I know — consumers are in control. Brands feel as if they must dive right in to social media and participate. But some do hold back. And the hesitation is understandable because maybe they know deep down they shouldn’t dive in — or need to consider in what ways they want to. Maybe the brand is not a follower, maybe it doesn’t have to check off that box of “chatting with customers.” Maybe it’s a leader and is just getting confused by this being, for the moment, the age of following. A question to ask is, “Should I be joining the conversation or is that a cop-out?” Maybe what some marketers should be doing is stimulating other people to have a conversation about them. All the new social media tools are not about brands, but are about empowering communication among regular people.