Why Social Media Experts Keep Finding Jobs

The internet can be an overwhelming place.  I’ve been using Twitter sporadically for the past year and still haven’t garnered much of a following beyond friends and associates.  I keep a personal and professional account for Twitter and Gmail accounts and have trouble keeping track of both equally.  Now I’m learning about Google profiles, LinkedIn and a multitude of other social media pages that I’ll want to join in the near future if I want to be competitive in the age of online reporting.  It’s no wonder that “Social Media Experts” exist and can make money from the many people overwhelmed with the variety of social media and the different ways each website operates.

Jim Louderback put up an article on AdAge that concurred with an earlier article by Peter Shankman about why people should avoid using social media experts and rely on themselves instead to conquer social media.  Both writers agree that social media seems overwhelming, but it’s not that hard if you take it a piece at a time before moving to the next website. Humans are naturally social creatures and the websites are easy to figure out if you take them a piece at a time.

I wouldn’t have agreed with this if my fiancée hadn’t conquered social media.  She’s been active on Tumblr, WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and probably a few websites that I’m not yet aware of yet.  She maintains them all and updates without letting them consume her life. Her example proves that it’s possible to be active on social media and lead a normal life.  Surely this means that anyone can do it, but how?

I’ve decided to approach social media the same way I approach practicing a musical instrument.  I will sit down with one or two pieces at a time and learn as much about them as I can over the course of a few days before transitioning to a new piece.  This will let me get familiar with Tumblr, WordPress, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and all of the websites that help people aggregate data from social media without burning out on one particular topic or website.  It will take time, but I suspect that I can get a handle on this social media stuff just like my fiancée.  Hopefully others will realize that they don’t need the help of a social media expert either.