When It Comes To Social Media, Are We Dancin’ In The Dark?

If you didn’t check out Arik Hanson’s recent post on how Barry Manilow relates to social media, it’s definitely worth the read. Unfortunately, I now look like a copycat for finding inspiration in a classic Bruce Springsteen song, but I don’t care. I’m taking the hit and writing the post anyway.

Why? Because just about every verse from The Boss’s “Dancin’ In The Dark” tells the story of a career in social media and I think the comparison fits exquisitely. Mostly. And just to get the junior high snickers and giggles out of the way, yes there’s a lot of innuendo. Try to look past that as best you can so you can catch the drift of this post with an open mind.

If you aren’t familiar with the song or don’t have the lyrics memorized word-for-word, here’s a recap. (For the love of everything holy, do your best to ignore the dancing. In fact, just listen to the song for 4 minutes. Don’t watch.)

Now, why did I subject you to that awful, awful video? Because it’s funny. And also because key elements of that song carry over to the social media world. Specifically starting and maintaining a career in the industry.

Verse 1:

I get up in the evening, and I ain’t got nothing to say.
I come home in the morning, I go to bed feeling the same way.
I ain’t nothing but tired, man I’m just tired and bored with myself.
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help.

Ok…we all know that just about anybody in the social media industry rarely has nothing to say. That’s a given. But it is true that, for most social media and online marketing professionals, it’s not always easy to commit yourself to the daily tasks of blogging and engaging. Especially when you’re just getting started. But then something changes. You start reaching out. You ask for “just a little help.”

Because, here’s the truth (as the first chorus round puts it):

You can’t start a fire…you can’t start a fire without a spark.
This gun’s for hire…even if we’re just dancing in the dark.

Bruce recognizes two things. 1) You need a spark to get things moving. Whether it’s an internship or a project or great mentor, something has to spark that fire. 2) Sometimes you’ve just gotta dance in the dark. Because, when we’re just getting started, we have to be willing to dance in this social media space, even if we don’t quite know what we’re doing yet. Like The Boss, we’re ready to get out there as a gun for hire and make things happen. How many of us got our start that way?

Then Bruce continues along the path to becoming a social media rockstar (great post by the way, Mack!)…

Verse 2:

Messages keep getting clearer, radio’s on and I’m moving round the place.
I check my look in the mirror, I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face.
Man I ain’t getting nowhere, I’m just livin’ in a dump like this.
There’s something happening somewhere, baby I just know that there is.

Look at that. Now we’re on the right path. But it’s not all easy going, is it? The message gets clearer…we understand what we need to do…but we’re just not QUITE getting there. We hear things and we make moves, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem to be clicking. We realize that there are others out there we want to be like (you know…all the big names and industry leaders…we don’t need to name-drop… *cough* BroganArmanoRubelMaltoniVaynerchuck *cough*). So we want to change ourselves to be more like them. And although we’ve started our blogs and we’re tweeting our tweets, we’re “stuck” at 45 subscribers and 350 followers so we feel like we’re getting nowhere. But you know what…there’s something happening somewhere…and you just know that there is…

Bridge:

You sit around getting older…there’s a joke here somewhere and it’s on me.
I’ll shake this world off my shoulders…come on baby this laugh’s on me.

Hmmm…ok I’m not exactly seeing the correlation on this one, but it’d be foolish to skip it and pretend it doesn’t exist. *Reader Input Alert* – If you have a good way to relate this bridge to social media, add it in the comments!

Verse 3:

Stay on the streets of this town, and they’ll be carving you up alright.
They say you gotta stay hungry…hey baby I’m just about starving tonight.
I’m dying for some action…I’m sick of sitting ’round here trying to write this book.
I need a love reaction…come on now baby gimme just one look.

So you’ve reached the top. You’re now your organization or agency’s “Social Media Strategist” or “Director of Online Media” or whatever the title may be, and you realize how much work you have cut out for you. You realize that every effort you push forward will get carved up by someone, somewhere. And how do you maintain success? Well, they say you gotta stay hungry. And they are right.

So what happens? Shockingly, you end up back where you started. You’re dying for some action (again). And you’re sick of sitting around, not quite getting things done as well as you think you should be doing them (again). And with your latest social media campaign and effort, you’re working hard for a reaction, hoping people give you (and your organization, agency, or client) just one look (again).

And then, after hitting us with that harsh hammer of truth, Bruce finishes out the journey of the social media professional with a pretty deep thought…

You can’t start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart.
This gun’s for hire…even if we’re just dancing in the dark.

If you want to start a fire, you’ve got to be prepared. You’ve got to be prepared to work for a spark to start that fire, you have to maintain that fire when it starts raging out of control (aka, when you finally reach that “rockstar” level we all aspire to reach), and you have to be prepared not to worry about your “little world” falling apart as you reach higher, greater goals than you’d ever even thought you would set.

We’re all guns for hire and we’re all dancing in the dark as far as the world of social media goes. It’s a grind that wears away on you day after day. No matter how much you enjoy it, there are days when it’s hard, there are days when you don’t want to do it, and there are days where you wonder when your fire’s ever going to spark.

And when it does finally spark, just remember that, no matter what peak you reach, you’ll still be working as hard as, and most likely harder than, when you first started. Don’t believe me? Check out Chris Brogan’s first of three “What it takes to be an overnight success” videos below:

It never gets easier if you’re staying hungry. Bruce recognized how important it was to start a fire and dance in the dark. And you know what? He’s 60 years old and he’s rocking shows like he’s still 25.

And here’s the most important thing of it all. After all that work, he’s still loving the hell out of it.

The grind never stops.

Will you?

What do you think? Is the comparison totally off base? Too focused on the endless hard work? Does “Dancing In The Dark” reflect your social media career? Tell us in the comments section below, or by posting your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Homepage photo link c/o wonker. Thanks wonker!