Is social media a laughing matter?

I really love my job, but sometimes I miss academia, research and science. One of the ways I stay somewhat connected to that world is reading Scienceblogs (and the new Scientopia site). A few weeks ago my worlds collided when one of the librarians at Scienceblogs posted a Friday funny: 5 signs you’re talking to a social media douchebag.

Nobody Knows What They Actually Do. When you try to find out what a social media douchebag does, you’re in for a dizzying deflection.
They Actually Think They’re Internet Celebrities.
They Will Speak At Any Event.
They Recommend Their Friends Who Are, Coincidentally, Also Douchebags.
They Always Need To “Rate A Brand”.

The next week there was a followup: 5 terms social media douchbags need to stop using

“Participate In The Conversation”
“Monetize Your Social Media Presence”
“Social Media Rockstar”
“You’re Doing It Wrong.”
“Social Media Is All About …”

I’ll admit, I laughed and laughed and laughed at this. I have been passing it around to folks for a while, and they usually start naming names. The question I have to ask is (to paraphrase Toby): if the librarians are laughing at social media, just how far from the pack have the douchebags strayed?

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