On Being Voted Off the Social Media Island

Here's a bit of irony. Today, I was virtually "voted off" the social media (Twitter) island of #hcsmeu by @FarmerFunster for being too promotional. The irony is that many of the topics discussed via #hcsmeu concern how the pharmaceutical industry can get more involved in interacting with consumers via social media, as if that interaction is NOT promotional!

BTW, this is not the first time I've been "voted off" a social media site. See "Banned from CafePharma!" In that case, however, it was a badge of honor :-)

The issue prompting @FarmerFunster to vote to kick me off #hcsmeu was a question I submitted for discussion: "Pharmaguy Social Media Pioneer Award. Who should be nominated?" @FarmerFunster said "principle of it is OK but disagree with #hcsmeu being used as a promo channel within the hour tweet-up."

WARNING! PROMO AHEAD: Learn more about Pharmaguy's Social Media Pioneer Award here.

OK, so I wasn't really "voted off" the island. Only one disgruntled participant felt the topic was inappropriate. But one disgruntled social media participant can have a major impact -- go ask Sanofi-Aventis about that (see "Disgruntled Patient Shuts Down sanofi-aventis Facebook Page") or read "Social Media: Ask Permission to Join the Conversation First or You Just Might Get Your Ass Kicked!"

What @FarmerFunster doesn't realize about me is that "I am all promo all the time. That's what a SM Pioneer shld do." My goal is to promote what I consider good pharma marketing practices. To do that, I need to promote myself and also promote colleagues and sometimes paid advertising clients.

I decided to get involved with awarding excellence in pharma social media leadership because I wanted to promote what OTHER people are doing, not me.

DISCLAIMER: I also am not making one red cent from this effort. There are no PAID sponsors. ExL's Digital Pharma East conference is a sponsor and has offered to provide a venue for the award winners ceremony during the conference. While ExL Pharma is an advertising client of mine, this sponsorship is an unpaid cooperative co-promotion.

Meanwhile, I did get some interesting insights and opinions from other #hcsmeu participants in this morning's discussion. I will review these in another post. Right now I have to avoid the sharks as I swim away from the island.