Too Many Chiefs…

Published
by
Matt
on Jan 22, 2009
in social media
. Tags: , , .

So Twitter is catching on more and more (something I have mixed, albeit mostly positive thoughts on, but that’s another post all together), and I’ve been noticing something recently:

I’m not sure I’m the only one who feels this way, but does it seem to you like every. single. person. on twitter is a “social media expert” or “web 2.0 guru” or something to that effect. I swear there should be one of those random title generators for this stuff. According to this.. I’m a… New Web Wizard! or The 2.0 Aficionado!

Now it’s not that I don’t believe there are true “experts” in social media, I do. And I’m defining “expert” here as someone who knows more than almost everyone else in a given field. Yes, I know social media is still evolving and changing, and we’re generally making up the rules as we go. That being said I still think that there are individuals out there that know more, have done more, and inspire more than 95% of us.

The funny thing is, many of the people that I would consider leaders in this space never say “social media expert” or something similar anywhere on their blog/profile/etc. People just know who they are.

So the problem is this: If experts lead the rest of us, and everyone is an expert, then who are they leading?

  • What a great question Matt...more like a riddle I'd say! :))

    Here's part of the issue...companies are so used to hiring "experts" and getting the best of the best but they don't realize for social media there are no experts or best of the best because it's still changing and being explored. But, there are people with experience and case studies. Edelman, is a good example. They might be considered experts from a corporate perspective, but look at how they handled Walmart's social media campaign (a lesson learned by all).

    My point is some folks might think they need to say they are an expert to get into a corporation as a consultant. Doesn't make it right or valid. Now as for the guru, ninja and other silly names...I don't have an excuse for them. ;-)
  • You're exactly right: the actual "experts" don't have expert or anything in their title because they don't care about being called an expert or guru...they just know a lot about the subject and enjoy helping people with it.

    All the "experts" and "gurus" who call themselves such are just trying to ride on the wave of such terms.
  • I think a lot of people who claim to be social media experts are just people who know how to use Twitter to get a lot of followers. (Which *yawn* isn't hard to do.) A lot of social media people I've seen on the internet rarely seem to look outside FaceBook and Twitter. They might occasionally mention Ning and MySpace. Given that, I think the people being led are other like minded people pre-disposed to the opinion of the same pack. That feels really cynical. Blah.
  • It's the blind leading the stupid & really just boils down to a name game; people trying to label themselves as something they are not. We see this with many executives who start their titles with Chief, add something catchy in the middle, & end with Officer. Really? Chief Strategy Officer? Really? Being president or CEO wasn't enough? Maybe you can now tell me about all the things you didn't really do but took credit for.

    The goal is to attract clients with things like..."Oh hey, work with us. We DO mobile & social media. We are THE experts because we use flashy multi-syllabic industry jargon."

    Arm yourself with a enough knowledge to ask pertinent questions & you'll quickly see these experts haven't a clue.
  • @Beth
    I think that it's a good insight to note that by calling themselves experts they hope to position themselves better with bigger companies/clients. I guess the problems happen when those companies can't see through that. Bonus points for the Edelman case! You are truly a comment Ninja/Wizard.

    @Tim
    I think you're right that some are just trying to "ride the wave". Social media expert? Everyone's doing it!

    @Laura
    Haha cynical but telling. I think there are a lot of people that get "tunnel vision" with the social media stuff and other stuff only really gets on their radar when mentioned by the "bigs" in the industry.
  • Matt, great discussion. I heard that once you get to 200 followers, Twitter automatically changes your bio to Social Media Expert.

    But seriously, I think the titles are reversed. The true experts are smart enough not to consider themselves experts, but those looking to join the club in the fishbowl try to use the term as their entrance to the club. So I guess companies should stay away from the experts and hire the "regular Joes".
  • @Brian
    Haha, I'm right there with you. I feel like maybe if I use more jargon, someone will call me an expert one day.

    @warrenss
    I have heard about that auto-expert feature on Twitter, funny. I do agree with you that maybe when you're looking for someone to do work in that area, don't like for the "experts"
blog comments powered by Disqus