When I tell friends and family my title at my job(s), they look thoroughly confused. "What the heck does a social media manager/coordinator do?" I can easily tell them what I do on a daily basis, but the position could translate to a lot of things depending on who you ask. Since social media does not have a set definition, you can't apply for 7 jobs expecting the same 7 tasks. Here are 7 things that you be able to expect from this job:

1. The Community Manager: If the company you're working for has an online community, you could be somewhat the moderator, making sure things are going smoothly, discussions are productive, and members are happy. You'd be the go-to guy or gal who answers everyone's questions, also known as the online persona of the brand. You may even be asked to make branded videos.
2. The Tweeter: Many companies just think social media = Twitter because that's the first time they even heard the phrase. For those who are newer to the whole idea, you may be the person growing a Twitter following and tweeting out information revolving around the brand.
3. The Blogger: They've been hearing about blogs for years now and they keep reading that it's a necessity to have one. If you're the blogger, you will be their nice content mill, pushing out article after article, sometimes regardless of quality. If you're in this position, please be sure to encourage an editorial calendar to keep yourself sane and the company relevant.
4. The SEO: Same thing right? Wrong. But many people don't know that. Social media marketing and search engine marketing are two different avenues. You may be tricked into including meta here, keywords there, and you may hear "page rank" about ten times a day.
5. The Voter: Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon. They want votes! You may have been recruited to get as many votes as you can through these well known sites. More exposure to more people huh? Well, only if you have a big and reliable network. Be sure to reiterate that when they're asking "where are the results?"
6. The Salesperson: You're pushing product/services to any and everyone who will listen. Asking for reviews on Yelp, intruding on people's personal Twitter conversations, harassing friends and family to "like" your company's page. Be careful about being sucked into this "social media" position.
7. The Messiah: No, you are not God, or Jesus, but the company would like you to be. They want you to do everything under the sun. "What's a good Foursquare special?" "We want 1,000 followers by tomorrow night!" "How come your sister doesn't 'like' us?" "How many diggs do we have?" "Where do we rank for this keyword?" Your head just might explode if you get another inquiry and people saying "I don't get it but make it work!"

The fact of the matter is, no, social media is not new; it's just more mainstream. Everyone wants to be a part of it and everyone wants success from it. It's an overused phrase and sometimes incorrectly used. Make sure when you're applying for positions in this industry, you know exactly what your role is and that you have the relevant experience.

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