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If you Google the term “social media expert” you will find tons of posts and writings on the topic. I have met many so called “experts”, several whom contribute to blogs and a few that have written papers and even books regarding this topic. I was recently amazed to find a collection of these experts were unable to provide a Twitter handle, because they did not have an account!
So let me boil it down, You may not be a social media expert if you …….
- are the owner of a really dumb phone.
- were the 743,127, 698th person to join Facebook.
- refer to any social media medium as “The….”, example, “The Facebook”.
- think LinkedIn is a type of fence to keep the dogs in.
- believe HootSuite is a type of hotel for owls.
- hear the term “hashtag” and instantly think of the movie “Dazed and Confused” or any Cheech and Chong flick.
- actually believe you are the Mayor or Duke of Starbucks because your phone says so.
- see the “@” symbol and wish you could draw your “a’s” that way.
- have never seen a “blog” in the wild and still unable to google a picture of one.
- are still not sure what type of animal a RSS is and what you should feed it.
- think YouTube is a type of clothing similar to a tube top.
- hear the term “tweet” and think of Tweetie Pie from childhood cartoons.
- clicked on any of these links to find out what they are!
In all seriousness can some really be a social media expert? Social media has so many uses and there are tons of tools. You can be a strategist, because you create strategies around social media or an enthusiast if you love social media and push it’s use for different campaigns.
So please stop using this term as a title! If someone calls you an expert, take it as a compliment but refrain from revamping your business cards and updating your LinkedIn account.
