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Real questions or just free advertising?
On Linked-In discussion groups and here in Focus I find some individuals ask questions they know the answers to and are just using the group discussions to get name recognition or free advertising. I know that is cynical but some questions are really elementary and clearly not meant for meaningful discussion. I know people are asking some questions they really want assistance with, even if they are elementary, and you can tell that by who is asking the question.
Do you find this characteristic of these discussion groups annoying or not? Just wondering. A forum like this is suppose to be used to share expertise and knowledge but is there a limit or boundary people should be setting, as a group, for higher standards? What's your opinion?
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8 Answers
A lot of people seem to confuse appearance with substance and activity with utility. None of those are equivalent. Form is not substance and all action is not automatically useful. Launching an endless series of pointless questions is nonproductive and demeans the forum, reducing its value, diffusing its focus and making it merely a showplace for empty babbling from those who think that making noise makes them important.
Others post "questions" which are simply advertorials. Guess that using free electrons is cheaper than paying for space.
Groups with restricted access and formal membership with rules that permit exclusion and expulsion tend to be far more useful than the wide-open universal bulletin boards where Sturgeon's Law seems to apply.
I joined Focus looking for stimulating intellectual discussion and the opportunity to learn and contribute. Most of the questions I see are of the "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" ilk. The answers are for the most part assumed in the questions and the asking seems insincere at best.
I notice this problem much more on some LinkedIn groups than other, more professional groups and here. I agree that restricted access groups on LinkedIn generally have better quality discussions. The exception are professional service groups where everyone feels they have to have an opinion on every subject.
I think these frivolous questions are a foolhardy approach to marketing, as they indicate you are naive in a topic where your company states you are an expert. I'd be curious what is the return on this marketing technique. Maybe I'll use that as my next research paper.
The Focus community is organic in nature and as such can mean different things to different people. That's also true for LinkedIn and every social site out there. So why would someone ask a question on Focus? That person:
1. Needs to solve a problem and needs an answer to a specific question to do it;
2. Is curious about a topic or issue and wants more information;
3. Wants to participate in a community for the sake of being a member of that community;
4. Is interested in promoting themselves and/or their company.
Why would someone answer a question on Focus? Numbers 3 and 4 apply in this case.
I believe that numbers 1-3 are good, wholesome reasons to participate in a Q&A community like this one. Previous answers suggest that for a question to be valid, the person asking the question has to have a burning problem that needs to be solved. Being curious is fine. Asking a question for the sake of being a member of the community is also fine.
I also believe that number 4 is a valid motivator so long as it doesn't overwhelm the contributions made by that person. In fact, the most active social media participants usually do so with the idea of promoting one's personal or company brand. The best ones maintain objectivity and really try to provide value to their audience when participating. In other words the motivation doesn't overwhelm the media.
Having said that, quality can always improve and we've implemented a number of features over the last year focused on doing exactly that. And it seems to be working. It's a never-ending journey, but the feedback from the community has been that quality has improved dramatically.
As always thank you for your input and feedback - it's valued and does not fall on deaf ears.
Mitch, you hit it right on the head. People have been told to network; join discussion groups, ask questions, get known, show your brilliance and you'll get noticed, work, and maybe hired, So with nothing really to say, people ask questions they know the answers to to get noticed, But they are getting noticed for the wrong reasons. Some post questions almost daily which are inane e.g. an HR Consultant wanting to know some HR law. Of course, a good HR Consultant should be well versed in HR completely. Once in a while a good one comes along that I respond to. But you have to pick out the gems. So I keep looking because the gems are out here. You just need to be patient and supply ones of your own.
Anthony,
I bet the ROI on this marketing technique is Zero. It's like Pepsi and Coke, McDonalds and BurgerKing, etc. fighting with ads for business. Their market share doesn't change because buyers stick with what they like, convenience of location, and don't move. They should spent less on advertizing and bring down the prices.
I find self or product promotion on LinkedIn discussions or in the Ask Question section very annoying. What is often also annoying are answers to questions that have nothing to do with the question.
Some groups are better than others. It's up to the manager of the group to keep the group discussions focused and delete and expel those that don't follow their rules. Some managers are very active and some appear to ignore the group completely.
I'm 'linked' to one person that virtually every day posts a short piece promoting his company. Not professional, for a web site devoted, supposedly, to professionals.
Thank you, Scott, for addressing this. This is a really important question because it has implications way beyond the annoyance-with-some-posts issue. It goes to the heart of 21st century marketing and selling, which are supposed to be oh-so-targeted and individualized. If only.
Day after day, we see random acts of content posting … answers having little if anything to do with the questions, flagrant self-promotion, product/service hype that reminds one of carnival barkers, and the rants of people who simply want to argue. The offenders do these things because Focus and LinkedIn are free billboards, which they plaster with anything and everything.
Eventually, these things tend to self-correct. Focus and LinkedIn are transparent, so the offenders become known pretty quickly. Unfortunately, participants who actually wish to honor the intent of Focus and LinkedIn are, for the moment at least, subject to lots of equine post-digestive matter. Me? Opinionated? Naaah.
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