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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 …….

  1. are the owner of a really dumb phone.
  2. were the 743,127, 698th person to join Facebook.
  3. refer to any social media medium as “The….”, example, “The Facebook”.
  4. think LinkedIn is a type of fence to keep the dogs in.
  5. believe HootSuite is a type of hotel for owls.
  6. hear the term “hashtag” and instantly think of the movie “Dazed and Confused” or any Cheech and Chong flick.
  7. actually believe you are the Mayor or Duke of Starbucks because your phone says so.
  8. see the “@” symbol and wish you could draw your “a’s” that way.
  9. have never seen a “blog” in the wild and still unable to google a picture of one.
  10. are still not sure what type of animal a RSS is and what you should feed it.
  11. think YouTube is a type of clothing similar to a tube top.
  12. hear the term “tweet” and think of Tweetie Pie from childhood cartoons.
  13. 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.

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