Bullshit… Definition … Declarations of fact without knowledge, experience or proof.

This was a statement from Jason Falls, the CEO of Social Media Explorer, during his keynote session, This Is All Such BS: How to Tell and What to Do When You Are Being Had in Blogging, Social Media and Beyond, while at Blogworld Expo in L.A.

According to Falls, he has a philosophy in calling bullshit, as he says “I like to criticize ideas, not people. I like to keep that in mind in calling bullshit on people.” He believes so strongly in this philosophy that he wrote a book about it called, No Bullshit Social Media.

It seems fitting that Falls works online, which he calls the single largest depository of bullshit. He goes on to say that people need to do their due diligence regarding the information they read. According to Falls, it starts with people like him, and other social media gurus. One thing you can do is ask better questions. You can’t just hit the easy button and just except what people are telling us is true.

According to Falls:

You probably said we need to know how to use it strategically, drive business and measure success. The social media evangelist I refer to as social media hippies and tree huggers. They used to say you can’t sell using social medial. They made lots of rules and put you in a box. They were social media purists. They say things like don’t post a marketing message on your personal Facebook profile. That is bullshit!

This is where a couple social media evangelist will fall out of their chairs. Not every business needs social media! My friend owns a lawn care company with three or four crews. He asked what should I do with social media? I asked how do you currently get your customers. He said from referrals. I said here is your social media strategy. Put your computer down and go to a neighborhood that you aren’t in and cut someone’s grass for free. Game over!

You’ve probably also heard other people say stuff like, you can’t sell things from social media. This is also Bullshit. Dell sold 6.5 million dollars worth of stuff from a single Twitter account, according to Falls.

If you hear people say you shouldn’t be doing something, ask yourself the following questions:

Where did the data come from?
Where has it been tested?
What are the variables?
How does it apply to my ….?

Do your homework. Ask questions. Don’t stop after the first question. Don’t assume that statistics are true.

Falls further details his thoughts on the myths about social media in the below interview with WebProNews reporter Abby Johnson:

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