is perhaps the main factor), but when I see the mental prosternation of people vis-a-vis gurus like Anthony Robbins I simply cringe. Personally, I was lucky to experience such awakenings about the roles these gurus play in our life and how phony they could be. One example is (Dr) Andrew Weil when, during a televised conference, (he)explained how toxic celery sticks are. I didn’t touch celery sticks for a couple of years after that and one day, cornered by politeness, I had to munch on the only snack a graceful hostess put under my nose. I felt like Gustave Mahler must have felt when he was offered pork to eat at a party in his honour. I don’t say that (Dr) Weil is an idiot; on the contrary, I am grateful to him for opening my eyes and helping me with discerning amongst true experts and self-titled experts.
The net and the web 2.0 have produced a plethora of self-proclaimed gurus and, unfortunately, because we are highly developed social & societal beings, we tend to choose a leader of sorts from amongst us. Yes, I agree with Chris Locke that the deafening noise of social media (marketing) is preferable to the old methods of all kinds of indoctrination. And John, the fact that we chit-chat freely about that shows that we still have the capacity to discern, criticize and ridicule the resellers of old get-rich-quick or become-an-expert-in-five-minutes hucksters — the latest kind of nouveau riche riding on the waves of social media. Their crass lack of modesty and (intellectual & moral) decency is another manifestation of the homo homini lupus world we still live in after 10,000 years of human…evolution.
Yes, Jamie is right in his first paragraph, but then who could enforce the “simple rule”? Yes, we could ignore the so-called gurus, but they are becoming better and better at marketing themselves. We all look pretty much alike and the differences appear and become evident mostly when we open our mouth and prove who we really are.

]]> By: Jamie Riddell http://www.brandinsightblog.com/2009/11/09/twitter-me-this%e2%80%a6-how-do-you-define-%e2%80%9cguru%e2%80%9d-in-social-media-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-134 Jamie Riddell Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:54:56 +0000 http://brandinsightblog.com/?p=322#comment-134 Those self help 'gurus' have always been around, whether it was in the small ads or stickers on a lampost. The Internet indeed has given them a potentially bigger voice and a quicker reach but the problem is not new. I guess a simple rule should be, if you call yourself an expert, guru or such you should be ignored. It is for others to define someone as an expert or guru for it to really mean something. Those self help ‘gurus’ have always been around, whether it was in the small ads or stickers on a lampost. The Internet indeed has given them a potentially bigger voice and a quicker reach but the problem is not new.

I guess a simple rule should be, if you call yourself an expert, guru or such you should be ignored. It is for others to define someone as an expert or guru for it to really mean something.

]]> By: Chris Locke http://www.brandinsightblog.com/2009/11/09/twitter-me-this%e2%80%a6-how-do-you-define-%e2%80%9cguru%e2%80%9d-in-social-media-marketing/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Chris Locke Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:18:54 +0000 http://brandinsightblog.com/?p=322#comment-135 Deafening as it is, I'm happy to trade the new noise for the end of military, corporate, and yes, even editorial control. Funny you should mention the self-help hucksters, that's been a good part of my beat since Gonzo Marketing, my little known book that followed on the heels of Cluetrain. http://mysticbourgeoisie.blogspot.com btw, the "third-rate actor in a 4th rate play" line was David Weinberger's, if memory serves. Cluetrain had two other authors as well: Doc Searls and Rick Levine. Thanks for pressing WordPress into service to blog on this ever-bloggable theme, Rockstar. :-) Deafening as it is, I’m happy to trade the new noise for the end of military, corporate, and yes, even editorial control. Funny you should mention the self-help hucksters, that’s been a good part of my beat since Gonzo Marketing, my little known book that followed on the heels of Cluetrain.

http://mysticbourgeoisie.blogspot.com

btw, the “third-rate actor in a 4th rate play” line was David Weinberger’s, if memory serves. Cluetrain had two other authors as well: Doc Searls and Rick Levine.

Thanks for pressing WordPress into service to blog on this ever-bloggable theme, Rockstar. :-)

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