I was watching some show on MTV today about people being addicted to porn. In fact, one woman was so addicted, that she wanted to become a porn star herself. The show goes on to show scenes of her crying because her parents aren’t proud of her being a porn star, etc, etc. But here’s what occurred to me: why does anybody who does porn automatically become a porn star? You’re a star after just one film, regardless of the quality? The world doesn’t work like this. What’s with this self-anointed stardom?
And then I realized there is another group of people that are just like “porn stars”: The ever-popular Social Media Expert. I know, it’s super popular to criticize the social media expert – and I don’t want to jump on that bandwagon. But, understanding social media as a channel for strategic and effective communications is a large part of my job, and there are many many people who are really undermining the level of understanding needed to be a “star.” With little to no experience in understanding social media as a communication tool, folks are fully prepared to anoint themselves as experts and oversell their under-qualified services.
If your girlfriend set up a camera in the bedroom one night, would you start listing “porn star” on your resume? No? Well, then why do you believe that you’re a social media “expert” because you decided to set up a Facebook page in 2008? My point is simply that you’re no more a Social Media Expert than the girl who got breast implants and decided to do a film in her neighbor’s garage for $50 is a porn star.
There’s more to being a star; there’s more to being an expert. Don’t kid yourself. And, for everybody else: don’t believe everyone who tells you they’re a star.
"I'm a star, baby" (photo by danielcorba via flickr)
Mike My Words - from the brain of Mike McDowell 
Wolfy said,
September 2, 2009 @ 7:28 am
That’s a good analogy. But as I go down the path of walking the walk and talking the talk of a SM pornstar, I realize there’s WAY more to it than spouting obvious truisms on twitter and blogs. There’s a lot of research, planning and discussion necessary in being a social media expert, i.e. someone a company will pay good money to create a strategic plan uniquely tailored to their brand and present it in a motivating way.
The social media expert is real. If your clients are calling you that and backing it up with invoiced stamped “PAID” then that’s you baby. Roll over and take your DVDA!
-M
Will Hull said,
October 13, 2009 @ 9:54 am
Nice analogy. I will tell you how you can find a star out of the white noise out there, anyone who is named by someone else as a star. Personally, I think Beth Kanter is a star in my book because she has been at blogging and social media since roughly 2003 or 2004. She has over 12,000 followers of her blog and all she writes about and invites guest posts about is How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media.
Here is her blog:
http://beth.typepad.com/