Here's a scenario for you:

You're at a cocktail party. A stranger approaches; you've never seen nor heard of this person before in your life. The stranger sidles up close to you, offers a limp handshake and says "My name is Bloated Self-Importance. Please take my business card and AMAZING new eBook, and be sure to check out my blog right away for even more buzzword-driven nonsense that I'd like you to start sharing ASAP. Don't forget to watch my videos too. Have you watched them yet? What did you think? You're welcome!"

This is how the automated direct message (DM) feature on Twitter is too often used (or abused, as it were). How many times have you followed someone on Twitter either out of reciprocity--they followed you--or seem interesting, and as soon as you've clicked that "Follow" button, you receive a Direct Message with "Click here and learn why I have the fastest growing profile on LinkedIn" or "We need your help sharing our articles--click here to get started!" and similar non-calls to action.

Here's the thing: relationship-building in social media is no different than relationship-building offline. It takes time to build trust. Would you walk up to a stranger and ask them to do you a serious favor? Would you immediately begin trying to sell a product as soon as you've met someone in real life? Because that's what too many marketers are doing on Twitter via the auto-DM. Personally, I immediately unfollow anyone sending me an auto-DM. 2009 was over 7 years ago.

The direct message feature is a utility. It's intended for two (and now larger private groups) to communicate outside the public Twitter stream. It's intended to share phone numbers and email addresses. It's intended to allow a private channel for a dialogue too sensitive for public viewing. It's NOT intended to be another device for marketing spam.

If you have an automated direct messaging system set up, take it down. It's doing you more harm than good.

Originally published 2/27/2015 on LinkedIn.

Originally published 7/30/2015 on LinkedIn

"Murderer." "Poacher." "Coward." The awful story of Minnesota dentist/recreational big game trophy hunter Dr. Walter Palmer and the killing of Cecil The Lion has dominated the news cycle the past 24 hours, and nowhere as fervently as on Facebook, Twitter and Yelp. Enraged animal slacktivists (ahem) have virulently condemned the doctor and his practice, brought down his website, launched petition drives for his prosecution and greater protection for Zimbabwe's lions, brought a late-night host to the brink of tears, and mocked his manhood with glee. (Guilty as charged on that one)...

Beyond the horror of killing a beautiful animal (and national icon in Zimbabwe) for nothing more than bragging rights in his man cave, Dr. Palmer has provided a cautionary tale for businesses large and small in our real-time, always-on social media age.

To wit:

A) The People Have An Infinite And Immediate Voice:

The evisceration of Dr. Palmer was swift and brutal. His Yelp page was overrun with "reviews" from outraged consumers posting takedowns ranging from the deadly serious to the viciously mocking. His business' Facebook Page was removed after being overrun with comments ranging from the righteously indignant to baldly threatening. #CecilTheLion has been trending on Twitter for two days, and the level of vitriol has reached a fever pitch befitting the capture of a war criminal. Ghastly images are being shared across Facebook. Petitions have been launched and shared on these channels and peer-to-peer via dark social.

(Yelp has been removing these reviews in near real-time, as they violate their terms of service. But the damage has been done. Screenshots last forever.)

B) Your Private Life Isn't So Private:

Everyone has hobbies. Most of them run the mundane gamut and wouldn't inflame anyone's ire. Some of them will. If your personal proclivities have the potential to negatively impact your business--albeit at a much lower scale than this--be wary. And be ready. Have a crisis plan on standby, just in case. Dr. Palmer's practice is closed for the foreseeable future. Photos of his previous trophy hunts have surfaced, along with convictions for illegal hunting and sexual harassment suits settled out of court. It doesn't take long for Hacktivist Nation to dig up more dirt than the Big Dig. How long could you afford to shutter your business, waiting for the social media storm to blow over?

This story will fade from the headlines soon enough. The perpetual fury of Internet Everywhere will move on to focus its wrath on another outrageous tale of human malfeasance. But the damage, deserved as it may seem, is permanently done to Dr. Walt Palmer, his family, and his practice. This is the detritus left behind by the ever-chewing maw of omnipresent social media. Dr. Palmer has become another cautionary tale. Pay attention to the overarching lessons here (and don't pay $55,000 to kill a so-called trophy animal, either, please. That's just sick.).