Every day I see seminars, books, podcasts, white papers given by social media "experts" and I wonder - what's makes them an expert? When I examine said expert's creds - I typically find this formulaic bio...
{Insert Expert name here} is an influential thought leader on Web strategy, interactive marketing, and social technologies. His experience reflects {insert number of years here - but a decade or more is best} in social media emerging technologies that stem from the brand side, agency side, and industry analyst perspective. {Expert Name} has {fill in number here}+ Twitter followers and his blog is recognized as a leading source on web strategies according to {insert source here}.
Previously, {insert expert's name} was a Senior Analyst at {insert analyst company here, e.g. Forrester} focused on social computing for the interactive marketer. Prior to that, he was the Director of Corporate Media Strategy at {insert short lived start up here}. He also served as the Intranet Architect for {insert trade association here}. An accomplished speaker, {expert} has spoken at {insert industry conferences here but must include at least one of the following: Internet Strategy Forum, Web 2.0 Expo, and SXSW}. {Expert's latest book} is a recognized world over as a leading guide to new social media strategies.
I have seen this bio hundreds of times from "social media experts", but I am left unsatisfied. Often, these bios lack real world experience. Often, these experts never had P&L responsibilities for any length of time. And hardly ever do I see these experts coming from within the real world of marketing practitioners (probably because if you have a job doing marketing you don't have much time talking about it).
And then it dawns on me that maybe today's expert is less about having business world "expertise" but the ability to convey the presumption of expertise based on social media success.
That's a radically different definition of "expert" than the definition I had come to embrace years ago. In my early days in marketing, working with best-in-class packaged goods marketers like P&G and Gillette, they were run by Group product leaders who were recognized experts because they had proven their ability to build businesses. They had demonstrated expertise in market testing technologies, they had garnered awards for break through ad campaigns, and they had succeeded in launching new products by adhering to a rigorous but well proven process that took many years to master. Expertise was a function of experience and continuous training over the course of years. Today, we now know, as many studies have proven, that mastery requires 10,000 hours or five years of dedicated study and practice (Gladwell's book Outliers goes into this concept elegantly). These P&G product leaders had spent the time needed to become experts.
This was the definition of an expert 20 years ago, but that's not the definition today, and it really falls apart when one zeros in on experts in the social media world. I would humbly suggest that few people can be real experts in social media since social media was not even viable for the business world, at the earliest, until around 2007. So in my mind - the math does not add up. Sure, you can have people who are techno-experts - but can anyone honestly really claim expertise in social media right now? Really truly?
Yet, understanding why the heavens seem to be raining social media experts is not too hard to understand. Internet and digital technology expanded the individual's ability to disperse content faster and broader than ever before so much so that Clay Shirky rightly noted that we are living through the "largest increase in expressive capability in human history". And commensurate with this new found expression engine, a tsunami of "experts" emerged credentialed largely by the size of their social media presence. With that qualification, many people could rise from relative obscurity to "expert" status if they worked hard enough even though they had little else to commend them as an expert.
That would not be so bad, except I see a significant impact on business. Most think tanks on "how to do social media" are now populated with academicians and consultants and often there's not a functional working "expert" in the bunch. It seems that today's social media experts are very effective at creating media visibility for themselves, but it is arguable whether they have a clear business model for new technologies in a company.
On a personal level, I miss communing with people who are veterans in the doing of social media and marketing TBH even though I admire the 30 something's knowledge of technology marketing. I miss arguing the finer points of social marketing strategy with peers who appreciate marketing's subtlety and finesse that techno-centric younger marketers who need dazzling graphics often lack. I miss reading meaty white papers from business leaders borne of hard won lessons learned in the real world, but instead I see a flood of marketing "How to" white papers from experts who talk about creating business value but have never really lived it. I ache to compare notes with other marketers who have succeeded at blending the art and science of marketing to create a sustained business model, especially when talking about social media. This kind of depth and nuance takes years of experience and longevity to truly master. It takes a lot to be an expert to my way of thinking.
And oh BTW, in case you are wondering, do I think of myself as a social media expert? Unequivocally the answer is "Not yet, but I'm working on it."