I respect your opinion -- and I'm totally willing to admit I could be wrong. On a certain level, I almost hope I am mistaken, since I feel the space would benefit from more competition. We'll see what 2012 has in store for us.

My guess is that Facebook's changes re: the news feed aren't coincidental. They want people buying sponsored stories.

I like cruise ships for exactly that reason. International waters are where it's at!

Here you go: http://www.slideshare.net/GasPedal/blogwell-seatt...

Great suggestions Ben!

LinkedIn requires a little more finesse for brands because of the amount of weight that chatter on that network carries -- but for the right personal/corporate brands that may be all the more reason to give it a shot. Thanks!

Ron,

I don't think I needed to call anyone out to make my point. If you'd like a couple of examples, you can DM me on Twitter (@sbosm) and I we can talk more.

Ben,

I appreciate the Emerson line, but I think you may have misinterpreted me. I'm not saying you can't have variety or humor in your presence. I just think it's all too easy to forget that every update is a chance to reinforce or muddle your point of view. I think too many people view authenticity and relevancy as foes, when they're really two sides of the same coin -- it's how people know who you are.

Be careful about relying on tools. If robots could do this kind of work effectively, we wouldn't need aggregators. That said, Ice Rocket and Addictomatic and also fun to experiment with.

I've been disappointed by Google Plus' lack of momentum -- I know hundreds of people with accounts and maybe a dozen who are regular users. Here's hoping that coming out of beta turns that trend around.