Great blogs don’t always translate into great books. Chris Brogan’s latest book, Social Media 101, proves this out.
’101′ is a collection of several posts that originally appeared at www.chrisbrogan.com. Knowing that much of the content would be familiar to me, I picked the book up for in-flight reading, with modest expectations. It wanted to revisit some well-organized, thought-provoking Brogan posts for a few hours. And, upon arrival pass the book along to someone inexperienced in social media. I was disappointed on both accounts.
Sadly, the 320-page book is poorly organized. It’s not a book that is easily read from beginning to end. It lacks expected depth, vision and context. It feels like a collection of abandoned conversations among distracted participants. The book is unsatisfying for social media enthusiasts. And, it’s too disorganized for newbies.
Books culled from blogs should provide readers with forethought and organization that isn’t possible from typical ’publish-as-you-go’ blogging. ’101′ doesn’t do that. Topics aren’t bundled, broadened, or bridged enough to be engaging.
I like Chris Brogan. And, I like his blog — but not in this format. I prefer the content in its raw, online format.
Too Much?
Chris Brogan has been in high demand since publishing Trust Agents. He is active and prolific. Here’s one theory (courtesy of Hubspot) about how he gets it all done:
About Troy Janisch