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.

Greetings dear friends. We'd like to start the year off right and take a minute for a good cause. Ya know, we work hard here at Strumpette. We bear the burden of cynicism happily as we are filled with, and motivated by, a tremendous sense of responsibility. But that said, every so often, especially after the lull of the Holidays, the glow subsides. It's during these times we are reacquainted with our own humanity. Some of us here even speak openly of altruism.

No, I'm not talkin' about Doc's "relationship" stuff or how Scoble and others cheaply leverage their own personal needs to pretend to help "friendz." No, we're simply talking about that time right after New Years when all the drugs and alcohol have worn off and one is left with flayed nerves and the teeth-gnashing sense of soul-crushing individual guilt. I'm talkin' about the overwhelming awareness that it weren't for our inheritance and the world of other unearned privileges that make our lives an existential nightmare... we'd be just like "them." It is in that spirit that we ask ourselves, "What can we do?"

Well, here's an opportunity. This comes to us by way of our friend Jack O'Dwyer: