Social media is all the rage at this year’s SAS Global Forum.

There’s a “Twitter Wall” outside the demo area featuring a steady stream of tweets about the conference. (The hashtag for this year’s event is #sgf10.)

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jim Davis (@Davis_Jim) sent his second-ever tweet from the stage at Opening Session. (He also picked up a number of new followers in the process.)

Heck, I even did some live tweeting from the First-Timers’ Session on Sunday afternoon. (You can follow me at @chad_austin.)

Bob Hirschfeld, however, has a different take on social media. He says you’re better off with a “foe list” than a “friend list” on Facebook so you’ll know who to keep your eye on. Hirschfeld, a self-described “cybersatirist”, offered an irreverent, yet hysterical look at all things technology during a comedic keynote address during Monday’s Technology Connection session.

“If you think about it, social media actually has made us like emotional 2-year-olds,” Hirschfeld said. “Because that was the last time we felt the need to shout out everything we’re doing.”

Two-year-old: “Look at me jump up and down.” Corresponding tweet: “Doing aerobics at the Y.”

Two-year-old: “I’m drinking from my Sippy cup.” Corresponding tweet: “Having a Mocha chino at Starbucks.”

Two-year-old: “I go weeeee when I’m on the swing.” Corresponding tweet: “Playing Super Swing Golf on my Wii.”

Hirschfeld acknowledged that some people use social media to share legitimate information (even if they do try to take credit for being the one who shared it.) Helping businesses make sense of the information being shared and disseminated through social media channels is a big reason SAS developed SAS® Social Media Analytics and announced its launch in Seattle.

Now organizations want to know what all of those emotional 2-year-olds are saying about their brand, and SAS is giving them The Power to Know®.

By Chad Austin, SAS Internal Communications