Social Media Experts - do they actually exist?

In May 2009 B.L.Ochman used Tweepsearch to investigate peoples bios to see what they were describing themselves as - staggeringly there were 15,740 profiles who proclaimed to be some form of a social media 'expert'. Apparently there were over 800 'gurus', 79 'ninjas' and 68 social media 'stars'. Have a look at the list here - well worth a chuckle.

However there is a serious undertone to these findings. Pete Cashmore founder, of 'Mashable' (fast becoming my Bible), noted that social media as a 'growing industry needs trust and reputation' and that 'such stats provide fodder for those who would say that social media is simply hot air'. As Mr Cashmore explains, by 2012 this number will rise to over 30 million if the same increase in self-proclaimed 'experts' continues. With so many people claiming to be experts, it belittles the knowledge of  the select few who genuinely have specific expertise in the field. So why are so many people proclaiming that they are experts, and how can they possibly justify this without any certification available?

Quite frankly, I don't think they can. But they are allowed to claim they are 'experts'  because there is little we can do to prove they're not. Social media is still in its infancy (Twitter is barely 4 years old) and the wider public do not have the sufficient knowledge to question what they are being told. Moreover there are no set guidelines to prevent such claims. We here at The Jazz Cafe joined Twitter just over a year ago and back then I certainly wouldn't be confident in questioning what people were informing me - it took me 3 months to figure out what it was!

As you can see from B.L.Ochman's findings, rarely do people call themselves 'novices' or inexperienced...but they should! There's no shame in it. Social media is brand new for all of us and we're all trying to find our feet. Even those tweeters who are experienced are still learning every day from new tracking tools, new ways of infiltrating conversations etc. As that good old reliable information source Wikipedia will tell you 'by March 2010 Twitter recorded a 1,500% increase in the number of registered users and its staff had grown fivefold' - that is an incredible, phenomenal and unprecedented level of growth. 1500%!! We'd certainly welcome that growth in business here at The Jazz! With new divisions and software being created continuously I feel I can say with some justification that it is virtually impossible to be able to deal with 1500% growth to the extent you could profoundly become an 'expert' in any field at all.

I'm not claiming that those who profess to be 'experts' are not highly knowledgeable - they must have some experience/skills to back up their claims - but I do feel there is a certain level of 'jumping on the bandwagon'. More cynically individuals are being opportunist in taking advantage of people's naivety and businesses lack of patience. If you were to click on a social media 'expert's website it would be a rare occurrence to not discover they are selling a book or an alternate product under the guise of their superior social abilities.

It's this level of opportunism and applying it to self promotion that frustrates me. There are credible individuals and marketing companies out there who can genuinely help social media start-ups but they are, to a certain extent, being undermined by what Rohit Bhargava describes as 'Pretenders'. As 'Affiliate Marketing Tips' fittingly assert to B.L. Ochman's original findings, 'everybody's an expert these days (it) makes you wonder who to turn to for good advice'.

Mr Bhargava presents the first steps to a solution in his blog post 'The 12 Types Of "Social Media Experts"' as he categorises all those who claim to be 'experts'. All forms of commercial marketing have what Mr Bhargava describes (Designers, Strategists, Curators etc) so it's reasonable to apply these labels to it's newest division; Social Media. At The Jazz Cafe we now integrate Social Media into our overall marketing strategy, and we approach it exactly the same as everything else we do with a plan and a way of tracking success.

The only thing I would change about Mr Bhargava's categorisation of 'experts' is the removal of the word 'expert' entirely - I simply don't think it's possible to be a social media expert yet, and it probably never will be. One year on from joining twitter The Jazz Cafe's account has developed from meaningless advertising messages to an implemented strategic plan...and it's continually changing and improving. I firmly believe that social media is only going to get bigger and bigger and with this we will all have to keep learning new aspects and approaches day by day.

As Warren Whitlock tells B.L.Ochman 'if social media has taught us anything.. it's that we can't pretend anymore. Authenticity will prevail'. Hopefully 'experts' take note.

So does a Social Media Expert exist? I'll let Doubledown Tandino have the last word: 'The proof is in the pudding. Always.'


For more of my views on Social Media see my blog post 'Social Media in the Events Industry'.


See http://www.thejazzcafe.co.uk/ for up-to-date info on what's going on here.
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