Why We Named Our WordPress Plugin Social Warfare

Since introducing our first plugin, Social Warfare, into the world back in November 2014 we have occasionally gotten asked about the name. So for those who are curious, I wanted to give a bit of backstory and reasoning as to why we felt the name Social Warfare was perfect for what we were trying to build.

The Backstory

I’m the one who selected the name of the plugin and the team supported me for two reasons:

1. I’m an American Soldier and they didn’t mind that the name was a direct reflection of that.

2. Managing social, as with any aspect of business, requires many of the same ingredients that a soldier requires to be successful such as dedication, hard work, discipline, solid tactics and strategies, a clearly defined mission/goal, dependable equipment, and so on.

I owe pretty much all of my business successes to the lessons that I’ve learned from my time the United States Army. Being a soldier fills my heart with pride and I’m honored at the many ways that Jason T. Wiser and Dustin W. Stout have shown their support of both myself and my brothers and sisters in uniform.

The Reasoning

The idea was originally supposed to be something along the lines of, “Win the Battle for Attention Online” or something like that. Because in today’s fast-paced social world, it’s not easy to stand out from an ever-growing crowd of people seeking to grab as much attention as they possibly can.

All of us on the team are pretty competitive. We even have fun competing against each other from time to time to see who can find an obscure reference or something like that. And that’s probably why we’ve all done respectively well in our own ventures.

But for the most part, it’s not about beating someone else.

I often tell folks that there’s only one person whose backside I’m really trying to stomp. It’s not my competitors who I’m trying to crush. It’s certainly not clients, customers, or friends that we make on Social Media. The only person that I want to stomp is yesterday’s version of myself.

In other words, I want to keep pushing myself to be better, more productive, and more successful every day.

A Unique Political Context

It was actually some time after we named the plugin that I was reminded of the political context of the term Social Warfare. In that political context, this term refers to a conflict between different classes of society like the rich, wealthy classes versus the lower classes.

At first, this sort of bothered me, but as I thought on it, it dawned on me that this tells an amazing story about what this plugin is and what it helps us all to accomplish.

In traditional media marketing, you need a hefty bankroll to get your message heard. I don’t know about you, but I certainly can’t afford to produce and purchase a time slot for a Superbowl advertisement. That medium is reserved for companies with multi-million dollar marketing budgets.

The amazing thing about social media, however, is that it levels the playing field. Armed with the right information and the right tools, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs can be as successful, or often more successful, than the billion dollar companies at connecting, engaging, and getting your message heard.

And that is at the heart of Social Warfare. Our goal is to empower small businesses and entrepreneurs. All of us want to work hard, use solid tactics, get our message heard, and provide better futures for our families and children.