Social media practitioners must understand what not to do in the space, as the grassroots are extraordinarily unforgiving and interconnected. Don't be a weed. To wit, I received a message from a friend on Facebook, and immediately it struck me that he was shooting himself in the social media foot with an uzi. The message which I received was sent to 18 persons whose first name begins with the letter R. One can only assume that this instance of his message recurred many times, hence the uzi. It comes across as spam, however well-targeted it might be. It is a formula for failure.

Acquiring fans to your organization or entity in the social media space will be more successful when your organization has scored or rated well in the discussions, forums, events, and media that help your potential fans in the existing social media sites where they are engaged. Only then will they come to you.

One must understand Groundswell to succeed through social media. Like enlightenment, there is no royal path other than to first listen to, talk with, understand, energize, and help others before you can expect them to embrace you (i.e.become your fan).

Let's ask ourselves each day "what did I do to improve the social media presence of my organization, group, blog, or practice?" and make ourselves ready to share that information with each other.

Are you actually following your followers on Twitter or just faking it? The Groundswell law of social media is immutable and irrefutable. To learn more, read the book and join in this conversation at Forrester.com, Media2.0 (facebook), Online Community Roundtable (facebook), NetSquared, NTEN, or other social media organizations.