So you’ve dabbled in Twitter, have a semi-updated Facebook page, and really don’t see any need to invest additional time? Unfortunately, that means you’ve just lost a chance at winning a 2012 Mercedes C250 coupe. There are heaps of strategies when it comes to using social media for your business, but is Mercedes’ giveaway really on the verge of something groundbreaking in the Twit-o-sphere?

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Mercedes has recently announced a race unlike any other. The race, really more of a contest, consists of four teams driving Mercedes cars from four different cities to Dallas. The teams, based in Tampa, LA, New York and Chicago, will race their Mercedes to Dallas while having to overcome unknown challenges that will undoubtedly come via social media. Along with being the first to arrive in Dallas, teams will be scored on their Twitter and Facebook posts and status updates to determine who wins the Mercedes C250 and tickets to the Super Bowl.

Okay, this all sounds intriguing until one questions how the participants are chosen. The marketing formula reads like a (recent) college textbook on PR. The participants are picked by Mercedes based on the applicants’ geographic region, Twitter Klout scores, and the reach of their social media. The question of why they would choose applicants on this criteria is disappointingly apparent. Geographic diversity via three time zones including the three largest cities in the US? Check. Reputable social media gurus, ninjas, and pixies with followers to hang on their every word? Check. Competent social media users that can reach the corners of the social media universe? Check. I can certainly forgive the obvious logic behind the event, but I am not convinced that this measurement of reach will succeed in going viral. Seemingly an attempt at reality TV on Twitter, this big-ticket social-media effort is missing much of what draws people to reality TV…TV.

There will surely be engaging video clips, great sound bites and thousands of tweets that the participants are required to submit as part of their score. However, in similar TV programs, like The Amazing Race, people care less about the prize that some stranger wins than they do about getting to know the contestants and rooting for their favorites. The people I follow on Twitter offer something of value because of their knowledgebase and expertise. Reading a multi-day backlog of Tweets from people on a game-show is less than exciting. I also doubt their ability to capture my attention for the 15 minutes each morning that I’m actually reading tweets. One could compare the effort to be as stimulating and relevant as reading Paris Hilton, Miley Cyrus, Lindsey Lohan, and Jessica Simpson tweet their way to Tiffany’s to win a diamond necklace (minus the nauseating whining about how they have to ride in a C-class). I predict Mercedes ‘Tweet Race’ is an expensive social media flop that reaches the ninjas, mavens, and gurus, but is soon forgotten. Who’s with me?