UPDATED & BUMPED: Wow. It’s not every day that you hear your personal social media philosophy roll off the tongue of an industry legend.
Delaware Social Media Initiative from Delaware Film Company on Vimeo.
ORIGINAL POST: January, 2010
“Don’t fake the funk or your nose will grow.” – Bootsy Collins, The Pinocchio Theory
Who would have thought that the greatest philosopher of the digital era would be the “the clown prince of comic, psychedelic, good-times funk,” the legendary Bootsy Collins, sideman for James Brown and George Clinton? But it’s true. If there is one abiding principle of the current age, it is this: you can’t fake the funk. If you fake the funk, you will be found out. Authenticity is king and transparency is no longer an option
- If you are a company, and you are using social media as a one-way broadcast channel instead of a two-way engagement channel, you are faking the funk and you will fail.
- If you are a politician, and you tell one crowd that you oppose higher taxes and another crowd that you support higher taxes, you are faking the funk and you will be discovered.
- If you are doing more for yourself than for others while pretending the opposite is true, you are faking the funk and will be rejected.
- If you are marketing yourself as a business consultant or a social media shaman, but have no prior results to justify the selling of that advice, you are faking the funk and will be exposed.
We are emerging from the era of big company marketing budgets dominating our psychies with a barrage of messaging, where product quality wasn’t a factor in success.
Today and in the future, only the cream will rise to the top. If your product sucks, people will know. If your customer service sucks, you will lose business. You can not hide your shortcomings anymore, you can only work to improve them.
And what a great day it is! What will emerge from this new era of transparency and accountability is a true meritocracy!
No longer will it be up to a few suits at the record label to decide what music gets widespread recognition. No longer will the mass-producers of funk-faked food be guaranteed a bigger reach in your community than your local farmer’s market. No longer will your government be able to sneak one by you without your knowledge.
So I encourage everyone to prepare for the new era. Cast off the pretense, for it will only weigh you down.
Expose your weaknesses, and watch as the solutions arise, seemingly from nowhere.
And listen to the crowd, for there you will find free wisdom.
Thanks, Bootsy.
“If you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” -Conan O’Brien
{ 6 comments }
Maybe you can’t “fake the funk” but these comments stink the stunk.
Posting one stupid repetitive retweet after another in the comments section of a blog is about as inane a thing as I have seen on the internets.
Note to your social media consultant: Twitter is for Tweeting and Blogs for Blogging. They don’t mix well.
Do you need a tissue, a1? Next thing you know, you’ll be screaming at me to get off your lawn.
Now was that a nice way to respond to some reader feedback?
You might re-read your own post, and think about your response to me in the context of your own advice such as “And listen to the crowd, for there you will find free wisdom.”
And you know I love your wisdom, a1. I’ve got some red meat for you to chew on coming up at 8am. We’ll talk then.
And you’re right. I reviewed the comments pulled from Twitter and they don’t add value to the post outside of their context on Twitter. Thanks for the suggestion.
Dave, Let’s face it, when you offer up a brilliant observation like, “You can’t fake the funk” – it will get repeated – often.
You continue to engage, inspire, and educate – All of us in Delaware and in social media owe you.
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