I attended New Media Atlanta yesterday. Advertised as “Social Media for Business”, I was anxious to hear the insights of many of the speakers, especially Chris Brogan and Jeff Turner. The excitement leading up the event was exhilirating as 140 characters described different people’s thoughts and anticipation of the event on Twitter. And after a difficult flood soaked week in Atlanta, this conference was the social respite needed for all us.

As we took our seats and logged on to our computers, I expected to see the New Media Atlanta program popping up on screens throughout the room. (Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix had decided to respect the environment by offering the day’s program online, instead of printing the program.) But as I looked up from my program, I saw a sea of screens with BackNoise.

As an event planner and speaker, I welcome constructive feedback from attendees in order to improve the experience. Unfortunately, what actually took place were nasty, hurtful comments by attendees that obviously went to the Kanye School of Audience Participation. BackNoise participants “hijacked” the conference and became the focus for many speakers, even from the very beginning. Jeff Turner had a prepared presentation which was aborted to discuss BackNoise and its effectiveness at a social media conference. And the day began. The “headsets” of BackNoise prevented its participants from hearing these comments. Their childlike behavior was embarrassing and cowardly. And here is why. The “Noise” became deafening. It was difficult to hear anything else. It drowned out the effectiveness of any of the speakers. The event organizers continued to address the thoughtful “noise” issues throughout the day and reacted quickly to many comments, i.e., timing, lunch, snacks, beverages, etc. I applaud them for this.
As Chris Brogan placed BackNoise on the stage screen, it became quieter in the room and those of us not involved all of the “noise” were able to hear him speak. Unfortunately, his comments fell on deaf ears to many that needed to hear what he had to say. We are all part of the social media community. Our relationships on and off-line are important. The trust we have in each other and the comments we share in our blogs and other social media help us learn from each other and move forward. This can be seen in our use of Twitter during the Atlanta flood earlier this week. Through the use of a hashtag, we were able to quickly follow-up and communicate issues between our followers to help each other. If we had used BackNoise during the #atlflood, I think it would have taken a different direction. I am not sure it would have been anonymous, and I think it would have been more constructive. So the use of a tool like BackNoise could be very useful.

So now I look at my reflection in the mirror. Our social media presence is a reflection of ourselves. It is a way of us being heard and seen through our words. As you post on your blog and comment on Twitter, are you sure you sent the right message? Is it a reflection of yourself? Can you recite the comments in the mirror and respect what you see? Can you trust what you hear? Do you wonder if there is “backnoise” in your reflection?