A-listers, movie stars, superstars and rockstars, every industry has
them. Including ours. Social media, PR and Marketing. We love to worship them
don't we? We watch their every move. We're fascinated by them. The only thing they might lack are the paparazzi and a posse. There's just
something about what they say and do and write that mesmerizes us.(Cue the chorus of angels) We have
decided by our adoration that they hold the keys to the kingdom
and thus we need and have decided to quote them and listen to them and follow them whenever we
can. Is it wise? Seriously.
Admit it, you'd take some of that love if it was thrown your way. By that, I mean if you became an A-lister yourself. Additionally, If
they showed interest in you, or talked to you-you'd take that "bounce
effect" as well, in a heartbeat. Hell, it might be why we all blog. We want what
they got. It's just that some of you might not admit it. It's Ok. It's not why
I blog but the residual effect of the blog has certainly brought some notoriety
with it that I was not prepared for.I think I might be a J or K lister.While we're at it, lets ask ourselves why we are blogging. What is your endgame goal here?
But that's not the sole purpose of this post. The purpose is to figure
where we should place the A-listers in the social media food chain. Who's
eating who here? For example: I recently asked at one conference whether advertisers realized the influence that A-listers have just in the Twitter-sphere. I didn't really get an answer to that.My point: Twitter followers jump all over A-lister tweets and is that wise?
So let's ask ourselves. What, if any, value or credence should we place with an A-lister when they utter anything? Be it in a micro-blogging platform, a conference, a blog post, a book, an e-book or a podcast. I say we read the menu, sample what you want, chew on what tastes good, and digest what will stay down.. Their's is not the only restaurant serving something hot.
A couple of days ago, Mack Collier wrote about why he enjoyed the SMBU more than
SXSW because it was more of a teaching gig than it was a big "look at
me" Rockstar, fest. and frankly, I'm down with that. In fact, the last 6 speakers
I've listened to at various engagements, 4 of them had the same M O. and I'll get to that in a second.
You see, we're all guilty of our own MO or modus operandi, as well. Ours might look like this: We show up and wait for "the name" or the "A" lister to talk, we try to tweet something sharp and clever and original and game changing that he or she might say in their slotted time as they hustle through their slides and then.. . they answer 4 questions, and poof, they're done.
We then sit there with a few thoughts: They are, "Have I just seen the second coming? Or, WTF was that?" Or, "Did I get anything out of that just now?" Or maybe, "I can't believe he really looks and sounds like that". All the while the A-lister has stepped off the stage into a throng of social media groupies, at which point, the exalted one" looks right through the velvet ropes for their peeps, finds them, says some quiet shit just to them, they giggle, they all check their blackberries and in another poof, they're gone.
It's at this point that I might mumble something to the effect, "when are they going to learn how to at least properly close their talk with something other than, "well it looks like my time is up, thanks."
In closing, I see that my time is up. But here's your takeaway. There are a lot of people to listen to in this space. Some of them are not even close to being A-listers, and you know what? They know their stuff. Chances are, the A-listers might even be pulling their thoughts and content from them. It's up to you to decide who you engage. Step back and decide why you are listening to them. Is it because "everyone" else is? You might just realize that you are a thought leader yourself and not a follower of a social media A-lister with clay feet.