Challenge the Thinking

By Scott Hepburn | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

So, I’m doing my usual insomniac routine last night, loitering on Twitter instead of slipping into a Tylenol PM-induced slumber, when I notice this Tweet from Jason Falls buried in an otherwise droll stack of Tweets.

Wow. Words of wisdom delivered in 140-character-or-less clarity.

Challenge_the_thinking
Do you “challenge the thinking” when you blog? Or do you blog just to blog?

Even within the flip-flops-and-tattered-henleys “Rock Star” environment of PRstore’s DesignCentral, I’m known for being a little maverick-y (youbetcha!). I’m the quintessential Rebel Without a Clue. But until I saw Jason’s Tweet, I’d never thought of my blog in quite those terms.

It’s easy to write a blog about marketing or PR, or even social media. Hundreds of us do it. But “challenge the thinking?” Most days I struggle just to find something timely and topical to write about. I bet I’m not alone.

“Challenge the thinking.” Challenge the thinking! In a way, isn’t that exactly what social media asks of us — find a way to do it better, whatever it is? We are the vanguards of our professions, the innovators who are shaping the future of business. If we’re not daring to think in new ways, who will?

Kudos, Jason, for capturing in a brief, off-the-cuff Tweet what so many social media haven’t captured in a lifetime of blogging.

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Topics: Social Media

  • "Most days I struggle just to find something timely and topical to write about. I bet I'm not alone."


    You are definitely not alone. As Caitlin mentioned, a lot of people are just catching up with what's available today.


    Some of my clients are still struggling with the idea that the internet is a viable communication channel.


    If we don't know the history, struggle with present and can't move fast enough for the future, I think it's a challenge just to feel as though you are saying something relevant.


  • I agree with what Jason Tweeted without qualms. But my big question is this: if we're always challenging the thinking, then how to we teach anyone? As a social media rep for my company with a brand new team that are so green it hurts my eyes, I find it really hard to just throw them at the blogs that are THE thing to read...we need to give people all the basics before we ask them to jump off the cliff with us, right?

  • @Caitlin What a rich question for discussion!

    I think we (meaning bloggers who have been 'playing' in this new arena for a while) often move so fast we forget that we're looked to by others who are still newbies to the game. We enrich our communities in epic scale when we take time to engage with those who haven't been walking this path as long as we have.

    Alas, tomorrow I'll be blogging about Web 3.0, I'm sure. If I do, smack me.

  • You're a gentleman and a scholar. Thanks for the props and I'm glad I could inspire such a post.


    Your blog, by the way, wasn't eliminated from my reader and yes, I was already subscribing.


    Rock on, my friend.

  • So YOU'RE my subscriber! ;)

    As I explained to a friend this week, social media has a future because I now turn to people like you (and other great minds) for info and opinions before I turn to traditional news sources.
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