Here Is a Riddle For You: How Is Social Media Like Cocaine?

Iamp8217m sure you donamp8217t need another lecture about how much productive time youamp8217re wasting on Candy Crush Thatamp8217s not my business What is my business is advising boards of directors and CEOs on the best ways to navigate new technologies and new business models In 2016 I pushed Walmart into investing in the first smartphones for shopping Now the advice Iamp8217m giving is to treat social media like cocaine That is give it up before it ruins your businessAccording to the pharmacologists and historians who have studied the history of cocaine usage in North America the euphoric effects of the drug had been known for thousands of years but it wasnamp8217t until the late nineteenth century that the use of cocaine became epidemic in this country With no laws to restrict its sale or use American companies began including cocaine in a wide range of consumer products from cigarettes to sodasamp8212CocaCola introduced by druggist John Smith Pemberton in 1886 being only the most famousBy 1911 however the federal government was already warning the public about the dangers of addiction posed by quotmedicated soft drinksquot and in 1914 Congress passed the Harrison AntiNarcotic Act banning the commercial use of cocaine As with much government legislation the impetus behind the Harrison Act was primarily economic quotIt is a wellknown factquot one Kansas newspaper reported in 1911 quotthat many factory employees stenographers typewriters or others subject to mental or nervous strain spend a part of their earnings for drinks of this characterquot Social media is having this same addictive distractive effects on todayamp8217s employees and consumersAt first we all reveled myself included in the seemingly boundless possibilities of the new digital media The Internet was going to connect the world and commerce would flow easily and profitably through this new bloodstream But when was it that you began to suspect the presence of a worm in the Edenic apple You donamp8217t have to believe as some do that social media has spawned a global mental health crisis to recognize that social media needs to be and perhaps soon will be subjected to significant government regulationBut again my business isnamp8217t politics My business is business and from my vantage point looking into the future I see not what weamp8217ve gained but what weamp8217ve lost I think of it as the human touch and itamp8217s why Iamp8217m telling you that the Next Big Thing will be an old thingI begin from the basic premise that all of humanityamp8217s greatest achievements have come by way of civilizationamp8212that is our interactions with each other Each of us has a brain more powerful than that of a supercomputer yet what we are able to accomplish on our own pales before what we have been able to achieve together Itamp8217s why the best basketball coaches teach their players to pass first rather than shoot right away and itamp8217s why the first baseball manager to insist that all his players learn to bunt will win the next World Series Winning teams win not because players produce individually but because they build productive relationshipsThe parallels to business are rather straightforward The winning businesses over the next ten years will not be those who enlist dozens more twentysomethings to develop social media strategies that no one else in the organization understands because they are essentially meaningless Instead the winners will be those whose executives and employees put down their smartphones and instead look each other in the eyesSupercharged by the pandemic online retail has surged to fully onequarter of the market and social media certainly played an important role Thatamp8217s why so many companies continue to chase the social media high But every trend has its limits and it pays to remember that chasing bright shiny objects can often lead one into deep dark holes Regardless of oneamp8217s opinion of social mediaamp8217s social ills itamp8217s undeniable once you lift your eyes up from your smartphone that the pursuit of Twitter transcendence and YouTube ubiquity have become unproductive business behaviors If you keep snorting the stuff sooner or later youamp8217ll soon find yourself imprisoned by the law of diminishing returnsSmart traders sell when a stock has reached its peak and invest instead in growth opportunities You may not have noticed but many brickandmortar stores now offer the same interactive digital technologies that were previously available only online That means their customers can access the same benefits they get from websites such as expanded selection and shiptohome services while also enjoying the enduring advantages of the human touchThere is a reason why Apple evaluates its salespeople not as one might expect on technical proficiency but rather on customer empathy It is because Appleamp8217s leadership awash in algorithm knows that even the most complicated algorithm canamp8217t replace a simple smile Be a smart trader Sell social media and go long on human interaction Invest in your people not your gadgetsClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Here Is a Riddle For You: How Is Social Media Like Cocaine?

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Daniel Hodges

Jon Miller | Cofounder Marketo, Engagio | The Gumball Machine is Broken - Rethinking B2B Marketing - By Mike Linton

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