Do we care about the people who don’t care

last week was an interesting one for me.

I went to 2 social media events, one in the audience and one as a speaker.

The first was Random 2 hosted by Ann Holman of the Ann Holman company. The discussion soon went to the type of interaction which was occurring within social media. Without a shadow of a doubt those in the room were of the opinion that those people who were ‘broadcasting’ rather than interacting, who were taking rather than sharing should ‘take a hike’ and go do it somewhere else and not mess around with what has become a much loved mechanism for social media purist marketers. (I’m paraphrasing and taking huge liberties, but you get my drift)

The second event was a free information share with an alliance of Nexus, myself and Ashfords. We were speaking about how business’s can grow by social media. Many in that room were open to the ideas we shared, were enthusiastic to the opportunities that Social media offered. But there were just as many who were negative and sat arm folded, waiting to be convinced.

We all tried to tell the latter that no magic bullet existed, no on could give them (especially not in 45 mins ) a bespoke strategy that would give them the big results that were required to stop the slide in market share or slump in business some, that no doubt, were experiencing.

I tried to use traditional media and it’s limitations as a ‘them & us’ broadcast platform to illustrate the differences; in the hope that the opportunities would appear and excite. However on reflection it became clear that if you have been in business for the past 4 or 5 years you would not have been able to avoid the fact that social media is alive and very much kicking. My research of the group showed that most had given it a go, some had a facebook page, many were members of linked-in and a few had even dabbled with twitter. But some had made a decision some time ago that they weren’t getting involved and this event was another opportunity to go back and tell people why they weren’t getting involved; for the same old reasons they have given time and time again!

As an Ex Newspaper exec, I am used to standing up and flogging my wares; offering the world and charging the earth. Last week I believe all the speakers were offering alternatives which cost nothing except imagination, creativity, planning and a bit of effort.

Ah ha, lightbulb moment, maybe that’s the problem with those who aren’t interested. If that’s the case I’m not sure we should bother to get them on board, because if they are there they will suck out a lot of the fun and creativity that is within in and change it for the rest of us.

So what to do, what do we do about those who don’t care. Do we try and convice them, ie push them into it or do we give those who are a little bit interested and ‘pull’ them up with us. Or do we just not give a d***n and build our own elitist cliques away from those we don’t want to communicate with?

I am now firmly on the side of pull. I want to share and be involved with anyone who wants to get involved, I love being mentored and can name a few fabulous people who have helped me in the past and I love helping others get the most of the phenomenan and all that it can offer. I have a contempt for any form of elitist behaviour and will be growing a much thicker skin for anyone I have to push. BUT, if they change their minds I wont hold it against them. Promise.