I swear (it seems literally and often lately) that if I see one more self professed Expert or Guru I am going to spontaneously combust. Which is to say, this would be me last Will and Testament because no doubt by the time I finish typing this I will have two new Guru followers.
So here goes... if you are such a person I hope you have a track record. You better be able to show some results.
Why? Besides the obvious your competition is now FIERCE:
Self-Proclaimed Social Media Gurus on Twitter Multiplying Like Rabbits and the above graph are from a few weeks back about the crazy number of Social Media Experts and Social Media Gurus on Twitter and the exponential growth in the use of such terms. I used to think that an expert was in the top 5% or 2% of their industry.
Wow, we are so blessed to have so many talented people amongst us. (read with sarcasm)
I am now seeing job seekers using these phrases to describe themselves. HR and Recruiter friends too.
STOP STOP STOP doing this. You look like a fool.
I am going to start administering the following test so such self proclaimed individuals can prove their worth.
- Show us the results on your blog. You do have one, right?
- Where is the White Paper?
- What groups have invited you to be a speaker?
- What are some of your results?
- List the articles you have been mentioned in
- Name drop a few clients
It is not about how many followers (Spam victims) you have on Twitter (and for my HR and Recruiter friends LinkedIn connections), the number of Tweets you have been able to auto generate or your Facebook Fan Page. What have you done with it matters.
Memo to event organizers: you should copy some of my questions and make sure you are getting what was promised in a speaker.
No this is not my first rant about these people, here are my previous ramblings Validating Guru And Expert Status and Rant About “Experts” And “Gurus” Slinging Bull Shit. I have dedicated more posts to this than Gopher football in the past year so clearly I have and continue to be annoyed. Sure I need to get over it but it may take an intervention.
I followed a local conversation that included two people I have a lot of respect for, Arik Hanson (@ArikHanson) and Andrew Eklund (@aeklund).
Andrew had the following Tweets:
- A social media expert has repeatedly created measurable value that align with organizational goals.
- A social media practitioner knows how to use a variety of social media tools.
- A social media persona is one who has cultivated a large personal following through wit, sharing, insights, and/or wisdom.
- I'm just riffing here... Fact is there's no certifiable "expert" ranking for social media. So we have to make up our own filters.
Those are some good definitions.
Andrew has also written about this in the Minneapolis Star/Tribune Curiosity, Skepticism, and Rational Thinking: Basic Tenets of Digital Leadership and 5 Key Questions When Selecting a Social Media Firm
I wonder.... If one claims Expert or Guru status would they claim to be in the Big Leagues or an All Star if they were playing Class A baseball?
I bet they would.
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