Andrew Spong, a pundit writing for STweM blog, just dissed pundits in an opinion piece titled “Pundits, prognosticators, philosophers, and practitioners: the exotic species of the health conversation on the social web.”
“In addition to patient, healthcare professional, and provider voices on the social web,” says Spong, “I can identify at least four other groups of participants: pundits, prognosticators, philosophers and practitioners.”
Since I consider myself a pundit and I’m a “voice on the social web,” I am primarily interested in what Spong has to say about us pundits.
“The pundit’s stock-in-trade is opinion, of which they have an inexhaustible supply,” says Spong, who himself has an inexhaustible supply of opinions such as this one.
“Pundits are invariably self-employed on the basis that nobody wants to pay to be subjected to an interminable stream of passive-aggressive jibes, yet no-one knows how pundits make a living. It’s one of the great mysteries of the health conversation on the social web.”
I don’t know about other pundits, but I sometimes get paid to subject people to “an interminable stream of passive-aggressive jibes” or truth-to-power opinions as I like to call them.
STweM obviously thinks “practitioners” stand out from the crowd. “The practitioner is comfortable with the idea that the reception and ultimate success of any activity will be determined by how well it serves the needs of the user, not the needs of the publisher,” says Spong.
I think I’m a practitioner too when it comes to social media. But I like the title “pundit” better. With apologies to Chicago, I wrote this little song about pharma pundits (sung to the tune “I’m a Man”):
Well my Blog is very messy, got whiskers on my chin
Never had no problems ’cause I’ve always paid the rent
I got no time for lovin’
Cause my time is all used up
I sit inside creatin’
All groovy kinds of posts and tweets
I’m a pundit, yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Oh baby
I’m a pundit, yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Yes I am
If I had my choice of matter
I would rather be with a marketer cat
All engrossed in mental chatter,
Showing where my mind is at
While relating to each other
How strong pharma social media can be
By resisting all the good times with each groovy tweet we see
I’m a pundit yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Oooh, I’m a pundit, yes I am
I’m a pundit yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
I love to hear pharma marketers talk
I’ve got to keep my image
While I’m presenting at conferences
If I drop a name or two
It’s just to keep them on my Twitter follower list
You think that I’m not human
And my heart is made of stone
But I’ve never had no problems
And my opinions are pretty well received
I’m a pundit yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes I know
I’m a pundit yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Oooh
Pundit yes I am and I can’t help but love pharma so
Good god I love pharma so, love pharma so
(Alright! Maybe not that much!)
