• by Brian Hull , July 15, 2010

It's amazing to me that the cowbell had such humble beginnings. In its simple origins, the cowbell was invented to monitor the location of cows. Now, it's the among the coolest, most iconic sounds in the world, the foundation of countless chart topping hits as well as a certain Blue Oyster Cult opus that helped me get over my irrational fear of the reaper.

From cows of yesteryear to today's humans, the cowbell has been replaced by the ultimate location-based noisemaker: social media posts. Social media has certainly enabled sharing -- but is anybody caring? When does "more cowbell" become, "OK, really, that's enough cowbell, thanks"?

We all have those friends who stream every irrelevant event in their life, whether via Facebook, Twitter, or if we're really lucky, both. The diary is no longer locked in a drawer in the bedside nightstand like it used to be. In fact, many people now feel comfortable broadcasting the mundane ("Going grocery shopping"), the private ("Going for my prostate exam"), or the dreaded mundane-private one-two punch ("Drinking tea"; "Tea now cold"; "Drank tea, going to the bathroom.").

Thought Leaders And The "Heard" Mentality

These posts are ultimately benign -- sort of like having to listen to an elderly relative update you on their day. And most likely we're too polite to respond with a big "Who cares?" But what if your job requires you to bang the digital cowbell?

The advertising industry tends to anoint "thought leaders" (unless the TL's are actually anointing themselves, which happens more than it should) based not entirely on the content of their thoughts, but also the sheer volume of their content. This is particularly true of those within the digital or creative disciplines.

For many senior creatives, the pressure to be out there is huge. Senior managers request us to regularly tweet, facebook, blog, etc. in order to attract industry attention for ourselves, and ultimately, our agency. Many shops now include "being out there" as a requirement for bonuses and advancement -I've even heard of some who have been given posting quotas! As such, many creatives feel their careers will stall if they don't bang the cowbell regularly.

One negative result is that this practice spurs people to "make numbers" through the overuse of re-tweeting and re-posting of content. This is the social media "echo chamber" run amok-without any sort of context or new content to hint why they posted it in the first place, "thought leaders" are reduced to talking loud, but saying nothing. If it were all about hitting post quotas, anyone could be a "thought leader." Without any perspective or opinion, it's a mindless, fruitless effort to be heard -rather than trying to emerge from the herd.

So while self-proclaimed "thought leaders" may cut corners to make the numbers that bolster their leadership, the bigger story is that no one-real thought leader, pretend thought leader or neophyte alike-really knows how social will truly evolve. We're inventing it as we go along, and pushing boundaries at the same time.

And here's the rub. Shouldn't the real "thought-leaders" and "industry experts" be as focused on creating innovative products and marketing experiences for their clients as they are at sharing speculative "insights" and re-re-re tweeting?

The cowbells need a filter. Sure, when you have something to contribute from the true innovations you're sharing, have at it. For all the freedom of expression and ease-of-communication offered by social channels, you'd think we, as agency leads, would open up a little more with our own take on things, sharing insights and taking a stand for quality over quantity. In our profession, we spend so much time fretting over clearly communicating to our targeted audiences; let's give just a little thought to clearly setting up and communicating to our own audiences. Otherwise, we're just making noise, trying fruitlessly to be heard above the herd.