Commentary

25 Signs Your Social Media Guru is a Hack

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I try not to make a habit of giving up the mic, but sometimes I come across something so good it needs to be shared (all social media-like). Thus today I am proud to direct your attention to 25 signs that your social media consultant might be a hack, composed by bona fide social media expert Peter Shankman and his partner Sarah Evans and first posted on Shankman's blog. If you have additional warning signs that you'd like to add, I believe you can do so in the comments section of Shankman's blog, and of course here as well. IA few of these were so amusing (and potentially truly helpful) I had to share them here.

"There's a new phenomena of people declaring themselves social media experts. We've actually heard from firms who pushed someone to become their resident social media expert because the person was on Facebook," Shankman and Evans write, before launching into problem No. 2 with so-called social media expertism: "And we don't want to see people getting scammed by self-touting experts ready to make a quick buck."

Not that Shankman and Evans think there are "very many people who could, or should in all honesty, be called social media experts."

To wit, a few our favorite items: 

  • They call themselves an "evangelist," "guru" or "expert," but noone else does.
  • Everything they learned about social media they learned by reading blog posts (i.e. no application). You can learn a ton about sex from reading Kinsey's manuals, but I'd still rather be with someone who has some practical experience.
  • Their resume doesn't include anything that has to do with social media (i.e. no results using social media). And no, having a Twitter account doesn't cut it.
  • Their firm has added social media as an additional service (as opposed to integrating it into a comprehensive PR approach). If they say "And we'll do Facebook and Twitter!" beware.
  • Any use of the term "MySpace" unless you're only targeting 14-year-old males, or independent bands.
  • Their networks don't reflect that they are connected. (You should probably research them before hiring them. If their blog hasn't been updated since 2004 yet they tweet every time they take a slurp of Yogurt, something's up.)
  • Any case studies they present only involve very big companies with very big budgets
  • There's a pay structure that includes a pay-per-post model. Run very far away, very fast.
  • After you work with them you're just as confused as when you started.
Again, the entire list can be found here
5 comments about "25 Signs Your Social Media Guru is a Hack".
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  1. Todd Tilley from Wrecking Ball Media, May 5, 2010 at 3:22 p.m.

    Very Amusing - Here's another: Every time you ask a question for clarification they ask you a question in return or show you a new social tool.

  2. Jonathan Hall from American Pop, May 5, 2010 at 3:22 p.m.

    One more to add - They don't have and use the essential Social Media Profiles. You want someone or an agency who walk the walk!

  3. Ronald Stack from Zavee LLC, May 5, 2010 at 4:15 p.m.

    Great post (as was its source)!

    We are fortunate in having a community manager who I do regard as an expert in Social Media. One way I can tell is that she gets angry whenever we refer to her as such.

    True expertise speaks for itself.

  4. Nick Dimitrakiou from Convidence, May 5, 2010 at 5:02 p.m.

    Here's another - they talk about social as if its an "ad campaign".

  5. Jonathan Mirow from BroadbandVideo, Inc., May 5, 2010 at 6:25 p.m.

    Here's a sure sign, they spend a lot of time thinking social media will accomplish anything.

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