Much of America heard about the popularity competition between Ashton Kutcher and CNN. If you did not hear about it, it is pretty easy to find on Twitter.
Social Media Ignorance and Arrogance
How could this happen that such arrogance and ignorance has become the definition of mass media? Well, it has not, and I consider Ashton Kutcher an utter failure in this respect. I watched the ustream Webcast of Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) talking about how he was changing media forever. It was fascinating, but not in a good way. It was more like the kind of fascination that gives me big sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. This guy clearly has no idea what it is like to really connect with people. He will surely never understand or relate to the feeling I get from conversations I have with the many wonderful people I meet on Twitter. He surely will never understand the social in social media.
Ashton Kutcher Changing Media Forever?
Before I sound only negative on this, I will give some credit to Ashton. Maybe Ashton Kutcher is changing media forever. If we are lucky, his actions will help to emphasize the a point of social media failure on the part of those who do a lot of talking but no listening.
Perhaps Ashton Kutcher’s best contribution ever is his show of arrogance when he thanked all of his million Twitter followers and said that it was all their help that got him there. Oh, yeah, they got him “there” … wherever that is. He said, “You guys are all of it, because I can’t follow me” and then said the perhaps the biggest failure line a person has ever uttered in social media. Ashton Kutcher said “There are a million people who need to be thanked, because I am not following me, I’m following you” (see timestamp 20:20 on the video below). I found this really odd, because Twitter shows that Ashton Kutcher’s @aplusk account is only following 73 people. These are just a couple of assinine quotes taken from Ashton Kutcher’s recent ustream Webcast, but feel free to watch it and draw your own opinions.
What is Social Media?
If you follow my blog or my Webcast, you probably know what social media is to me. I have written volumes of publicly-deemed valuable information. My opinions are my own, and I freely share them every day with others by way of social media. I don’t feel an obsessive need for acceptance, and I do not shudder to hear another’s disagreement. This, my friends, is a wonderful thing about social media. It is not just being heard, but also about hearing, and learning, and sharing ideas and opinions with others.
A short time ago, I sent out a tweet on Twitter. It read as follows: “I would rather have 10 people speak kindly of me than a million to preach at.” (see the tweet). Apparently there is a good number of people who feel the same way, because it was retweeted many times (see retweets).
Another tweet I sent said “Just an FYI: I receive a lot of tweets, but I respond to nearly every single one.” (see the tweet). Again, there was a huge response from this, both in retweets and in replies. I responded to each of the responses. Now, I do not respond to every retweet. That, for me, would be truly debilitating, but if somebody is talking to me, you can bet I am listening.
I am listening now, and I want your opinions. Please give your comments right here on this blog and let’s discuss this socially.
