Battle of the Brogan hashtags
Posted on 06 May 2010 by LunaWeb
Chris Brogan made a visit to Memphis this week and gave a presentation for a group of social media enthusiasts at the Peabody Hotel this morning. But while he was speaking, a different kind of meeting of the minds was happening on Twitter as the #broganmemphis hashtag tweets were overtaken by #fakebrogan, a coterie of tweets that ranged from sarcastic social media tips to completely random hyperbolic statements.
As we sat back and watched our Twitter stream flood with #fakebrogan, we started to wonder about the motives behind the tweets. Hysterical as they were, was that the whole point? To be funny? Or were people expressing a greater sentiment about the event or Brogan himself?
We surveyed seven of the big proponents of the hashtag to ask them what motivated the onslaught of humorous jabs at the social media “guru.” When asked why they got involved in the tweets, not a single respondent reported any kind of ill will toward Chris Brogan. They weren’t even concerned with the message of his talk. Instead, 43 percent said they disliked the way the event was promoted and 57 percent said they dislike social media seminars across the board. What they mostly (71 percent) agreed on, though, was that they didn’t really have strong feelings about the event one way or another — they were just having fun. The ignition tweet was “MemphisFlyer: Saturation is key. From FB statuses to Tweets, you need to constantly remind people of your existence via interruption. #fakebrogan.” Here’s the stream of #fakebrogan tweets.
It’s interesting that it wasn’t really ire or passion that inspired such a long-running chain of hashtag tweets. It seems plain and simple humor is still the strongest tool for virality that exists on the web.
A few photos from this morning’s talk.
If you weren’t able to attend this morning, check out the audio of Brogan’s talk. (you can listen with the player below or download it.)
So, what’s your take on the #fakebrogan tweets?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Tags | #broganmemphis, #fakebrogan, Chris Brogan, hashtag, Memphis, Peabody, Powering the Conversation, Twitter
May 6th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I checked that “I dislike social media seminars in general,” mainly because when the seminars are going on in Memphis, where I live, my Twitter feed becomes filled with a bunch of useless dribble I don’t care about. As @theogeo pointed out in her blog post (http://theogeo.com/blog/news/hey-a-rant-about-social-media-marketers-and-newspapers/), the information shared from these events is either stating the obvious or is bordering on nonsense. At least it seems that way to me anyway. When I first signed up for a Twitter account, I thought the cool kids were all into social media and what it can do and that I needed to be more interested in it because it was important, but the more and more I have become familiar with the term, I have I grown to dislike it. Honestly, Howell Marketing is a big contributor to this mind shift of mine. Their tweets and constant retweets and the tweets of their employees are extremely annoying and completely useless to me, and I have had to stop following each and every one of them because of that. Granted, I’m not their main audience, so why should I be interested in what they have to say? That said, why are they following me? One could argue, “Well, to figure that out, maybe you should come to a social media seminar.” No, thank you. I’m fine where I am. Anyway, I don’t take this stuff too seriously. I mainly started tweeting with the #fakebrogan tag to have fun. Oh, and I think that anyone who calls himself or herself a social media “advisor” or “expert” is kind of full of shit, and that makes me laugh, so I like to have fun with that, too. I really have nothing against Chris Brogan. For all I know, he could be a really great guy. I don’t know enough about him, but his minions sure were annoying the hell out of me this morning.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Most of us are here for personal socializing and not to work on our ‘brand’ or to promote our business. The #broganmemphis tweets were flooding the timeline, and we don’t care at all about it.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
“Social media” isn’t anything. these meetings are for people that don’t know how to use computers. Once you’re past that hurdle there is nothing new, you just have to live your live and communicate with people and conduct your business.
May 7th, 2010 at 9:45 am
I think my attitude toward the Brogan event was directly related to the fact that I dispute Howell’s credibility. For people who purport to be social media “experts” they sure are, as I like to say, “doin it rong.” I think they and Brogan are taking advantage of people who are desperate for an edge in the market, but don’t realize the so-called “conversation” is more about being yourself, having common sense and figuring out what works for YOU. No one should need a so-called “expert” to tell him that.
And for the record, I don’t think there’s a such thing as a social media “expert” or “guru.” The way we use the web is evolving too quickly for anyone to claim that title.
May 7th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Thanks for your comment. My conflict revolved around the price and the way the event was headlined. (previous post) There is no future for this realm if business powers it, or gives it a big voice. Business is a guest. The beauty in all our interactions is that it belongs to the people, not business.
The #fakebrogan tweets were great. I love the way they gave voice and relief. I had hoped there would be much less active commercialism in this sphere. I was overly optimistic, but I hope only temporarily and that at some point when the hype subsides, it’ll be closer to way you described it.
I don’t have an appreciation for the “expert” title. True expertise lies with people who recognize an inability to master the realm because as you stated it is “evolving too quickly” and who instead, recognize that a greater level of expertise is gained from being a contributor of a group effort where experiences and enthusiasm are shared. These are fascinating times attempting to weave these new dimensions into our existence.