(Disclaimer: I had already picked the topic of this week’s column before Geoff wrote the Takeaways from Beacon post. It’s not that I’m out to beat up Facebook – it’s that they make it so damned easy.)

A couple of weeks ago, I outlined four very simple ways to win an internet argument. Cast your opponent as one of the following, and thereby carry the moral justification to ignore anything further he has to say:

• You are Evil
• You are Greedy
• You are Stupid
• You are Sheep

Obviously, I was mocking the way most poor debaters sink to inconsequential ad hominem attacks as a way to disprove a statement. However, once a pattern of behavior becomes apparent, you have to ask yourself if one of the above isn’t possible.

Identifying Mistakes

One of the scariest aspects of embarking on Social Media is the lack of defined rules. There are places where you can bone up on the theory, but the handbooks for various applications are often outdated by new sites and technologies. Also, some of the primers that have “great advice” advocate unethical behavior.

The Social Media landscape is still – despite what anyone tells you – a frontier. The laws of the land are not engraved on stone tablets, but are instead enforced “by the community.” Well, by Deity, it sure would be easier to follow the rules if we knew what they were, and weren’t prone to shifting all the time. Social Media is for now a field of Wild West Justice – a place where self-appointed sheriff’s can issue their own black hats and wanted posters. Hence, the proclivity to do what one wants.

Why do they do it?

There are many examples of Social Media bungles, from the aforementioned Facebook Beacon experiment, to fake blogs, to social sites that hijack your address book and spam others. All very different lapses, but are they symptoms of something larger? I put the question to several people I know:

CALL FOR INPUT: What is the source of Social Media bungling? Greed? Stupidity? Bad intentions? Lack of defined standards? Or other?

The results were mixed.

Greedy, Greedy, Greedy

Jason Falls: Brands/Companies/Advertisers thinking communication is a one-way street.

Mike Keliher: Bungling by businesses/businesspeople? It’s the inability (for now, at least) to think past one’s own office. Self-centered. That’s the root cause, at least in large part, for much of what’s generally referred to as “typical marketing BS.”

Susan Getgood: Thinking people are stupid and won’t connect a and b. trying to assert control when the better course is to start conversation.

Uninformed?

Peter Shankman: not thinking before posting is the source of social media bungling.

Evan Keller: Depends on the situation, but often good intentions not completely thought through. Ignorance.

Dave Fleet: I’d say a lack of understanding of social media & its implications… e.g. trying to retain tight control, no transparency, etc.

Rob La Gesse: Laziness, lack of concern for your customer, failing to realize who your customer is. Add in a dash or arrogance and greed

Other

Todd Defren: Social Media bungling stems from a desire to find short-cuts where none exist.

Rachel Luxemburg: There is no one source; everyone makes mistakes for different reasons. Lack of universal standards is a big one though.

The big problem

And this brings us back to what may become a real problem for Social Media. If the “Gold Rush” to cash in on these technologies comes too quickly, we may end up with a totally lawless frontier. Those who intentionally set forth to manipulate and misrepresent might just yield enough short-term gains to make the enterprise profitable for others to emulate. Sure, the “gains” disappear as the deception is exposed. But it’s not like you invested the time it takes to build a real community.

This is a piece I genuinely worry about – the ROI of Negative Social Media. I’m not yet sure what that formula looks like, but if we see the same rogues’ gallery committing the same offenses repeatedly, we can only conclude that someone has figured a way to game communities and prosper on the sly.

The only way we avoid that scenario is if enough community members reject the manipulation and vote with their feet. And quite frankly, I’m not so certain enough have the gumption. This is the Wild West, after all, and we’re making our own Cowboy Code every time we click to buy. Every unchallenged encroachment – no matter how insidious or ignorant it might be – is an invitation to continue. We will get the web we deserve.