Piggybacking on @eammon’s post “Words and Phrases Copywriters Don’t Want to Hear” I’ve decided to write a brief (there’s a welcome relief) piece on “Words That Probably Should Go the Way of the Dodo and Never Be Uttered in Social Media Circles Again…Ever.” Not the most succinct title, but hey, gets the point across.

Without further adieu:

1. “Regards” (or any derivation of: “Best Regards”/”Warmest Regards”/”Deepest, Sincerest Regards”)

Say this word out loud. Notice how it sounds funny? Yea, it’s because we never use it when we speak (Unless, I need to talk to you regarding…).  Let’s stop the falsified business talk and drop a lame-o “Thanks” or “Best” or “Have a great afternoon” at the end of your LinkedIn intros.

Remember: You are not a credit card collection company.

2. “Oh Noes!”

Yes, baby talk.  You still use baby talk in your tweets or status updates?!? Seriously? You’re joking right? I mean it’s funny in the like “haha, look at how not-funny that is, it’s so not-funny that it is funny kind of way?”

Remember: You are a 45-year old Social Media Expert speaking prolifically about something that was originally created only for college kids (*cough* Facebook during the .edu days *cough), please save us the nervous embarrassment of talking like your 3-year old.

3. “Guru” “Chieftain” “Minister” or any other spiritual/Parliamentary figure of (Insert Title Here)

We get it.  You’ve started your own consulting firm, or work for the hippest agency in town.  Now, the only problem is what the hell do you do?

Remember: If you get fired tomorrow (which tends to happen these days) you still need to be able to get hired tomorrow.

4. “Killer App!”

I stand here. Guilty to my peers.  I deserve the stocks.

Remember: Good applications, inherently, should not kill. Anyone. Ever. (This also goes for “killing” operating systems, bad visual).

5. “Sticky” or “Stickiness”

Wait we’re doing what? Like honey? People are going to spread this like honey? Wait, what happened to “cool”?

Remember: Good ideas are good ideas. Let’s not pigeon-hole them.

6. “Traditional Media is Dead”

Dammit. Guilty again.  In my defense I only said “dying” so I mean c’mon, give a guy a break.  I don’t know why we want to celebrate the death of anything that ardently supports our 1st Amendment Rights.

Remember: Social Media will one day burn out.  It might be in a year or one hundred, but let’s always remember how we got here.

There’s 100s more just like these out there; these unfortunate six were just the most relevant to me in the last couple of days.  Feel free to throw a few ideas around if you’ve got one burning a hole in your pocket.

Peace.

mjb

Special thanks to Social Marketing Bullshit Bingo for a great little, cynical inspiration.

(Photo courtesy cethilk’s Photostream on Flickr)

(If you have any issues feel free to e-mail at mattbiegacki at gmail dot com)