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Thoughtpick: A unique perspective of the Web and social media...
A unique perspective of the Web and social media...

April 7, 2009

Dear Top Influencers: Don’t Recycle, Innovate!

Are the boundaries of innovation and creativity really restricted? Or are top influencers simply becoming lazy and redundant because recycling ideas is much easier than giving birth to new original ones?


Please don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate and benefit from the writings and ramblings of big names in the industry such as Kevin Rose, Seth Godin and Chris Brogan. I honestly do! But, are they REALLY the right people to follow? And tell me something: when was their last NEW idea?

As a part of my job description and my daily researching routine, I browse and surf around 30-40 websites minimum per day. Every day, I come across creative, funny, interesting, boring, dull and most annoyingly, redundant ideas. From there on, and after reading a few articles about the importance of “key influencers” in the success of new business startups or the promotion of innovative web applications and so on, I got curious: What do these influencers really know that we already don’t know? How creative are they? What do they add to our table of knowledge?

As I surfed the infamous website of one of the key influencers available online, ChrisBrogan.com, I noticed something quite interesting: Chris Brogan recycles ideas! Take this for an example: In one article, Chris talks about social media in relation to company use by using the term “life raft“. Then he talks about it in another twist, also corporate wise, using a different term but more or less the same idea. Later on, and in another post, our creative Chris writes an article entitled Social Media within Companies, which tackles more or less the same subject as the latter two! Finally, he writes an article to sum up all the ideas he has previously addressed!

And it doesn’t end there!

The redundancy of Seth Godin’s content is another example! In one of his articles, dated August 2008, that are related to profile pictures and their impact, he wrote about the impact of your profile picture, then, in a followng article, he addressed the impact of the logo picture on a company’s image and finally in April 2009, he wrote about what impression does your tiny profile picture has on your viewers, and gave us a list of best practices.

To make my point clearer, think about this: Why is there no “tag cloud” on Seth Godin’s blog? Why does our beloved Chris use a general one on his site? Are they using this technique to cover up their lack of innovative performance?

I think now you are able to see the big picture!

Have top influencers reached the dead end of their innovation? Did their creative juices run out? Do we give up now and surrender to the redundancy of what’s available because we are turning into blind followers?

Seth, Chris: I hope you do reputation management so I can see your replies on this post down here :)

Filed under: Controversial Picks — Tags: , , , , , — Beirut @ 12:11 pm
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Possibly related posts:

  1. Are bloggers influencers, journalists or both? Does it matter?
Beirut: ThoughtPick's Web marketing consultant, content writer and copy-editor. Born into a well-rounded and educated family igniting her interest in reading, writing and research. Graduated from the Lebanese American University with a bachelor's degree, with honors, in Marketing followed by an MBA. Currently an active writer, poet and blogger.
  • Ok guys, I think that I would take Chris's stand on this. I don't think that such accusations are fair. As a blogger myself, I know what does it mean to address certain issue from different perspectives. For many, and as I said on a previous post, who are goldfishes, may not catch what new ideas are there under the same connected title. People would judge based on their perception of the whole idea behind a post rather than digging in what new issues are presented.


    Innovation also in itself is a fluid term. Everyone may talk about the same issue in different ways. The degree of innovation can be measured by how much you stand out from the crowd, and I think Chris does stand out... just check his popularity and you will figure it out :)
  • Thank you, Chris, for the comments. We just felt like we should mention this observation, no attack was intended. We are glad it caught your attention. I'm sure we'll see a brilliant post with whatever idea we got you thinking of on your blog :)
  • Chris Brogan
    Interesting question about whether I'm adding to the blogosphere. I'm not sure that's how I think about my writing. Meaning, I don't write for the larger universe. I write for people (currently, "people" is most often business communicators like marketers and PR types), and show them how I interpret the USE of tools in the social media space.


    You might note that I'm not usually providing commentary; I'm providing lessons.



    The difference is vital to me. I'm sharing what I know so that others can use it and run with it. Commentary is great. It's just not my circle.



    I probably won't be able to comment much more, but I appreciate the conversation, as it got me thinking.
  • ast but not least:


    Dear Chris:



    First of all, allow me to tell you that I am highly impressed that you took the time from your busy day to reply and further oppose my article with your point of view. I sure am surprised yet very glad you did.



    Since Amer covered most of the points I would have replied to, I would just like to add that since we aim to be useful web marketers and social netwroking experts, I think it is our responsibility to blog about both interesting and relevant issues that add a different flavor to the "realm of the virtual world".



    We follow a set of guidelines in our approach to each topic we decide to blog about the most important one being: supporting our arguments with proof :)



    Therefore, I would like to assure you that this article does not, in any way, intend to attack you or undermine your work in any way. It is more of a cry for help and a scream for change :)



    Hoping to hear more from you soon.
  • Amer! Always a pleasure to hear from you and a bigger pleasure to have you on my side in the argument :)


    Thank you for your comment and your reply to our dear Chris Brogan :)
  • Hello all!


    Zaid, thank you for your comment. I loved the example you have highlighted and I think it is very important to think about this issue: What value are we really getting these days from anything and everything around us?



    On my personal blog, I have written so many times about how marketing is a hypocritical science of trying to trick others into believing they need or want something which in real life they can easily live without! example: http://baybeeblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/number-o... since marketing these days has managed to seep into every aspect of our lives one should wonder: Is Harvard University better than the local one because they are masters of hiding their recycling plans? :) Or because marketers have been mastering the art of making them "look so good" :)



    Thank you again!
  • They are all connected when you think about it from the perspective of a company looking to invest time and money in social media.


    The first two articles mention how to include it in the marketing mix and 'humanize' the brand on the Web. In your words: "We’re looking for ways to rehumanize the web" from the first article, and "Do I think that social elements might help warm people up, humanize the brand, do more around the core product? Absolutely" from the second article mentioned.



    Regarding the third post, the idea/concept behind it is repeated from the 'life raft' post, as you mentioned, and the key points (Facebook, blogging, Twitter, and videos) are topics and bullet points we've read on many other articles around the Web. But regardless, I like this post, as it gives some insight for a person thinking pure marketing.



    I agree that the blogging process is iterative by nature. We attempt to listen to our readers' comments and opinions and form a clearer picture, and then deliver this insight in a formatted post.



    Your 3-day old post titled "Forget Beyonce- Here Are the Stars" is very similar in concept to the dozens of articles we read about the 'Numa Numa' viral Youtube video, and lessons learnt from it. My question to you is: Are your posts adding new ideas and insight to the blogosphere, not just to your blog?





    Finally, I would like to thank you for your comment and receiving our 'friendly' stone with a positive attitude :).
  • Chris Brogan
    So, in content marketing (which blogging can sometimes be), there's a method to some of this:


    Your first two examples aren't a rehash at all. I'm not sure I get your point.



    In one, the post about a life raft, I point out that one can't leave all the social media tools disconnected from the mothership. The next post you reference, asks whether social media tools are a way to soften up the edges of marketing. Not related at all.



    The third one, about aligning, IS like the life raft post. It does line up. The difference is that the life raft post is the seed of the idea and the aligning post is more the 'how to' post.



    One thing you get to see with blogging that you don't get to see in other media formats is the iterative process of idea formation. It's not an attempt to rehash. It's an effort to move an idea from premise to something actionable right out in the open.



    As far as lack of innovation, I guess we'll agree to disagree. I've doled out plenty of new ideas over the last several posts. Today's post about a hundred twitters isn't something I've seen written as such on my site before.



    I guess it's good to critique other writers. I always learn from an exercise like this. So thanks for your attention. Keep throwing stones. : )
  • Zaid
    Interesting read,


    I have seen this happen in a number of other areas of expertise. Take doctors and professors as another example, all what they do is come up with one ingenious idea and they keep modifying and twisting it around, so that the general public keeps thinking that they are constantly coming up with novel ideas but they spice up the old ones and make it sound new.
  • Good one, Beirut.


    I agree with you.. for these top influencers to maintain their reputation, we are getting more noise, redundancy and clutter to filter through when surfing the Web.
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