To start off, his statement that, "Many social-media 'experts' insist that a 'two-way conversation' between marketers and consumers is the whole point of social, and anything less than that is a reflection of outdated, broadcast-style thinking. " While it's true that a two-way conversation plays an important role in social media, it's far from being the "whole point" of social efforts. Sure, engagement can be considered a sign of success but social also supplements traditional marketing and advertising efforts. Social media is just another form of communicating.

He goes on to position a social media practitioner’s view of the “unengaged”, listening audience as a bad thing. I can’t obviously speak for the entire industry, but here at CM we value "listening" consumers. We know that many types of people make up a brand’s online community. If we have audience members who opt in with a “like” or “tweet” and are receptive to consuming our messages, well that’s considered a good thing. Even if they never say a darn thing!