haha but seriously, that is absolutely an issue. Talking about people that are new to the space is a good spot. When you’re new, you just want to be accepted, and it’s a lot easier to be accepted for agreeing than for disagreeing.

This is certainly an issue for young graduates just entering the field. Try disagreeing with a more experienced professional and things start to get real messy. There’s a lot of hypocrisy in this situation. I can’t count how many people say to “speak your mind” and to be honest about your opinions…but if someone says something that directly challenges their ideas or opinions, they get offended.

We all love praise, and I also think that Twitter is a bit of a funnel for that too. Oftentimes I think that people actually flock to Twitter to get a little praise, some acknowledgment, and some love. That’s great, but if we’re talking real issues, let’s have some debate and some disagreement.

Never hurts to shake things up a bit.

I don’t see anyone being successful strictly through self promotion.

I actually think everyone should self promote, just don’t make it the sole focus of your agenda. In this space we’ve condemned self-promotion so much that people are afraid to promote themselves whatsoever. It’s okay to promote your work.

Bottom line for me is just remaining genuine in all your interactions. Don’t be afraid to express gratitude and praise but make sure it’s sincere and not just a habit.

I think this is especially true of people starting out – they are quick to “jump on someone’s bandwagon” in order to fit in and get access to their groups/followers, etc. Personally I see that a lot, and I’ve never been a fan of it. While I certainly don’t go around openly disagreeing with everyone, I also think before I say “great point, you’re totally spot on.” You just have to pick your spots. It’s ok to agree, but if you’re agreeing with literally everyone, you lose some credibility don’t you?

I think a lot of Twitterers (especially in PR) fall into this trap. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I just being pessimistic?

(But I guess I kind of covered that one yesterday!)

Seriously, though … interesting ideas here. And I have to disagree w/Sonny to an extent. I can think of LOTS of self-promoters who are quite successful in this space. However, they probably didn’t become successful by self-promoting. It’s probably more that their success has made them feel entitled to self-promote. And I don’t know which is worse. LOL!

I find it hard to voice it sometimes, as I don’t know how well it will be received. In SM, so many people say ‘Wow youre awesome!’ ‘That’s so great!’ that I think people have big heads – even when they might not have any right to. So will they listen?

I like your yapping!