Who are the social media experts?
In what is no more than a coincidence of timing – Friday’s coffee mornings had Fridley and I discussing the upcoming Digital Citizen’s event So You Think You’re A Social Media Expert? - and my rant on how suddenly it’s popular to slam on people who work in the industry – even by other people who work in the industry too – to make yourself look better.
Katie Chatfield has articulated what true expertise meant, but she’s one of few who can – big thanks KFC.
We’re trying to talk about an emergent discipline. We’re all still making up the language as we go…we’re all still a bit muddled and unordered in our thinking because what (I think) we’re doing is in the Complex and Chaotic realms.
Anyways, here it is. I edited it down a little, as it seemed I was a little fired up when I wrote. See you tonight (or follow #digicitz).
When did it become cool to not-know
We need to start playing a little nicer.
I love how it’s become really cool to ‘not’ be an expert in social media. How by one calling out someone else as ‘oh he’s a social media “expert”‘ one can raise one’s authority. What a load of FHS when you all use these pseudo-social-media-expert titles and feel free to critique and criticse the work of others when all you’ve done is set-up a couple of accounts for a brand or two.
But has anyone outright called themselves an expert in our little industry? I’ve yet to hear anyone say it.
All you’ve done is torn down the industry to make yourself look better and instilling fear into others. Isn’t that was less intellectual school-yard cool kids and bullies do to others?
No one wants to be seen calling themselves as an expert, but still some people want to be scene (sic) – and for example, end up with Twitter biographies like ‘social media enthusiast’ – but as soon as they land a real title, well then it’s okay of course.
No wonder the social media industry has a credibility problem. The article articulates the way:
- We talk too much about the value of our time rather than putting it to good use.
- We cannibalize our own.
- We’re intolerant of missteps.
- We talk about conversation, but we focus a great deal on the tools. And, on ourselves.
Next time some one calls out someone else for being an expert: look at their intentions – fear of looking stupid or wanting to place themselves above others.
Play nice.
I began writing this when an article Daniel Moisyeyev in GWP Media Business magazine came out.
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About Jye
Jye Smith is currently the Digital Strategist for Weber Shandwick Australia. Ranked in B&Ts 30 Under 30, he's a regular keynote speaker and workshop facilitator who specialises in digital strategy, social media marketing, and change management.
Love how #coffeemornings plays catalyst to conversations like this. Does that make me an expert or an enthusiast…? :-)
More seriously, I hope tonight’s event will cover much of what is said above. It is an topic of conversation that worth having, and I am betting that we will be lucky enough to have more than one rant tonight…
Great article matey.
J
Cheers bro. and yes, great discussion. Makes you whoever you wish to be! But yep, can’t wait for tonight.
Hey Jye
Problem for me isn’t so much whether there is any expertise in an industry (of course there must be!) but when Self-proclaimed experts start dictating to others how things “should” be done.
Those guys are the #SMEGs – they exist in every industry to some extent, albeit under a different name in some.
I don’t work in the industry, but I flirt around the outside of it, and I’m looking forward to seeing some good responses tonight, both on stage and in the audience.
The measure for me will be are those who submitted pitches satisified with what they got from the panellists. And if they used what they got, perhaps we revisit in 6 months to see if the results were successful
See you later
Gavin
A great post – Social Media gets bad press for being so judgemental and negative towards others work and yet it lends itself to being the perfect industry for sharing and learning from others. I think #Digicitz tonight will spark some interesting debates. See you guys there. Katy
The irony is that I’ve seen a few instances where someone has genuinely been described as an SM expert by a happy customer/colleague/whatever and they’ve nervously backed away from the accolade for fear of the same associations. Not because they disagree, although modesty is also a factor, but because the term has now developed dual but polar opposite meanings.
I think it’s a classic case of a word or concept being systematically destroyed in a community through humour, irony and criticism, to the point that new forms of codified language takes it’s place. Language often develops it’s own baggage unique to particular communities. A not uncommon linguistic issue arises when some words evolve in usage within a group to mean the exact opposite of it’s literal meaning. “He says he’s an – ahem – ‘expert’.” The whole ‘bad becomes good’ thing. Another classic example is how the US has seen the word ‘liberal’ co-opted to mean everything from communist to weak-willed to anti-religious, pacifist, etc. Liberal is now used as an insult almost in the same way as we sometimes use ‘expert’, ‘guru’ or more recently, SMEG. But only within that community.
It may actually be time to either try to actively reclaim the word ‘expert’ – which means a concerted effort by everyone to avoid all the #smeg funnies and to back up claims – or to develop a new way of describing those that the community does genuinely hold in high regard.
(Yes, I’m a language junkie)
does anyone call themselves a social media expert?
well, yes. – http://bit.ly/9b8aMj
Does anyone have the right to call themselves a social media expert?
Absolutely. Some of us have published academic papers on the field. Some have been working in this field as long as it’s been around. Some of us are just really good at what we do.
How do we deal with our credibility problem? By calling out bullshit when we see it, recognising it in ourselves, being reflective and accepting, and by arguing in good faith. Don’t brush off criticism with passive aggressive comments, don’t call people darling, don’t flounce, don’t make appeals to authority. Show your evidence, show your reasoning.
How about taking EXPERTISE from a market-value POV?
When you can charge $200-$1000 per hour of consulting, and have the next couple of months booked out – maybe then you can call yourself an EXPERT?
just a thought…
It’s a sign of a growing, maturing if you will, industry. Not much different to other fledgling industries.
There are people that “know stuff” and people that “know” stuff. Former are generally happy to share their knowledge and are humble in realising just how much it is they still need to learn to attain expertise in a small part of the existing field of knowledge. The latter know a little bit about everything, but what sets them apart is their undying wish to tell everyone that would listen (or sometimes even those that really don’t want to) just how great they are and how much they know.
Don’t shy away from being called an expert in a certain area – if that title is granted by those in good standing in the industry. There is a good way to shut down those that like to say they’re not an expert on something: thank them for their time and ask them if they know someone that is an expert. Clearly your time is more valuably spent talking to expert than those that openly bask in their ignorance.
~ Don’t think / Dumb is strength ~
Way-back-when SM wasn’t all that, there was pretty much the same thing going on in SEO. Industry members would continually shoot down the thought leaders for personal gain. And believe you me, there are thousands of “SEO Experts” out there.
With that in mind I would say this is nothing new. However… in SM I really believe it’s a different kettle-of-fish, everyone is so concerned about their reputation that some will do almost anything to be “known”. I think the “SMEG” labelling is used purely as sarcastic dig, which in my experience, can sometimes be sparked from something as simple as jealousy.
There’s an old saying that springs to mind, “Don’t bad-mouth competition”.
The issue is that, like for SEO, too many people consider themselves as Social Media Experts (or “Warrior”, “Ninja”…) but most of them are just pure BS.
Social Media is not only promoting a company via Facebook…
[...] Jye has asked me to recreate a Coffee Morning rant. I’ll do my best…. [...]
What are Social Media experts actually experts in?
Does knowing that you can comment on blogs constitute social media expertise? Or must you be able to code in html to develop a customised tab in a Facebook Page? Do you become an expert in social media by knowing how many people log on to Facebook every day or how many videos are uploaded to YouTube every second?
Call me a pedant but did ‘print media experts’ precede ‘social media experts’?
I don’t think they did, because its not possible to be an expert in a form or type of media, particularly social media which is – as Katie Chatfield points out – a constantly morphing, dynamic and organic, not to mention vast entity.
I think the correct terminology if you are proficient and proven as someone who can engage and motivate an audience via social media in an effective way is Social Media Marketing Expert.
And if you’re adept and qualified as a creator of social media applications and technologies then you’re a Developer.
Kinda agreeing with Daniel Young here. My take is that “social media” is both too narrow and too broad an area to claim expertise in.
Too narrow because most clients do not have a “social media” issue – they have an issue with marketing, PR, community engagement, collaboration, worker productivity or something else. Social media may be a part of the solution but “social media expert” sounds a lot like “hammer salesman” to me (“That may look like a customer retention problem but it’s actually a nail – trust me, I’m an expert”).
Too broad because all this “social media” stuff is quite diverse – Twitter, blogs, social networks, wikis, YouTube, etc. It’s fine for someone to claim technical expertise in WordPress or setting up Facebook pages or even managing a Twitter feed. I am less convinced by someone claiming everything.
Play nice. Had to be said. Well done Jye.
Jye. nice one. Of course the biggest experts are those being social. Just as we are having our conversation with you here or that chat to be had over a beer later is social.
I guess the question is really more about why is the question asked, for whose benefit is the question being asked and then are we reacting to others comments because they threaten a way of thinking.
Is it about advertising? Is it about making money? Is the discussion about how we use tools to communicate and are ability to manipulate others?
I don’t know if any of these questions or the comments being made are correct or not. For the way I see it is quite simple. We need our assumptions to be challenged. It should enable us to change and adapt when required and also to confirm our beliefs.
If you being prompted to rant and pose new ways for us to see the industries we work in then I say bring on the prompts. And as for being nice. Since when was business nice?
;-))
[...] is a playing field that can’t be learned unless you actively play in it (again common sense). As Jye quotes Katie Chatfield, it’s an ‘emergent discipline,’ in which ‘we’re all still making [...]
The other sense I am getting is that we’re currently into the Trough of Disillusionment re: social media at the moment (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hype_cycle ). The end of the beginning if you will.
How come my comment got filtered Jye? Huh?
Mate – totally unsure where it went – nothing was in the moderation file. Strange! Try and re-post for me.
The reason why SM has a credibility problem is it uses expressions like ‘this will change things forever’ and ‘total revolution’ too much … it has a sense of overbearing smugness that I don’t think is really earned. Actually, no industry (especially in advertising/comms/whatever it’s called today) really has the right to talk in such dramatic terms.
Secondly, being a ‘social’ media expert is as tiring as being a ‘digital strategist’. Why the need to specify it … does that mean a digital strategist has no idea about strategy within broadcast or face to face? Does a social media expert struggle to understand anything that isn’t deemed ‘social’?
Less talk and more action and I think more people would take it seriously. Talkfests are great but to the outsider they can look like a massive group reach around … and no one gets off on that apart from those involved.
I totally agree with your first points.
Your second point however I think is – yep, they lack experience in other strategy areas. Which I think is okay – I want to see them learn them (even if in stages). For me, digital is a step to doing bigger brand strategy.
And agreed on your last point. Less talk, more action. But if talk inspires action, then all for it.
hi jye – re the second point … i think we’re saying the same thing effectively. i feel a lot of sense and approach of ‘social media’ strategy mirrors ‘communication’ strategy and those skills and transferrable. The thing is, i’m not sure how many people in SM (aside yourself) want to eventually be crafting strategy across all channels. Seems like an opportunity to me.
[...] few weeks ago I read a blog post by Jye Smith titled “Who are the social media experts?” It was a great post and his closing statement really resonated with me “play [...]
I wrote recently in a blog post of mine that from a business perspective it’s good to have a social media ‘know it all’, but they are not much value if they don’t know much about your business.
You need a balance of both to become a valuable asset to the company your are running SM on behalf, whether that is an individual or agency.
http://glloyd75.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/so-who-needs-a-social-media-manager/
[...] topic in Sydney social media circles this week. There has been some debate about what constitutes a social media expert, our attitude to those who claim to be one, and even whether it is possible to be an expert in such [...]
[...] topic in Sydney social media circles this week. There has been some debate about what constitutes a social media expert, our attitude to those who claim to be one, and even whether it is possible to be an expert in such [...]