When should organizations NOT pursue a social media strategy?

Noticed a very interesting question on Beth’s Blog the other day:

I’m on the hunt for stories about nonprofits and social media for the WeAreMedia project.   The story I’m looking for is about how a nonprofit organization considered a social media strategy and decided it wasn’t the right fit.

This got us to thinking… with all the very real benefits of social media in nonprofits and associations (and there are many!), are there some organizations that would benefit more from not jumping on the bandwagon? Some circumstances that would doom a social media strategy to be a waste of time and money?

We asked Sig VanDamme for his insight on “the hallmarks of an organization that should not pursue social media.” Here are some of what Sig says are the telltale signs that an organization is either not ready or not suited:

1. You don’t have champions willing to go the distance.
   Though you no doubt have some people inside the organization clamoring for a social media strategy (otherwise, why would you be pursuing one?), a successful adoption of blogging, forum partipation, or online communities requires early adopters to be put through the wringer – to participate in and evangelize your efforts unyieldingly during the startup period. Don’t have these people? Don’t count on getting through to the rest of your constituents.
2. There is too much competition within your organization.
   Though this may be more applicable to associations than nonprofits, the fact is that social media is collaborative by nature. In order for members to successfully adopt these tools, they need to be willing to cooperate, share, and take on the spirit of openness. A social networking site for the Upstate New York Homebuilder Association, for instance, probably wouldn’t flourish. With no one willing to divulge competitive information, what would people talk about?
3. Your constituents aren’t tech-savvy.
   Could the AARP benefit from a social media strategy? Hypothetically. But there are many organizations whose success at social media would require not just teaching constituents to interact with the organization in a new way, but overcoming a potentially deep-deated resistance to technology in the first place. Frankly, the obstacles to getting a social media strategy off the ground are daunting to begin with!

What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree with Sig? Other considerations? And if you do have any real-life stories of organizations that tried social media and then thought better of it, please head over to Beth’s Blog and help her out.