The 5 Warning Signs of Social Media Smarm

Posted by Laura Bergells

July 28, 2008

Have I got a deal for you! I’m so excited……

I can’t tell you the details here, but it will be very high profile, and the launch involves social media.

Because you’re an influential blogger, we’d like your involvement in the roll out.
IM me!

How to recognize social media spam when you read it. Sometimes, I get clownish invites like the above garbage. It reads an awful lot like spam, but it’s actually a newish scourge — social media spam.

photo credit: $arah Murray

Do we need to coin a new word for the phenomenon?

How about smam?

Or smarm? (For now, I’ll go with the smarm.)

Here are the five warning signs that signal…

“You’ve Got Smarm!”

1. No trust. We all know how we get real deals going — we pick up the phone or email our friends, partners, and colleagues. We don’t coyly tell our friends that we can’t tell them any details — because we’re talking privately to people we know and trust. It’s kind of the whole point of social networks — that trust factor!

2. The coy hinting. When you have a real business opportunity, you get to the point — fast. You describe the product, problem, solution, technology, team, roll-out, etc. Details help you grow the idea. Hiding the details is a big red warning flag — either the writer a) doesn’t know the details, b) doesn’t have any details, c) is ashamed of the details. Each situation signals a loser.

3. The flattery. Smarm pitches always blow a little flattery your way. You’re handsome, smart, funny, high-profile, influential — oh, it’s all true, don’t get me wrong! But you’re also smart enough to know that too many sugar plums aren’t good for you. And when they’re laid on that thick, they may be a wee bit psychologically manipulative.

4. The entitled demand. Smarmers use phrases like, “We should talk. IM me now!” They rarely use polite phrases like “I’d like to talk. When’s a good time?” Bottom line: when anyone tells me I “should” do something — I usually don’t. (Mom and Dad get a pass on this one. A smarmer doesn’t.)

5. It’s often oh-so public. The smarmer will often write their post on your FaceBook wall. Or on Twitter. Or even try it as a blog comment, hoping you won’t delete it because of the flattery factor. That way, all of your friends and followers can see it, and might assume you’re in some kind of deeper business relationship. The coyness, the entitled demands, the flattery — turns out none of it was for your benefit. It was merely a pathetic attempt to reach your social network through insinuation.

Be warned — Post some dreck like that on my FaceBook wall, and I’m going to unfriend, fast! Post something like that at Twitter, and I’m going to @ reply, unfollow, block, and point followers to this very post, and out the smarmer.

Because smarmers aren’t really friends, now, are they?

Smarmy.

How do you handle smarm?