Are you the head of a service firm looking to cash in on this historic socio-economic trend? Are you an avid blogger, social-media enthusiast, new marketing tech or "conversation" guru? Then this article is a must read. Here we grapple with and finally resolve what Chris Heuer, President of the Social Media Club, appropriately refers to as “pushing a boulder uphill." Although the spread of social media has been a global phenomenon, it still seems to inspire significant resistance on the corporate front.

First, let's constructively confront our mistakes. Unfortunately, this social media stuff has its roots in tech where strict business rationale is not a common occurrence. ITs have historically had carte blanche. Like lawyers, how much it's going to cost is equal to whatever it takes. As such, the typical once-removed 3rd-cousin-by-marriage SM geek has co-opted that very same posture, i.e. the "smarter than" persona. When pushed to generally accepted standards of due diligence and formal business case rationale, the typical reaction in the "community" is that the oldsters "just don't get it".

Not good. Regrettably, counter-intuitively, the appearance of unbridled arrogance has only led to market confusion and even greater demand for reason. The C-suite apparently has all but rejected "well, because."

Fact is, this is no small problem. Business is now calling the entire fad a bubble. Practically speaking, at the very least, the uptake of the "paradigm shift" in business now seems to be all but stalled.