11.24.2008

on social media specialists.

I saw this gapingvoid cartoon today, and immediately came to a gut reaction.


The concept of a social media specialist is one of those transitional holdovers that will seem almost embarrassingly quaint in the not-too-distant future.

Most 'social media experts' have about the same level of skill with social media as the average western teenager, but usually lack the same fluency, the same level of intimacy.  The difference is, they see it as a new frontier, and interesting realm of communication to study and hopefully leverage effectively.  But social media isn't an interesting quirk of how young people talk - it's an essential part of communication for the internet generation, and it's only going to get more integral as it shifts to mobile.

Having a social media expert will very quickly be like having a telephone expert: essential only when your company is staffed with people who clearly do not understand that the world has changed.

We are heading quickly to the point where everyone has to be a social media expert.  We are already at the point where anyone who gets labelled as part of a company's younger generation should already be one, and should know that bragging about it is like claiming proficiency with email.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great telephone analogy.

It's saddening that I see/know people in these positions. Someone that is excited and wants you to get excited about twitter, but is only there to spur excitement not effective use.

Same person wants you to be more excited about new Guns N Roses music, so take that for what it's worth.