In Over Your Head

This is not the job you’re looking for

I don’t think people actually want to be “social media experts.”

I think Twitter users see the success of people who are working independently online, they see that they’re doing social media work (because that’s what’s hot and working right now), and they go, “I can do this, too.” And some of them can.

I also don’t believe that social media is a passion.

I believe that social media is something that people with great communication skills are naturally good at. As a result of it, they rise to the top of the heap. Some of that is skill, but some of it is luck, too.

What people sometimes miss is that, those people who were there at the beginning, those are the ones that are successful. You assume they’re still here because they’re “passionate about social media,” but in reality, it’s also that they made it work.

Some don’t remember the ones that have dropped off the map along the way. But I do. They were working just as hard, and they loved it just as much.

I think that what people really want is the recognition of their peers and a bit more freedom.

Let’s remember that there are other ways to get there, too.

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Joe Gannon

Comments

4 responses to “This is not the job you’re looking for”

  1. Bill deys Avatar
    Bill deys

    I get a lot of your points but I’m not sure how I feel about “social media isn’t their passion” I think there are people as you described but some that are passionate about the space. It more then just communicating, it’s a huge change in the way people interact and in some cases think. There is passion involved with changing the world!

    Reply
  2. Eric Marden Avatar
    Eric Marden

    Those that you think have the passion but are still not producing results fall into another category: Idiots.

    The web industry has and probably always be full of them. But the true experts don’t make those claims, their results speak for themselves.

    Don’t kid yourself or your clients.

    Reply
  3. Jeris JC Miller Avatar
    Jeris JC Miller

    Social Media is my third technology revolution: I worked in BBN’s Communication group in the 80’s (which launched DARPA/ARPANET). I saw one of the first Mosaic demos and knew the world would change completely (later did Netscape 2.0 Support). I went on to Intel and MSFT and suffered through Dot Com meltdown. But it wasn’t until Social Media started reaching “critical mass” that I realized that the vision that I have been holding all these years would see reality and the light! I have watched **many worthy visionaries** fall by the way side, chewed up and spit out during my career. But I have held tough and held strong and led with the tenderest part of my heart and never compromised core values of human dignity and Respect (I am not rich either – not that wealth is a mutually exclusive category from a compassionate heart – I’ve seen otherwise). I still feel passionately that social media will be the very center of a 21st Century humanistic revolution! I have not lost my vision, even after all these years. @dakini_3

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  4. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    There are some problems with Malcolm Gladwell’s Book “Outliers”, but I think the point he makes about it taking about 10,000 hours to get good at something, to become an expert of sorts, is probably true. I think this applies to every field, including social media.

    Experience of both the good and the bad makes it easier for you to predict success and failure before taking on a task. Some one new to the field can learn these lessons as well, but it does take time, as well as a willingness to be analytical about both success and failure, coupled with a willingness to experiment freely.

    Cleaning out my office from top to bottom this weekend, moving all my books, helped give me some perspective on all the books I’ve read, people I’ve interviewed- the time I’ve spent towards that 10,000 hour mark. It no longer seems like nothing, but an accumulation of small steps towards a larger goal- it is a real accomplishment, every bit as the ones I have from more formal, academic settings.

    Hard work and experience count. You get experience from all parts of your life,and that experience becomes important down the line. I want a surgeon, for example, that operates frequently because he has not only gotten into situations that have scared him, but he now knows the way to get out of those situations safely.

    Likewise, I want contractors who do projects all the time, not just every once in a blue moon on the side, because their experience and relationships with subcontrators are essentially those you discuss in Trust Agents. Every line of work relies on experienced staff, training the less experienced, and in that process, trust and opportunity thrive.

    Give me someone with a list of projects they do both for themselves and others, and I’ll show you someone with the skills and experience to help your project succeed as well.

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