A very common conversation that many have in the social media and social networking space is about how amazingly-brilliant this and that individual are in terms of social media and social networking and how it’s because they have lots and lots of profiles here and there (and everywhere) and how they use this and that application/service and how they use it all the time.
Experience does not necessarily mean expertise.
Along the same lines is a similar conversation about how “passionate” someone is about social media, social networking, and all that mumbo-jumbo.
Passion does not necessarily mean expertise.
For example, I’m a very ‘experienced’ and ‘passionate’ basketball player and fan: I love the game, I love to play, and I’ve been playing it for as long as I can remember. But, there is no one on the (sane) planet that would ever call me an expert, and I would never self-proclaim expertise either. In fact, I don’t even know all the rules to the game!
But, I’m really experienced at playing basketball and very passionate about how fun the game it, etc., but unfortunately God didn’t give me the skills to be very good at it (I can dribble, but I certainly can’t shoot… and I can’t dunk cause I’m a small asian man and I don’t have the “ups”).
This principle applies, generally, to social media and social networking. So, what does this mean? It means:
- Be aware of this principle. You don’t have to be necessarily cautious, but take advice carefully, just like you would for pretty much anything else.
- Be picky and very careful with who you choose to run your social media campaigns, initiatives, and projects for your ministry and/or organization.
- Be careful and cognizant about what you’re paying for; is it experience, passion, or expertise?
- Be careful how much you’re paying. Period.
- Be honest: You may be looking for just the experienced and passionate and maybe not the expertise.
- Be smart on how you clarify “expertise” and what that means for your particular use and strategy.
- Be smart with how you hire people on staff and how you recruit volunteers.
What would you add? Does this resonate with you?
If you’d like another professional perspective, check out Owyang’s post as well here.
[Image from TCM]
Paul Steinbrueck says
True. But if you don't have passion or experience, you probably suck. 😉
human3rror says
perhaps, but not always. i could be an expert at “math” but hate it at the same time… in fact, i had that for a while…
lesc1aypool says
Great points! Tying in the basketball analogy helped to make it very clear.
Something I might add to this that people should ask themselves is: Do I need social networking? I've seen a lot of groups and small businesses get twitter accounts and invest in social networking and SEO when they don't know what they want or need or how to measure their goals.
So my addition would be to advise people to have a dang gameplan if you want to use social networking! People with true expertise in the field probably won't work with you unless you have a strategy beyond setting up a bunch of accounts…unless you're going to them to help develop your strategy to begin with. Have in your head or better yet on paper…or better still in an openoffice.org writer document (love it) what your goals are. Then let your expert set out a path.
stephenbateman says
I think I'll email this to my friendly neighborhood SEO experts, all 3000 of them.
human3rror says
haha… or my 6000+…!
Mark Alves says
Stephanie Bergman offers her perspective on experience not equaling expertise after attending the latest BlogHer in Chicago. http://www.stephaniebambam.net/blogher09-wrapup-o…
human3rror says
Ah, thanks for that…! another great perspective.
Bill Whitt says
I'd add that you want to have quantifiable goals so that you can know what a "win" is and measure and evaluate your progress toward that goal… That's true of social networking and just about everything else in life!
human3rror says
ah, yes. good point as well.
Jim says
i tell my clients that social media is not a magic potion, it takes a lot of intentional thinking, planning, and application + trying to get everyone involved is a team effort. and there are NO cookie-cutter scenarios out there. If you buy a book or program that claims to have all the answers for you, you probably got ripped off. I've encountered this type of stuff enough that I've sought out a coach and am looking at getting more training.