Howard Stern Talks About Social Media
November 7, 2008 at 10:10 pm (SEO, Social Media, current events) (blogging, facebook, gary vaynerchuk, howard stern, myspace, radio, sirius, Social Media)
Howard Stern talks a lot. He covers tons of topics every single week. What’s so special about 15 minutes or so dedicated to social media?
Well, social media involves the exact same people that read and react to things like Howard Stern. So really it’s a perfect storm of coverage.
Here’s what happened – on his Sirius program, Stern did a really funny bit about how lame Social Media is. He talks about Myspace and Facebook being for 15 year olds or losers without jobs. Artie Lange and Robin both chime in as they all collectively agree that blogging and social media is a gross waste of time.
Ultimately, they begin making fun of one of their staffers when they discover he has a blog.
It is normal Stern affair with plenty of laughs. Check it out for yourself here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plF71s7SPEQ
I’m a social media dude (clearly), but I’m also a Stern fan; therefore, I have no problem laughing at myself and acknowledging that Stern has a point – blogging CAN be a gigantic vacuum of time and resources. Unfortunately, Stern also showed a little bit of angst and fear about a medium he doesn’t cotton to.
In response to Stern’s Radio ramblings, social media exponent Gary Vaynerchuk posted a reaction video on his website GaryVaynerchuk.com, here – http://garyvaynerchuk.com/2008/11/06/a-reaction-to-howard-sterns-thought-on-social-networks-social-media-and-blogs/
Gary talks a lot about Stern being stuck in his old-world media and points out a fairly clear hypocrisy – Stern mocks people for talking about the minutia of their every day lives, and yet, that is exactly what Stern did to become famous.
So why would Stern attack blogging and social media? Plenty of possible theories, but Gary suggests its a clever means of suppressing the competition. The longer old-world radio is popular, the longer Stern will be on top. With the internet, there isn’t just some competition growing…there is a tidal wave.
Plenty of social media is lame, but there is nothing fleeting or insubstantial about vast online communities. This is something that will only grow in strength and popularity, and I’ll be interested to see if people like Howard Stern will be throwing tweets out there before too long.
