Team follow-back and naive social media ‘professionals’

I received a rather depressing LinkedIn Group email the other day. I won’t name names, but it was a group for social media professionals. The top threads, in order, were:

1. A Twitter follow-back thread
2. A Facebook Fanpage mutual-like thread
3. A Facebook Fanpage mutual-like thread
4. A Facebook Fanpage mutual-like thread
5.  ... well, you get the idea

I have no doubt that there are many similar threads across a range of LinkedIn Groups.  I struggle to assume good faith in these circumstances, but I do hope that these threads are based on a naive approach to social media rather than something more underhanded – We all took some time to learn the ropes when we started (didn’t we?).

It’s easy to understand the thought process behind their approach; ‘A greater Twitter following, or more likes on Facebook will mean that potential clients will take me more seriously’. This may be correct when securing a contract with a client unfamiliar with social media, but it won’t do them much good when it comes to delivering on that contract.

This results in a hoodwinked client throwing away money for a sub-par service and potentially tarring the reputation of sharp and hardworking consultants at the same time (That’s me, and possibly you if you’re reading this).

Despite a willingness to believe these threads are the work of social media noobs, the people creating and posting on these threads are advertising themselves as a mixture of social media and digital professionals - freelancers/consultants, agencies and client-side - when they clearly are not.

Rant over, if you are new to social media and fancy carving out a career in the field, check out some of these links to help you get started:

• Arie Moyal on metrics: Thank you, Wow and Done - The only 3 metrics you need 
• Arie Moyal on worrying trends: 3 Worrying Trends in Social Media - Part 1: Competitions and giveaways
• Emelyn Chand on bad practice: Cease and desist: 10 bad Twitter practices to be stopped immediately

So, what do you think: Are you a client that's been burned by a bad social media consultant experience; are you  a consultant or freelancer that's equally frustrated, or, are you someone that thinks follow-back is great? Let us know your thoughts