On the other hand, sometimes people or organizations do need to be called out when their tactics are not ethical or defeat the communities objectives. That's part of what I think keeps people accountable with social media and the Internet…there should be some level of fear that if you do something stupid, you could get called out. Have respect. THINK before you publish…that's all.

Personally, I think the attacking all leads back to personal branding and it's just one more reason why I disagree with the notion of it. If someone is secure in who they are, their reputation, what they bring to the table, etc. they don't typically attack people or situations because they know how to bring sound, implementable, and constructive advice/criticism to the table.

It's the folks that don't have the actual experience but are trying to make a name for themselves (i.e. personal branding) that I see attacking and finger pointing.

You are 100% right…what good does it serve to attack companies trying to make their way into the social media waters? Besides most of the time, from what I've seen, the attacks are baseless because the company's audience is *their* customer (imagine that?!) and not the “social media guru.”

We all need to up the anty and discuss the next level of social media and attacks aren't the way to get there.

Beth Harte
Community Manager, MarketingProfs
@bethharte