Social Media Bible Weighs More Than Real Bible

Social Media is like any tool it has a purpose and a usage. It's not an entire marketing department. It has to be monitored and scheduled so you only spent a certain amount of time per day on it. Like email another time waster if you let it.

As a freelance blogger and writer I allow 30 minutes for email, 30 minutes for social media. Then spend 4 hours writing and 3 hours researching, editing, and creative brainstorming.

To say SMM is useless is wrong to say its God sent is equally wrong.

Completely agreed re: reading/purchasing books about social media. Or really, anything related to the Internet. It's a waste of time, money, and certainly of paper. Most are field with trite "engage with your consumer and sing kumbaya" quips... give me a break.

I think you are also right when you say that the best way to pick up this stuff is by doing it yourself. Social media is a real "it depends" kind of thing- whatever strategies/tactics a marketer chooses to employ should depend upon the audience and the product itself. No book can tell you that.

Andrew, We're very happy you've had a chance to examine the book.

We're always happy to see the book in the hands of people who know something about social media and we're just as happy to see the book in the hands of people who are NOT in social media however and there are A LOT of them according to our research.

One of the things we learned in researching social media in preparation for the book is that while most people knew that social media was going to impact them, their life and their business most could not describe what social media was. That was less than a year ago however so you're right, maybe something has changed - looks like more people got interest in social media!

It seemed like a good idea to put out a solid reference on it, filled with commentary not from us, but the industry leaders like Biz Stone, Matt Mullenweg, Vint Cerf, Robert Scoble and dozens of others from companies like Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and WordPress.

With the majority of the planet not being up on on social media, but still wanting to engage, we trued to open the door for real experts & "guru's" to share their perspective going forward - either in our online community at http://socialmediabible.ning.com and as contributors in future editions. That's why I asked, what would you do different? We really want your input!

So this book may not be useful to you, being the online, social media savvy kind-of-guy you are and all. With 6M business in the US though, many whom are looking to better understand and apply social media, we think they might benefit from it - maybe not. Neilsen / Bookscan has the book debuting at 31 in the top 100 Selling Books in the US - someone likes it I suppose.

In any case, one of the things I like best is that social media does permit and encourage an open discussion around important topics, so thanks for noticing The Social Media Bible! Come be social!

hmm... hate missing the word spell / context check... dang...

As a contributing author to "The Social Media Bible" and the CEO of the oldest social media management company in the country (we've been doing social media before it was called social media for over 10 years) we originally had the same clever response that you did - really a BOOK on social media? But here's the truth: people still think they can learn a lifetime of information in books. If you read the book, you realize that it's not really a "hands on guide" or a "how to" book, but rather a collection of thoughtful interviews and history by the founders of some of the tools that everyone is using today. I'm the first to say that you can't learn social media through a book. I also say that most agencies fail in that they send someone off to play with the tools in social media, but never truly get the nuances because they are still thinking of social media as a platform for advertising and "campaigns" - which by the way, is all that AdAge covers online and in the magazine. I've never seen a REAL social media case study - just a bunch of abuse of social media - they miss the ongoing SOCIAL part of it.

So here's how you use the book. For agencies - it's a great reference tool to have on hand to give your teams a place to start and lead them to the right places online to do the real learning. WE use it because no matter how clearly we explain our social media services in case studies and examples, they sign that contract readily when we throw this monster book on the table at them and simply say, "THIS is how much is involved and how much we have to manage everyday - way more than Facebook and Twitter" and tada, they GET it.

So, we all get the irony. But we also get the need that people have psychologically to have a book. If they didn't, you wouldn't have entrepreneurs guiding their life through "business book of the week" which is lame. I applaud the authors for their success, and for giving people what they want, even if they find it ironic themselves.

Amanda Vega
http://www.amandavega.com

This is a really good book for 1. aspiring marketers in college, 2. marketers who have recently decided to get into the 21st century (which not enough do), 3. social media consultants who want lots of background information compiled into one place, 4. businesses / execs who want to flip to different parts of a book and read tactics about the specific media their using.

Yes, social media is very hands-on, but many people want books so they can research a subject before they jump in. This book isn't necessarily for everyone (no book is,) but it certainly has LOTS of value.

Yeah, I guess it "could nave been worse" too. Ironic typo, considering a "nave" is the main or central part of a church.

I will not be buying or reading this book. That's way too many pages for social media. Everything you need to know can be learned online by doing, like you said.

Plus, it's summer. Peace!

P.S. My social media advice site: http://www.drunkblogger.com

Flip can be fun, but having an actual book to flip through can be useful, so long as its well produced. Not sure I'll buy it, but I think the book's authors/editors asked a fair question and have yet to see this column's author reply. Worth a revisit/another column with some actual review of the specifics.

Why release a book this big for Social Media? It has already become somewhat obsolete with the time it took to write, edit, and publish it. With the rules of Social Media changing at a daily pace, I feel that this book is a waste of time.

So who's to say what the rules are? What makes these people the Law in Social Media??? Social Media is NOT scalable! Why? Because things are changing at a constant rate, one day 500,000 ppl could be following you on Twitter, come tomorrow half of them could have blocked you. To have a BIBLE for social media is outrageous and a bit archaic, who's seriously going to read that?

While an book of this size has got to be overwhelming, I am certain that it will be of some value to new entrants to social media. That said, why not make this available on Amazon for Kindle or other e-book formats, and include a searchable index so that one can quickly zero in on areas that one may need to read up on?

If the book were available as an online or electronic resource, I know I would make the effort to peruse various topics, especially if best practices are included. My shelves are filled with tomes on Word-of-Mouth, Guerrilla Marketing, etc. that I have glanced through or referenced for presentations or proposals, but overall, too many trees were cut down for those and other commentaries on New Media. Yes, the Internet has changed everything, especially the ways to produce, distribute, and access information.

THIS IS GREAT! Controversy! It's the cheapest way to drive traffic to your blog!

You obviously read Chapter 20 - Spotlight on SEO, where I interviewed the 2007 SEO World Champion, Benj Arriola. Benj told me he that won the world championship by creating a web site that said Global Warning was a hoax perpetrated by scientists to get more grants. You using the same tactic! Cool!

I think that more than a year's worth of work compiling all of the latest data in one easy to read book is a good value. And you're right about its heft, you get all of these incredible insights for under $10 per pound.

I really enjoyed how you tried to diminish the value of books! That alone will fire up a lot of people. Truth be told, not everyone is as smart as you. The rest of the world and me, still reads books (and as you and your colleagues pray each week that your ad magazines on dead trees, sell). We just like to have all of the important information in one convenient place.

As far as the the book becoming obsolete... Another great slam! Next year and in ten years from now, the basics of blogs, or podcasts, or social networks will still be the same. New ideas, techniques, and some of the players will change, but not the basic concepts. That's why we've created the SocialMediaBible.ning.com site to continually update the paper version (please contribute). We also plan on having a new edition each year to add, what's been added. I think, in this current economy, all of us from the Fortune 500 down to the entrepreneur really need help learning and using the most effective, least expensive marketing and sales tools we've ever seen.

This book isn't for the social media smarty pants, it was design for the rest of us. It's for agencies, your clients, your prospects, and your family so they can better understand what we are talking about and feel comfortable getting started. The first four days, The Social Media Bible sold out in 6 major metropolitan areas across the country and yesterday, I was told by John Wiley & Sons, the first week sales broke the Top 100 Best Selling Books in America where we placed at #31! Somebody must still like ink on dead trees.

Normally, I would just ignore this blatant quasi-black hat technique, but I thought it would be fun to engage. This way, in the next edition, I can use you as a case study! Really thank you for doing such a good job bringing attention to such a passionate project! - Lon Safko

www.TheSocialMediaBible.com

Er, Lon Safko, I think you're missing the humor gene/point this author was making. Come on, if you can't see that it's pretty ironic to create 800 pages of dead-wood smeared with ink in the name of explaining how to use digital media, then you're not going to be much fun on your book tour.

Social Media is about enabling conversations. Seems to me there's a good one just beginning to brew regarding the size and utility of this book. As the coauthor of this 850 page tome (oh my gosh, it's 30 pages BIGGER than even the Ad Age review reported), let me offer some perspective that may not save any trees or souls--though neither was a primary goal of the book, despite its mass and title.

First, the existence of social media does not obviate the need for business people to understand what it is and how it can be used to engage customers, drive revenue, and increase shareholder/company value. And while there is nothing like actually doing social media, wouldn't it be of at least some value to have a resource where you can learn a little bit about the social media ecosystem and the tactics, tools, and strategies involved in this rapidly changing field?

Second, the authors ARE NOT experts in all things social media, and the title of the book was not an attempt to elevate our credentials with an implied endorsement from a higher authority. I'm a business guy, the product of both a formal education and several years in "the school of hard knocks." A year ago when we surveyed people in business and academia, 2/3 of them could not confidently define "social media," yet 98% of them felt that social media was going to have "a significant impact" on their future. The interesting delta between these data points was the genesis of the book, so to speak.

Third, we tapped into the collective wisdom of the book's potential audience, and let the crowd help co-produce the book. We presented the table of contents, the proposed direction, tone and theme of the book ... we even tested different titles. (The Social Media Bible was preferred by a slim majority.) We used some basic concepts of social media and community building to develop the content of this book. It would have been nice to see the review of this book focus a bit more on the social media-enabled process involved in its creation and its approach to the topic. Counting pages and opining on the book's debilitating impact on the world's forests was a nice angle mind you. But how about kindling some conversation about the CONTENT of the book?

Finally, the book weighs in at three pounds, two ounces. While I won't argue the price to weight ratio and compare it to your favorite business title from 2008, I will encourage anyone with an interest in social media to at least have an espresso at your favorite bookstore and give the book a brief look.

As for Andrew Hampp, whose review sparked this conversation, isn't it interesting that both authors and a couple of contributors to the book have commented on your review within a day of it being posted? Now that's social media in action ... and no trees perished in the process. Imagine that.

The Social Media Bible is a useful reference book.

I am not a social media expert, nor do I not want to be. As a business user, social media is a platform for our company communications and a useful part of my professional tool kit. I just want to be able to use it as effectively and efficiently as possible. No more, No less. If this book helps me do that, then the authors seem to have accomplished their goal.

To MKremin, relative to Kindle, my guess is that you will get your wish in the near future. Traditional publishers normally will lead with the print version first. Since the book is selling successfully, other formats are sure to follow.

Is using a print reference archaic as htadesse states? Maybe I am just a fossil then, but I still use a wide range of resources from print to online when doing my research. I doubt that I am alone in this.

That the authors used social media and more importantly personal interviews with the people who are helping to shape the platform is what gives this book weight, not its poundage or the number of pages.

Based on the massive registration requirements just to post a comment, it's clear AdAge has little understanding of how to conduct business online. Also, when asked earlier this week about when this huge tome would be available on Kindle, the author said in 6 months! Seems like the author doesn't believe fully in using the new social tools to distribute his information (or maybe it's his ~200 year old publishing company?).

Well it's getting a little off topic NO_SPAM, but I'm not sure it's true that we don't know what we're doing just because we have a registration form. For a trade pub to want its audience to answer 2 or 3 questions about what business they're in, isn't that crazy. It allows us to better serve that audience in both editorial and advertising terms, which allows us to do better business on the web than if we purely played a numbers game. And the fact that 900,000 have registered tells us that those who really value the content/want to be part of the conversation around that content don't find the hurdle that objectionable. Nevertheless, we'll keep reviewing the reg process and looking for ways to simplify and improve.