Lots of people use automation or some kind of staff to work on their social media presence. This is hot stuff and most influential people want to make sure they are also using these new channels. Those who are already famous may set up accounts that generate massive hordes of followers, while people who’d like to be more prominent use inexpensive scripts to help build their accounts.

I am not against automating some social media activities. I use various strategies to repost original content (like this short piece) to various blogs and other Web sites, and I use automation for several of my Twitter accounts, including a little bit on my primary account. I’ve seen others use automation well to one extent or another.

But what must be stressed about social media practice is that the human touch is absolutely essential. Politicians who use auto-following to boost Twitter accounts end up with a bunch of spammers and questionable content in their lists; celebrities who pay no attention to their social media accounts end up alienating more fans than they win; and scripters with no interaction or curation end up having as much impact at the falling tree that no one hears.

Creating worthwhile content is not easy. That’s why writing and editing are a time-honored and valued professions. Social media lowers a lot of barriers to entry, but shortcuts are no substitute for the human touch.

Candi on Content: Creating a Culture of Customer Service

Beth’s Blog: American Red Cross social media and Social Media Listening Literacy for Nonprofits (wiki)

GovLoop’s gov-related hashtag directory

Apps 4 Edmonton

5 tools for finding local tweeps

Governments find Twitter effective at combating rumors

Andrea DiMaio: How Much Innovation is Enough for Government?

OMB Guidance on cookies and third-party Web apps (pdfs)

from our eyes to yours:Facebook CEO promises 1 billion users

John F. Moore takes an opening crack at characterizing “The Social Ecosystem”

Team Newsom twitpics Russian President Medvedev’s first tweet

Andrea DiMaio: When Public Servants Make the Difference

Alan W. Silberberg: Monopolies, Gov 2.0 and Community

Have you seen Gadi Ben-Yehuda’s new blog topic? Gov 2.0 – Governing the Digital Landscape

… which will address this sort of topic: Who Owns Public Crime Data?

Lockheed Martin lab to look at social media in emergencies

Mass.gov shares the secret sauce of its Web usability testing

Kicking off an SF Gov 2.0/OpenGov unconference

Startup allows Congressmembers to buy their own on-demand cable channels

Coming up quick, the Next Generation of Government Summit by our friends at GovLoop

Four for today:Doug Bastien: Forming a Modern Community in Government

Nick Charney: Eat or Be Eaten

Nancy Scola: Health Care Reform – The Website

Center for American Progress protests DC Apple store over Congo conflict minerals