I do see what you’re saying though, many people have used social media as a medium to take an entrepreneurial approach to work outside the office. Even then though, an incredible amount of time (and probably some of the points within the list) are needed to truly ’succeed.’

When I get burned out of someone, or their ideas aren’t fresh to me for whatever reason I remove them, from the reader and find someone else that resonates with me. I’ll revisit that other blogger again at a later time.

But seriously, I think you’re dead on here. The reason some people are successful is because they put in the time and effort, while other people who say “I don’t understand this” or “this stuff is dumb” don’t.

I think a key trait a lot of us “social media surfers” share is curiosity. Getting past the buzz, how can this stuff help, hurt, create opportunities, etc? Curiosity is a great thing.

Social media surfing is great because it allows you to learn from the experiences of others (next best thing to learning from your own experiences), and this isn’t possible unless people are sharing these.

Surf’s up!

But that’s also the exciting part, and I think you’re right that those who are successful (at whatever level) are those who have that passion for it and those who learn to navigate it best. Your analogy is also spot-on — you can’t jump on a board and expect to ride the wave…and even if you do just that, you’re bound to hit the water, go under, sooner or later.

I think those who really take the time to learn, who connect with and learn from others, and who experiment for themselves will be the ones who are able to stay on the board the longest. So to speak.

Great post, thanks!

“and they’re in this space because it is what interests them; what they’re passionate about.”

Generally people working in social media are working a lot on their own and if you don’t want to do the work then you won’t do it. So the want and desire to work in social media is the most important tip to success.