COMMENTS
I made a typo in my Twitter profile, I am a SEO Gnu. I have been contacted by several wildebeest to help with their personal blogs.
I'm convinced that 60% of Twitter users are self-proclaimed social media gurus.
When I started my Twitter account, I followed several of them and then realized that I couldn't have a conversation w/ any of them. So, I decided to drop them and haven't looked back since:-)
It'll be nice when Twitter users' bios actually get realistic. Maybe they never will...
Everybody wants a big title these days. In the commercial world the role of the one time 'clerk' is now dubbed as 'support executive to the assistant of the blah, blah blah!' and in the world of local government and local authorities the titles are even more bizare.
Small wonder some sad individuals dub themselves experts with limited experience. The news media is the best source of 'Experts'. Just observe how often an expert is quoted and look for their invented title.
I always laugh at these Social Media Mambo-Jumbo titles :)
I made my statement about them pretty clear here: http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/are-you-sick-of-social-media-experts/
Jim has it going on! What's your Twitter id, JIM? Is that what's written on your shirt!?
This disease is very real. I prefer to think of myself as a social media learner. There is no way to know and have done everything in social media especially since it is changing every day.
Using the word "guru" and "expert" for yourself throws up a red flag to others who are "in the know".
Great cartoons.
I think calling oneself a Social Media Guru stems from not realizing there are many out there who are actually gurus.
A confession: Three years ago when I was still a green marketer experimenting with Social Media at a Travel Services company, I actually called myself a guru - (and in my workplace, I was indeed the in house "expert" and way ahead of the curve). Then I realized (as I dug further into the social media world) that I'm many, many wonderful things, but guru might not be the best fit. It was a sobering moment, but a genuine one.
Now, that was 3 years ago and now that the Social Media Guru title has become infectious - I'm relieved that I humbled myself early on (and before this cartoon was published) :D
If you don't think you're a Social media guru you soon will be. Tweepsearch found 4,487 social media experts in May 2009. Today? 15,740. Broadstuff says this is a 3.5x increase every 6 months. Projected growth shows nearly 30m social media experts by 2012. Wha? This means that a few years after the number of social media experts will exceed the population of the United States. How they fit all of us in an annual conference?
Great cartoon. I don't think the auditorium was big enough though.
Why is "guru" the word everyone chose to use when making up this phony title of competence? I prefer to call myself a social media czar, in keeping with all the new positions being created in Washington.
Ha ha. Good to see more and more people seeing through the rubbish.
I've decided my real social media gurus are: Lennon, Dylan, Hendrix, Page, Jagger and Morrison
http://jonontech.com/2009/12/23/six-seminal-concerts-or-what-ive-learned-about-blogging/
I've decided to become a social media czar. That title has more gravitas and earns more respect- I think...
I'd rather be a social media swami
That is why we decided we are just going to be psd to html conversion "Gurus" on our profile. The social media guru business is too crowded.
I agree that "guru" may be too understated and is becoming too commonplace. Years ago I received a promotion into a new position in a small company. When asked what I thought my title should be, I suggested "Supreme Allied Forces Commander." Since the new position was overseeing software development and client services, my suggestion was not approved. Pity.