Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights
Apparently “Experts and Gurus aren’t necessarily the best social media teachers!”, yep, Liz, you’re have a Diana Troy moment there! Obvious much?
To be fair to Liz, she did write that post 8 months ago but, as evidenced by my twitter stream, this morning, not much has changed since:
RT @fantomaster: If you think you understand science (or computers, or women), you’re clearly not an expert #murphystechnologylaws (or SM?)
In her post Liz gives every budding social media enthusiast a list of traits to look out for when deciding which social media mentors or teachers you should follow:
- Count Internet years. 3 years experience is entry level in the concrete world. It can be extensive experience within Internet time.
- Check for depth. A deep understanding will show itself in the ways a person can describe the culture of the Internet, how it shifts, and how the values of social media worth within and against the values of ecommerce. Look for understanding how how social media as a piece of a comprehensive marketing / customer plan.
- Check for skill set. Even though the teacher may not be the person who’ll be executing the plan, he or she should be well versed in using the tools.
- Check the breadth, particularly the individual’s networks. Social media is business based in influence, relationships, and connections. Discuss how the networks match up to your business and its goals.
- Get the facts. Ask for cases and social media initiatives this person actively led.
Needless to say, muggins here has a few issues with that list, so lets get cracking.
1. “Count Internet Years”. I really don’t think that any measure of time is viable. My grandmother has two laptops, been using computers and the internet for years, has a facebook account, stalks checks up on me on twitter, shops online, streams missed TV shows, has more email accounts than I have fingers on my left hand and still can’t email a webpage to me. Years count for nothing.
It’s about interest not time. Like the college graduate with a great education who still can’t read basic English because they’re lazy and self absorbed.
2. “Check for depth”. How can you check for depth of understanding when you have nothing to compare it to?. If you could truly gauge the depth of somebody’s understanding of a medium, you would probably not require their services.
3. “Check for Skill Set” – Again, same problem. You can’t gauge what skills are needed until you are well engaged in the learning of process and by then you’d already know if the person mentoring you is worth it or not (unless you’re a sheep).
4. “Check the breadth, particularly the individual’s networks” – 50000 followers on twitter will look impressive to anybody who doesn’t understand and is looking to learn.
5. “Get the facts. Ask for cases and social media initiatives this person actively led.” Leading or involvement in social media initiatives is so ridiculously easy to fake, bluff or just flat out lie about that it’s just not possible. Again, discerning whether or not such initiatives have actually taken place is beyond the scope of most people looking for a social media teacher.
The simple point of all this, is that marketers, “experts”, “gurus”, chancers, scam artists, douchebags and folk just out to make a quick buck, rely on the fact that the naive, noob, newbie, 1st time curious, person looking to learn about social media generally cannot recognize the things you are telling them to look for.
That’s why they look for a teacher in the first place and is also why SM “explorers” have such a bad name on the net.
95% percent of so called “social media people” are selling snake oil.
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Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights http://a2a.me/Pwp via @AddToAny
Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights http://a2a.me/Pwp via @AddToAny
#socialmedia Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights | Paul O’Flaherty.. http://bit.ly/1719zu
#socialmedia Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights | Paul O’Flaherty.. http://bit.ly/1719zu
Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving … http://bit.ly/5B5U7
Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving … http://bit.ly/5B5U7
Hi Paul
Not sure what made this particular post appear on your radar now. Thanks for your take on it. I always have valued your thinking and I appreciate hearing how this came across to you.
Obviously, I wasn’t clear that I meant these as possible check points. For example, when I said look for depth what I meant was look for proof that someone spends time, energy, and serious thought and integrity in understanong and gaining expertise in the space — I may know little about building construction, but serious deep thinking was a quality I wanted in the contractor who built our house in Austin. Logic and clarity of arguments and problem solving skills were things I looked for.
Would love to talk with you more about this. Thanks, Paul,
Liz
from: my iPhone
Hey Liz,
Sara actually came across the post while we were discussing something else and as usual I got drawn in
The issue with looking for this kind of depth and proof is that, as a new comer, the effort involved in establishing an "audience" (and I use the term loosely) for marketing crap, is not much different to the effort (not process) of establishing an audience otherwise. Without knowledge of the difference in goals, the only way a newcomer could establish whether or not someone is on the level is by reputation.
Using your builder as an example. When I was studying with the army engineer core the best of my group had absolutely no common sense whatsoever. The guy was, well, inept in real life and couldn't string a logical arguement together any better than I could touch my own elbow with my tongue.
Yet, at his trade, he was brilliant! The best of us by a mile.
The ability to problem solve, to display deep thinking and put together a logical, clear argument does not mean that the person is capable of doing the job. It just means they talk a good talk.
Just because a person appears to know what to do, doesn't mean they can do it. There is a huge gap between theory and practice.
I really think the best gauge of a potential teacher in the social media arena is reputation. Those that have integrity will get recommended and those that don't, well.. you know how that goes.
So, really the best thing any newcomer can do is ask as many people as possible – "Who do you recommend and why?"
Again, thanks for your reply Liz
MUST READ – “Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights” by @pauloflaherty http://tinyurl.com/ltr3cq
MUST READ – “Liz Strauss: Looking for a SM teacher is like night driving without lights” by @pauloflaherty http://tinyurl.com/ltr3cq