Book Review: The Bluffer’s Guide To Social Media – Susie Bonniface

This gem of a book landed on my desk last week – now, here’s what it isn’t: It’s not a How To Step By Step Guide to acing social media in 3 easy steps. You aren’t going to discover any fabulous new gadgets or how to resize your Facebook pictures here.

But as the title suggests, bluffing is all about appearance and the art of intricate detail.

It is quite handy if your 23 year old nephew tells you about his very exciting new PR job and you want to comment with something slightly more interesting than “That’s nice” whilst wondering what on earth he just said… Plus it’s handbag sized so when you have meetings with people who talk in buzzwords, you can surreptitiously look up the relevant section, drag out a little real life anecdote and wow everyone with your superior knowledge.

What I think is quite clever from the author’s point of view is that this book isn’t a dictionary of terms and platforms being used right now – that would date supersonicly fast. It’s more an overview of historical facts that have nailed netiquette to the mast online.  I really liked the little stories and facts that you can casually drop into the conversation and make it seem like you are an all powerful guru!

What I found quite pleasant is to discover that some of the stuff that makes me nervous when I hear people talking about it (because I have no idea what they are saying), is actually stuff I know, but it’s just been given a fancy name. So I found this book quite enlightening and reassuring at the same time.

As a former advertising exec, I spent many long meetings playing buzzword bingo with my colleagues – blue sky thinking, pushing the envelope and legacy being top scorers. This book makes me realise that social media meetings also have this kind of game being played… Now I have the scorecard for it!!

Great book, fun read!