How The Tyra Banks Show changed my blog

Today, Bobby Pens got a dose of:

And my blog may become better because of it.

In trying to achieve a more professional tone on Bobby Pens than on previous blogs, I was almost willing to forgo all discussion of one of my favorite topics in the whole, entire world: The Tyra Banks Show. You may laugh, but I can’t be dissuaded. Tyra Banks sets the agenda for young girls, tweens, teens, and young women in this country. Watching the entertainers, authors, politicians, businesspeople and companies that come knocking on her door to promote their products and services on her show is always fascinating to me.

But even more fascinating is watching how just about everyone that goes on that show falls into Banks’ world. You might be turned off by the glaring cognitive dissonance created when, say, Mike Huckabee makes an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show. But that is what makes PR so interesting to observe… How are you going to re-package the same item you just sold at the RNC, for a room full of Tyra Banks Show audience members? I think whoever coordinated this appearance on Huckabee’s presidential campaign team was hedging on the right idea of how to do just this:

See clips of the show, here. In particular, the second one.

Huckabee was likable, Banks was poised. It was a strange and beautiful convergence of two opposing worlds that completely geeked me out… And in light of this, I may need to reevaluate my goals in creating this blog. There are so many exciting topics to discuss that don’t traditionally fall under the category of “professional.” But I’d feel so stifled if I didn’t digress every now and again. The more time I spend on Twitter, the more I see how PR professionals have come crashing the social media party with claims that they have all the “secrets” about how to further your business through social media. What secrets are there? There’s something for everyone in social media, so anyone can do it.

Social media is supposed to be about SOCIALIZING. Not selling! Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that companies can connect with customers and communicate using various social media platforms. But it’s also obvious (to me, anyway) that social media is like any other huge social function. If you don’t want to end up lining the walls, you have to be saying—or doing—something worth paying attention to. And if all you can say while at this function is, “Buy my book!” “Check out my webinar!” “Look how much money I’ve made doing X online!” …Well, you might get a few dance partners but at least I know I’m going to be doing my best to avoid you. And so will most other reasonable people. How tacky!

I think surely that has to be some balance in using social media to further your business. Some of us still want to be human in the age of technology.