Among the more annoying symptoms of aging is being annoyed by areas of social decline those of us entering geezerhood readily recognize because of the perspective our advancing age gives us.
For example, as if climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and generative AI aren’t bad enough …
In my youth we had the Gabor sisters, “famous for being famous” as the saying goes. Except, perhaps, Eva Gabor, who, in addition to being famous for being famous, became famous for playing Lisa Douglas on Green Acres.
If you’re too young to remember the Gabors, think Kardashians but with a modicum of class. I used to think that with the Kardashians we’d hit bottom. But we haven’t, because we now have “social media influencers.”
Back when the Gabor sisters reigned, they defined “fashionable” among a certain set of acolytes for whom “I want to be like her!” was their rallying cry.
At least they had class, so there was something worth emulating.
That’s in contrast to the Kardashians, who exemplify Rodney Dangerfield’s famous line in Back to School, “Call me some time when you have no class!”
But credit where it’s due: At least the Kardashians are famous and good at achieving it, so there’s some justification for emulating them among those who wish they were famous, too.
Okay, it’s a stretch, but go with it.
But social media influencers?
Supposedly, to become a social media influencer you first have to create content followers pay attention to. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I publish content every week that you pay attention to. (You do or you wouldn’t have reached the preceding sentence.)
Does this make me a social media influencer? As I consider the existence of “social media influencer” as a career to be a sign of social decline, the possibility worries me.
But I think I’m okay. A hallmark of social media influencers is that they want to be social media influencers. That’s their ambition and career goal. The sole value many of these folks deliver is little more than what celebrity endorsers deliver.
Which isn’t much, because of how many celebrity endorsers have no connection to the product they endorse – if you’re a NASCAR fan, do you decide which cola to drink because of which cola’s patch your favorite NASCAR driver wears?
Back in 1996 when I started writing the “IS Survival Guide” for InfoWorld, here’s how I explained what I was going to provide: “Suggestions and ideas that come from years of real management and executive experience managing technology; conversations with other managers and executives; discussions and debates with consultants, writers and academics; and just plain reading and thinking.
A lot comes from real-world experience of what works well. A lot more comes from real-world experience of what didn’t work so well.
The point, that is, was and is to provide useful perspectives that weren’t just like what every other industry pundit had to say on a subject.
Bob’s last word: That, I think, is what I find annoying about social-media-influencer as a profession: Fame is its point, not its byproduct, which means we, as a society, have decided to reward people whose sole claim to fame is that they’re adept at getting noticed.
Sure, I’d have liked to have “gone viral” (the 1990’s social-media-influencer equivalent) but that needed to be a consequence, not my purpose.
Bob’s sales pitch: No, I’m not asking you to help me become a social media influencer. But as I start to wind down Keep the Joint Running, you have an open invitation to peruse the archives and download copies of anything you find useful. The usual attribution courtesies apply.
This week on CIO.com’s CIO Survival Guide: “7 IT consultant tricks CIOs should never fall for.” It’s about how many consultants fix what’s broken by breaking what’s fixed, plus 6 other common consulting misdeeds.
I agree that social media influencers (SMIs) are similar to movie or sports stars endorsing a product.
But, the danger I see in SMIs is that they are using the tribal aspect inherent in social media to endorse their opinions, especially when stated as facts. There’s no balance of views in social media.
I feel that rise of SMIs promotes an imbalance of emotions over facts that may be the death of us all.
Gabor sisters v Kardashians – new-to-me comparison – and quite apt.
“….But as I start to wind down Keep the Joint Running….” Oh, Please, Say it ain’t so, Joe (Bob)!
I have been a subscriber since the mid 1990’s and I am not even an IT person….
I purchased multiple copies of your books and used them as textbooks to teach young people about basic Project Management. I have been a fan of your skills as a Change Agent…. Your wisdom transcends your direct industry and applies to MANY business and group management applications. Your wisdom (and snark) are too great to end… (Sorry for the “sort of” metaphor…)
Please continue until you are no longer breathing….
Mark … that’s quite a compliment. Thank you!
But I’m reaching the point where I no longer have a good feel for what’s going on in typical IT organizations … and for that matter what’s going on in typical businesses. Which is to say, I’m running out of new things to say, and the experiences that let me write suggestions that are street-smart as well as book-smart.
So I’m going to retire KJR the end of this year and be happy I made it through 27 years without embarrassing myself. Thanks for staying with me on the journey.
I too have read, clipped, shared your insights since 1996. I hope you’ll keep the web site online after you stop posting new material. The body of work you compiled provides a great research source (an online encyclopedia of great IT advice that’s fun to read). When advising junior IT staff that I”m mentoring I often end my suggestions with a link to one or more of your posts. Like Samuel Clemens, you write a wonderful mix of ideas to ponder that also deliver smiles. Will you still accept invitations to speak to IT departments? May you have joy in whatever you put your hand to.
Scott … Thank you for saying this. I’m delighted to hear there are those who have found my weekly musings worthwhile.
And rest assured, my current plan is to post new content through the end of the year, and following that to keep the archives on-line for at least a year. Although a lot depends on when the various GoDaddy services I use need to be renewed.
Will I still accept invitations to speak? If someone is misguided enough to ask, I imagine I’ll be misguided enough to say yes. And thanks for asking.
Bob,
I have been reading your writing since you first started some 27 years ago. I have always found it informative and thought provoking and have kept reading KJR even though I retired from the computer field nearly fifteen years ago. As you wind down KJR I wish you well in whatever you choose to do and doing mostly nothing can be rewarding in itself!
As for social media I have chosen to avoid most all of it. I find just having to clean out all the junk mail from my email account frustrating enough! However, I do remember the Gabor sisters as I am, as the old saying goes, older than dirt!
Best wishes to you for the future.
Dean
I’ve been reading you since InfoWorld was an actual paper artifact, welcomed weekly as a light in the IT tunnel. Many things have become obsolete along the way, including you and me, it seems (although I’m quite sure I’m obsoleter than you!).
The signs of my obsolescence are everywhere, but nowhere more glaringly obvious than the fact that there can be something out there called an “influencer,” and that a disturbingly large segment of the population at large can think it/he/she is important.
I will continue to ignore influencers’ existence, read Bob Lewis as long as possible, and listen to music by Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck and Frank Sinatra.
They can’t take that away from me.