Because who doesn't want to be on the Celebrity Apprentice? And sit in a social media cuddle chair?

Okay, there are way too many social media experts and myths out there.

The expert myth: funny how that worked out.

I don't claim to be one; I learn something new everyday. And that makes me a student of social media.

And of life.

Sure I know how to use social media as a networking and marketing tool. It's very powerful that way. That combined with an integrated online and traditional marketing/media relations strategy and you've got a winner.

But let's not forget:

• Sharing
• Caring
• Listening
• Learning
• Teaching
• Participating
• Communicating
• Building relationships
• Being real

Me be touchy-feely, but it's real, not a myth.

Because it's the myths that can make us Tomfoolery Experts:

• Social media is free. No it's not. It takes time and staff. It takes planning and execution.
• Everybody in the great HR space is doing it. No they're not. We're a few light years from mass adoption. Some anecdotal accounts place social media participation in our marketplace at around 20%. Maybe more. Maybe less.
• Social media is a great communication tool. Not really. I mean, it facilitates some communication in the confines of 140 characters, status updates, DM's, emails and inmails, blog reading and commenting and tweeting.
• Socia media is creating a culture of toxicity, incivility and conversely non-confrontational couch potatoes. Yes and no. The social networking tools may make it easier for freaks to be more anonymous, and for people to stay introverted and never leave the house, but these behaviors aren't anything new. TV and video games have been rotting our brains for decades. But it also promotes live meetings and action. (Thought-provoking article in the New York Times online called Antisocial Networking?)
• Social media marketing is all I need. What part of integrated online and traditional marketing/media relations strategy do you not understand? Same for recruiting.
• Social media for a cause is lame. No it's not. In fact there are more grass roots efforts -- local to global -- being launched via social media than you can shake a stick at. Not that you'd want to.
  
• Social media means you never have to travel. Really? Yes, it's a virtual world, but c'mon. Get out there. Local or global.

For me and what I tout each day is that social media fuels the face-to-face fire, the desire to get my bottom out of my chair and interact live with folk.

Trust me, my chair is really comfortable. Especially the cuddle chair I'm sitting in at home right this very minute. Yes, a cuddle chair.

But so are the chairs at unconferences -- comfortable and cuddly -- the smaller events that promote interactive and lively discussions with session leaders and participants alike.

Like in our space: the TRU events and HRevolution.

HRevolution is this weekend in Chicago. I cannot wait!

HR social media thought leaders and practitioners from around the country will be converging for 24 hours+ of mind-bending, trend-setting discussions on HR, social media, communications, leadership/development in an unconference format that emphasizes interaction over passive listening. HRevolution has it all.

Plus, they're playing Celebrity Apprentice in one of the sessions. How much fun is that? Love that show. It doesn't get any better than a business task train wreck for a cause.

This is the payoff of social networking: meeting live with the folk met online and building real relationships that can further self, career, business and more. To be a better me.

Because who doesn't want to be on the Celebrity Apprentice? And sit in a social media cuddle chair?

See you in Chicago.

Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn!)