Social Media Expert is a bogus job title
Google Results for "Social Media Expert"
Once again today I was befriended by at least two half-wits on Twitter advertising themselves as Social Media Experts. I’m all for getting a few more followers and I’m all for coining new phrases (or bringing back old ones like Digital Footprint) but this whole concept of being a social media expert simply escapes me. So, I did a quick search and got about 90,300,000 hits on social media expert. That’s frickin’ amazing! Social media didn’t even exist three years ago.
What I’m wondering is who made up the qualifications for being a social media expert and how steep is the learning curve from novice to social media super nerd? The way I see it my little sister was using MySpace and Facebook long before some of these so-called experts even knew what a notification was so by that scale I’d say my sister is also a social media expert.
I honestly think that most of these people believe that since they have accounts on Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Ning (and god knows how many other sites) and they’re interacting with users on those sites on a regular basis they just might be a social media expert. Come to think of it Jeff Foxworthy could probably come up with a “….you might be social media expert” bit for his next spot on Conan with a brief survey of my followers on Twitter. Is there a certification test I missed along the way? Was I absent the day they were handing out diplomas at social media school? How many of these social media bitches have a profile on Friendster dating back to July of 2003?
I don’t believe there is such as thing as a social media expert and in another year that title will be just as stupid as calling yourself an Andrew Tobias’ Managing Your Money Expert. You see social media is just another tool in the toolbox. It’s no different than your website, your radio advertising your TV spots or your PPC campaign. You can’t JUST be a social media expert and remain successfull because like everything else in this world even the technology illiterate will figure out how to use social media at some point then you’re once again out of a job.
So, I say stay away from every self-proclaimed social media expert and continue doing business with the professionals you trust with your marketing and development. If those people are worth their salt they’ve been using social media concepts and technology for years now (we were buidling communities and blasting out text message three years ago on David St. Romain’s site). Your trusted advisors and technology specialists are not just using social media they’re building social media, they’re integrating social media and when the next new flashy technology comes along they’ll be using that long before the next Wizz Bang Experts know what hit them.
Before you decide to hire your own social media expert take a weekend and learn how to use Facebook and LinkedIn on your own time. Trust me, if these jokers can figure it out you’re well on your way! If you still think you need help at least take a look at “Is Your Social Media Expert Really an Expert” cross-posted on shankman.com and prsarahevans.com.
