15 Ways to Spot a Social Media Fake

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Anna

The other day I was asked to give advice to a company on how to spot Social Media fakers. After much thought and some valued input from @db, @BROOKLYN2020 & @justjon , I threw together the following presentation with 15 ways to catch these vendors of certified crap & tainted  social media views right in their slimy  tracks.  Enjoy!

If we don’t start pointing out the losers in this business, it’s going to be hard for any of us to be winners.

Anna OBrien- How to Spot a Social Media Fake

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  • http://www.market-up.com/blog/ Donna Lehman

    Anna –

    Thoughtful, fresh and fun presentation – just what I’d expect from a real social media participant.

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  • http://www.gyspybandito.com/ CT Moore

    Okay, I don’t quite get #13, but I LOVED #15. Awesome slideshow…

  • http://www.gyspybandito.com CT Moore

    Okay, I don’t quite get #13, but I LOVED #15. Awesome slideshow…

  • Anna

    Glad you liked it! Did you mean slide #13 or the 13th way to spot a fake? I’ll try to give you some context :)

  • Anna

    Glad you liked it! Did you mean slide #13 or the 13th way to spot a fake? I’ll try to give you some context :)

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  • http://www.cherryinteractive.com/ David Cherry

    ROFL – good job Anna.

  • http://www.cherryinteractive.com David Cherry

    ROFL – good job Anna.

  • Travis

    This post and the deck would carry more weight if you were using search engine-friendly permalinks rather than the WordPress default (www.randomactsofdata.com/?p=174), and also if your profile picture were re-sized down from the rather un-bandwidth-friendly 2112 x 2816 pixels. It’s 1.7 MB!

  • Travis

    This post and the deck would carry more weight if you were using search engine-friendly permalinks rather than the WordPress default (www.randomactsofdata.com/?p=174), and also if your profile picture were re-sized down from the rather un-bandwidth-friendly 2112 x 2816 pixels. It’s 1.7 MB!

  • Anna

    I understand your concerns and I agree with them. But I am going to be blunt here. I don’t blog to be picked up by search engines. Yes, it’s a good bi-product and frankly I understand how to optimize if I wanted to. Here’s the raw deal. I don’t care. And- I like my big picture. Sorry for not falling into the category of OMG I must optimize everything for premium search engine rankings. Maybe you should stop reading my blog if the optimization offends you so much. Or better yet, stop leaving an email address that links to a porn site- Now that’s classy.

  • Anna

    I understand your concerns and I agree with them. But I am going to be blunt here. I don’t blog to be picked up by search engines. Yes, it’s a good bi-product and frankly I understand how to optimize if I wanted to. Here’s the raw deal. I don’t care. And- I like my big picture. Sorry for not falling into the category of OMG I must optimize everything for premium search engine rankings. Maybe you should stop reading my blog if the optimization offends you so much. Or better yet, stop leaving an email address that links to a porn site- Now that’s classy.

  • http://www.twitter.com/matthewdibble Matthew Dibble

    Well done!

    Um, no not the slideshow (although that was good too), I meant the way you just roasted that dude.

  • http://www.twitter.com/matthewdibble Matthew Dibble

    Well done!

    Um, no not the slideshow (although that was good too), I meant the way you just roasted that dude.

  • Anna

    Morning snark gets ’em everytime. I apologize for getting rowdy for a second. I should be grateful someone took interest, not been bitter. This is my public admittance of too much snark.

  • Anna

    Morning snark gets ’em everytime. I apologize for getting rowdy for a second. I should be grateful someone took interest, not been bitter. This is my public admittance of too much snark.

  • http://www.thoughtgadgets.com/ Ben Kunz

    Nicely done, Anna.

    I do think the whole question of “who isn’t an expert?” is silly, though. I keep seeing this come up, often with a defensive tone. Why point fingers? Yes, there is hyperbole with people who really are PR or motivational speakers suddenly becoming “social media experts.” Yes, a lot of what they say has the depth of a Dr. Phil episode. But who cares?

    The advertising world, by comparison, is filled with thousands of agencies all bragging about themselves. Some have more strength than others. Rather than worry about such competition, I find it more useful to build myself and my team … because if we can prove we deliver results to clients, it does not matter what anyone else claims.

    So I dig your presentation. I just don’t dig the question. I think the free market will eventually sort all the fakery out 😉

  • http://www.thoughtgadgets.com Ben Kunz

    Nicely done, Anna.

    I do think the whole question of “who isn’t an expert?” is silly, though. I keep seeing this come up, often with a defensive tone. Why point fingers? Yes, there is hyperbole with people who really are PR or motivational speakers suddenly becoming “social media experts.” Yes, a lot of what they say has the depth of a Dr. Phil episode. But who cares?

    The advertising world, by comparison, is filled with thousands of agencies all bragging about themselves. Some have more strength than others. Rather than worry about such competition, I find it more useful to build myself and my team … because if we can prove we deliver results to clients, it does not matter what anyone else claims.

    So I dig your presentation. I just don’t dig the question. I think the free market will eventually sort all the fakery out 😉

  • ikongsgf

    lol at your comment to Travis. snarky anna = funniest anna.

  • ikongsgf

    lol at your comment to Travis. snarky anna = funniest anna.

  • Anna

    Agreed. But if you view this presentation as a guide for some one who knows nothing about social media, on how to find some one whodoes, to help them out, and avoid that whole getting ripped off and learning the hard lesson first step- it’s a decent guide :).

    I will say there is little value you in making personal attacks on people. We’re all learning here and I like to think none of us are experts :)

  • Anna

    Agreed. But if you view this presentation as a guide for some one who knows nothing about social media, on how to find some one whodoes, to help them out, and avoid that whole getting ripped off and learning the hard lesson first step- it’s a decent guide :).

    I will say there is little value you in making personal attacks on people. We’re all learning here and I like to think none of us are experts :)

  • klynn

    Hi Anna,

    Have been following your blog for a couple of months now and I’m really impressed with your pragmatic and honest view of social media. I’m sensing a lot of hype being touted without any real evidence or strong research on social media to back up the claims being made.
    I do believe social media works but it needs to be integrated with other marketing activities thereby to closing the loop, and measured appropriately as laid out in a decent plan with defined KPIs.

    I would like to reference your site and your views in the future if that is OK with you?
    KR
    Klynn

  • klynn

    Hi Anna,

    Have been following your blog for a couple of months now and I’m really impressed with your pragmatic and honest view of social media. I’m sensing a lot of hype being touted without any real evidence or strong research on social media to back up the claims being made.
    I do believe social media works but it needs to be integrated with other marketing activities thereby to closing the loop, and measured appropriately as laid out in a decent plan with defined KPIs.

    I would like to reference your site and your views in the future if that is OK with you?
    KR
    Klynn

  • http://myimajinashin.com/ michael nurse

    LOVE THIS! If I might add…

    – knows the answers before asking questions
    – knows that social media = the death of [insert traditional marketing channel here]
    – knows that social media is free so there’s no reason to forecast roi
    – knows how to make viral content

  • http://myimajinashin.com/ michael nurse

    LOVE THIS! If I might add…

    – knows the answers before asking questions
    – knows that social media = the death of [insert traditional marketing channel here]
    – knows that social media is free so there’s no reason to forecast roi
    – knows how to make viral content

  • http://theworldofchance.blogspot.com/ Chance

    Enjoyed the presentation. One question, what do you mean exactly my Success metrics ?

    also, i thought you might find the following amusing

    http://theworldofchance.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-write-how-to-how-to.html

  • http://theworldofchance.blogspot.com/ Chance

    Enjoyed the presentation. One question, what do you mean exactly my Success metrics ?

    also, i thought you might find the following amusing

    http://theworldofchance.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-to-write-how-to-how-to.html

  • http://www.market-up.com/blog/ Donna Lehman

    Anna –

    Thoughtful, fresh and fun presentation – just what I'd expect from a real social media participant.

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