Good Riddance Seth Godin

For months, I read in numerous sources that Seth Godin's blog is the shiznit. I started reading his book "IdeaVirus," and that clenched it for me. I visited his site, found his blog and subscribed via RSS. After nearly one year's worth of reading his tripe and after far more deliberation than it deserved, I've deleted my subscription to Seth's blog.

Why? Well, the reasons are numerous, but mostly I grew tired of allowing his usually myopic, reactionary and hackneyed postings to stir up negative emotions of audacity within me. I gave him permission to market his thoughts to me for too long. It was high time that I cut the ties.

Why did I continue to read? Well, he's not always so off-base. Sometimes he has great things to say, relevant things and astute observations. Mostly, I stuck around because I wanted to have common ground with the rest of the online marketing "tribe." Speaking of "tribes"...

Most of you Seth fans already know about his latest book, "Tribes." Hopefully not too many of you bought it and got the free copy instead. It irritates me that Seth would try to coin a term that was already coined when he first published "IdeaVirus." In his latest book, he's tried to positioned himself as the visionary behind the concept of online tribes. But fact is, his book is really only based on observations of activity that has existed for over a decade.

In "IdeaVirus," Seth thought he cleverly coined the term "hives." Now, he might argue that hives and tribes aren't the same thing, but at their core, they are. He was hoping that the term "hives" would catch on, but he neglected to think about the negative connotations associated with that term - lack of individuality and the association with a rash, to name two.

With the term "hive" never truly taking off, Seth must have made some conscious decision to capitalize on the term that organically surfaced: "tribes." My hope is that you will not be one of the thousands taken in by his latest opus. If you read "IdeaVirus," you should already know that articulation is not one of Seth's strong suits.

Some other reasons I've unsubscribed to his blog include the following:

• Seth doesn't allow comments on his blog. He is guilty of violating his own maxim of permission marketing. He markets AT us, not with us.
• Seth believes nobody cares about you. Sure, he had a point that there needs to be some commonalities, that a person has to feel a vested interest in knowing you. But he was dead wrong when he said that nobody cares about you. Just go visit YouTube, go read blogs with enabled comments, go join Twitter. You'll find that people do indeed care about you, more than you might even be comfortable with.
• Seth is reactionary. If he receives service he deems subpar or an inconvenience to him, he bags on the business without considering the bigger corporate policies at work. Seth is a something-for-nothing kind of guy who is always surprised and appalled when people don't drop everything to serve only him. It's painfully obvious Seth has never worked an entry-level service job. I have, and based on his tales, he is the worst kind of customer - one who takes out his frustrations on the help, who's main concern is following SOP so that they can keep their jobs. Don't beat down the employees for following their employer's rules, Seth. You just look like a jerk when you do.
  

Today in the US, millions of people are casting their votes for candidates and measures that matter to them. Today, I cast my vote of discontent with Seth Godin and expel him from the office of online marketing guru. His knowledge has been shown to be wane, and I welcome my newly acquired liberation from the tyranny that is the facade known as Seth Godin.

Join me, won't you? If you subscribe to Seth's blog and find it equally as irritating, unsubscribe and let your voice be heard.

Note: In case you hadn't figured it out already, this will be the last time you will have to read any Seth-related rants.