Happy 2015! I’m not one for making resolutions or the like in January, but good luck to you if you are of that nature. I AM however hoping to become a little more regular of a blogger again this year, in spite of the fact that I waited until the 17th day to even log in to the darn thing!
There IS something that’s been on my mind quite a bit the last few weeks and it’s even kept me up at night once or twice (quite a feat if you know how well I sleep). I have finally decided it’s time to put fingertip to keyboard and get it out for all the world (well, 10ish of my closest friends anyway) to see and comment on.
We are in the middle of an epidemic of folks who claim to be Social Media Experts (And yes, you can usually hear the caps in their voices when they say it). It’s my experience that most of these people are full of shit.
Merriam-Webster defines the word expert as “Having or showing special skill because of what you have been taught or what you have experienced”. So, let’s say I tell you I am an expert plumber. In order for you to believe me I had darn will better to able to demonstrate technically sound plumbing skills and have years of experience in the business. I should also be able to give you references to past satisfied clients and information on what training and certifications I have earned in my field. Owning three wenches and having DVR’d a few HGTV shows on plumbing wouldn’t make you an expert. Neither would your having watched your uncle fix your sink once.
By the same token, having your own blog, an active Facebook account and Twitter feed doesn’t make you (or me) a social media expert. Neither does having attended a couple seminars or having set up a Facebook business page for your Tupperware business. You should need to have a proven, verifiable, and successful track record working in social media before you can claim “expertise”, just as you would have to in any other field. Without that, you’re just a fraud.