Herschell Gordon Lewis shares a little copy class.

Assumption: You’re a sophisticated marketer. Parallel assumption: You aren’t surprised to see junk-authoritarian statements by junk-authorities, in trade publications.

An absolute ‘given’ is that when a technique or a medium   or a procedure or a development becomes the darling of self-proclaimed avant-garders, we can anticipate sniping as the next step. We aren’t out of line to expect much of the sniping to come from yesterday’s aficionados.

It’s social media’s turn.

In a recent issue, an online publication touting itself as the voice of marketing trends draws conclusions the rest of us long since have gulped down and excreted as yesterday’s info-meal. (Is the very term ‘online publication’ an oxymoron? Oh, no. This is the year 2010.)

What’s annoying about the assembly of truisms . . . in this source, if you’re a subscriber, or obvious, if you aren’t . . . is the ‘Behold!’ attitude that reflects their ‘We’ve discovered a trend no-one else has yet unearthed’ conclusion.

Example:

What a surprise! In March, the internal tracking system at MySpace showed that the number of active users was well below the 100 million users usually claimed – specifically, for the month ending in mid-February, MySpace had 18 million individual visitors.

For media analysis, cost-versus-response is a logical criterion. Figuring (or wild guessing) effectiveness based on total potential exposure is as useless as the ancient cost-per-click presumption early web marketers espoused in the antediluvian 1990s.

A direct quote: “Part of the reason that MySpace is hurting is because many people moved over to Facebook. Facebook, however, has other problems that don’t bode well for its future. According to ReadWriteWeb, Facebook’s population is rapidly ageing. It started as a service for college students but, by 2008, the average user’s age had already risen to 26. In early 2010, it’s up to 33 and climbing. Those older users are not as attractive to advertisers.”

Omygawd – Facebookers are facing Alzheimer’s and at any minute will lose both their buying power and their minds!

Spams, scams, and whams

Can you believe people send fake information to MySpace and Facebook and LinkedIn and Friendster and all the other “I’m one of your closest pals” media?

We’re marketers. We aren’t supposed to be subject to enchantment, because the backside of enchantment is disenchantment.

Even the sleaziest newspapers carry regular stories about innocents who are lured into fake online relationships. How could a marketing publication be so late in making that discovery?

Nigeria, here we come. 

Now, wait a minute.

That publication says the average Facebook user’s age has swooped up to 33. It also says the venerable email spam come-ons, which lure people into giving out their banking information with promises of millions, have begun to appear . . .  and become effective . . . on Facebook.

Get the point? 

At age 33, not only is a Facebook user more naïve than he, she, or it was at age 26 or age 18; the user has downslid to a point at which ancient scams target him, her, or it at the antique age of 33.

Aah, I’m out of space. It’s just as well, because I’m also out of patience with gurus who bombard us with trivia we already have digested and discarded as yesterday’s non-wisdom.

Herschell Gordon Lewis is the principal of Lewis Enterprises, Pompano Beach, Florida, through which he is available as copywriter, consultant and speaker. Mr Lewis’ latest book is his 32nd. Phone him: +1 954 782 1750, or visit his website: www.herschellgordonlewis.com