Eric Colburn, PLS

Social Media, Old Media, and the Professional Land Surveyor

Yesterday I was doing my usual routine of checking into the various social media communities I frequent, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and I came across a link to an interesting forum post by the administrator of Land Surveyors United about why other surveying publications and sites will not link to Land Surveyors United. In general, Land Surveyors United feels it’s receiving a cold shoulder from the conventional media magazines and that its initiative to create a social network for professional land surveyors is being copied by one of them in particular. From my own personal experience, this is not at all surprising to me.

First, a little background

It is not surprising to me because of the first hand experience I had with one of the conventional media magazines that touts itself as social media and internet engaged, when in fact, as it turned out, they are really only interested in the appearance of building an online community and largely regurgitate their printed materials (which don’t get me wrong, their magazine is very well done). With this media company (which isn’t POB, by the way) I discovered that they value the business of producing a magazine and selling advertising over that of improving our profession. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, after all business is business, what I found particularly disturbing was their absolutely disingenuous use of social media, not as a community building tool, but as a rather jaded attempt to rig the system.

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