Here's a news release about an upcoming seminar that sponsors and participants say "lifts (the) lid on complex world of social media." In one of the funniest lines I've read in recent memory, the release quotes a marketing guru saying, "It promises to throw up some very interesting discussions and debates and we’re sure it’s going to draw a big audience.” 

Throw up, indeed.

The beauty of social media is that it hinges on some very simple, straightforward concepts. Brand managers have to turn the car keys over to consumers; corporate communicators have to cede control; transparency, authenticty, and credibility matter more than all the money in the world an organization can spend on its polished, one-way messages. Maybe they meant the technology is complex? Hardly. Anyone can be blogging within about twenty minutes or less, on anything. Most of the best blogging platforms are free. YouTube, Facebook and MySpace are free. Grade schoolers master these social media platforms in minutes, intuitively.

No, the complex part of social media is why in God's name it takes so many otherwise smart people so long to give up the ghost of marketing past. Complex is the psychology of total control.

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