July 15, 2010 99 Comments

Social Media is Not a Vocation

linkedin logo My friend, Lesley Aveyard from the UK pointed something out to me the other day when she was listing an event. The site LinkedIn doesn’t list “Social Media” as one of its vocations or categories. At first, I thought, “Well that’s odd, being that the site itself is a social network,” but then it really hit me in a different way.

linkedin stuff Social media isn’t a vocation.

As we always say, it’s a set of tools. We know this. But sometimes, we get a little hung up in that.

I hear from people all the time telling me that they quit their job to pursue a career in social media. It scares me every time. What does that even mean? I guess when they’re saying it, they’re saying “social media” the way others say “marketing.” That makes a bit more sense.

And yet, is that what they’re really pursuing?

For example, [chrisbrogan.com] is considered a publishing project for me. I’m a publisher here, as well as community manager and marketer, I guess. But the “business” of [chrisbrogan.com] is publishing.

New Marketing Labs is a digital marketing consultancy. We build and execute strategy.

Third Tribe Marketing is a membership community.

Human Business Works is an education company.

Social media is not a vocation. It’s tools and a method.

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http://twitter.com/SocialityMedia Hayley Johnson

Hi Erroin, I would NEVER say SM is a 'fad'…but never forget the old adage “Many are called, but few are chosen”
http://www.vongehrconsulting.com/ Erroin Martin

I mean fad in the sense of the hype over the realities of social media. I agree that it is a tool that is here to stay, yet as a tool it is still evolving and growing.
http://mydarabell.com/ Dara Bell

I agree with Chris it might be being misused. Most of the time it is marketing people going crazy with new tools. Encarnating or something, there are still marketing people, forming and making relationships, using the tools to create buzz they could generate in print or elsewhere.

It is abit like Seth Godins asking What is it we do. (where is my question mark on Dutch Keyboard).

In a larger sense I think the tools allows some people to blur the lines and create Branded Venture Capital businesses. There is a mutabality they are in love with. Reading Business Stripped Bare Branson feels the next Virgin will come from Social Media start-ups. This kinda makes sense as once you have branded one site taking that branding and applying it other web businesses seems likely given that start-ups costs are so low.

I like Raynichols for the optomism of the meduim which he conveys. This is the spirit of the meduim for it is the meduim rather than defines message. Artsey C point too is that many of the job titles just did not exist and some will be added all the time. There is a Gold Rush in not really in social media per se just The internet. The internet is now the railtracks (the carrier) and the social media something else.

In 1850 railroad driver was fairly uncommon as a job title. None of us know how big this will go, maybe some people are right in one sense grabbing there job title, their domain before others do. Gold only comes to those that prospect.
http://www.retirepreneur.com Donna Kastner/Retirepreneur

When I first read your post, I disagreed with your “not a vocation” stance. But as I scrolled through the comments and banter, I started to see both sides of the debate. Still not convinced, but the comments made me think. That's what I love about ACTIVE blogs like this one – it's a collective learning lab.

It takes an experienced, knowledgeable, and forward-thinking Social Media Specialist to spark this kind of peer-to-peer sharing. And I'll bet there are execs hunkered down in a few boardrooms trying to figure out who they need to hire to make it happen for their organization.
Felonypixel

They may call it a vocation on Careerbuilder, HotJobs, Monster, etc but you hit again Chris. Very good insight. I do SOME social media, I do SOME marketing, but I am ALWAYS selling my ability. That is my job!
http://twitter.com/rnadworny Rich Nadworny

Well done Chris. You certainly got a discussion going in your publishing project. Isn't that what the project is all about.

I'm so simple, I needed to actually look up Vocation because I wasn't sure what you really meant. Here's what Merriam Webster says:

vo·ca·tion
Pronunciation: vō-ˈkā-shən
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English vocacioun, from Anglo-French vocaciun, from Latin vocation-, vocatio summons, from vocare to call, from vox voice — more at voice
Date: 15th century
1 a : a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially : a divine call to the religious life b : an entry into the priesthood or a religious order
2 a : the work in which a person is employed : occupation b : the persons engaged in a particular occupation
3 : the special function of an individual or group

So, in order:
1 “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action” I would say, you Chris Brogan, have a strong vocation for social media. Both for the tools, as you say, but also the action of social media, by which I mean engaging people in conversation online in dialogue and giving them control even on your own property (like this publishing property). I would even say that you are one of the High Priests of Social Media (not that I always worship in your church, mind you).
2. “the work in which a person is employed” Wouldn't that include people like Community Managers? If social media is a euphemism for engaging people in conversation online in dialogue and giving them control even on your own property, then wouldn't community managers and the like have the vocation of social media?
3. ” the special function of an individual or group” Same as above or more so.

Personally, I like the first definition better, I think it describes everyone who commented here today.
http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

I look at my new follower list in TweetDeck and 70% of the bio's say: Social Media Consultant.

I just laugh. It's ridiculous. Chris, thanks for taking yet another strong stance.
icanewfriend

Great discussion. Interesting points of view offered by many.

A vocation to me is anything you do for a company; get paid to do for them; and can find other similar job opportunities doing for others after you leave a job.

Social Media is a vocation for anyone, who is able to find work in it; produce some value for the employer; and keep a string of such similar opportunities going long enough to call your vocation a career.

They say that all of us may have several careers in our lifetimes. This is probably very true. So rather than spllit hairs over what is a vocation or is not one; and what may also be considered a career or is not one, it's much more productive – I think – to spend that time determining whether there is or is not any meaningful ROI in Social Media – Social Media Marketing, if you will. And, of course, whart are the best strategies to employ in Social Media Marketing to arrive at significant ROI. Yes, Social Media can be considered part of the marketing function in an organization. But, it may be a vocation if the individual doing it has no other traditional marketing responsibilities.

I think that where there is ROI, there is a vocation and a career, too. People in the vocation of Public Relations have been waiting around for forty or fifty years while others look for an ROI from PR, and many of these PR professionals have retired from the field, very much fulfilled.

Marc LeVine
Director of Social Media
RiaEnjolie, Inc.
http://www.RiaEnjolie.com
http://twitter.com/MarieMonDieu MarieMonDieu

Well, true. I was a secretary, then an office manager, and then an Administrative Assistant. I used fax machines & I wasn't called a faxer. But the thing that I've observed with you, is that you have extreme focus. As my hubs says, “there is no time management, there is only focus on the task at hand,” and btw he worked for Tony Robbins once, and quit. You do this, then this, and then that. Not everybody has the same capabilities that you do. So you're wearing the social media specialist hat, amongst the many other duties in running your publishing company. Someone making widgets, they know how to make widgets. They don't know how to use social media, and they're going to hire a social media specialist. A web page is static and you can hire a web page designer to put one up and it can exist on its own for years, if necessary. However, a great communicator, couple with a marketing plan, that just doesn't exist in a vacuum. I believe companies who want to be on the cutting edge are taking advantage of this right now, and companies who make widgets who aren't, will hire your friends who are “getting into social media.” I know people like this, and I was approached for a job the other day as a social media specialist. Meaning, someone who will do Tweets or Facebook entries as part of a social media/internet marketing strategy.

Just like you can use a typewriter to type a letter, or a novel, you can use social media in many ways. I don't disagree on the tool aspect, not at all. But I do think having a human being doing the communication with one's customers, or potential customers, is a job that's highly skilled. It's not your regular, “Hi, I'm from T-Mobile, how can I provide you with excellent customer service today?” sort of job. It's not a bot following people because they talked about artichokes. It requires time and effort and someone who genuinely loves talking to people and interacting with them. I'm an autodidact, myself, so I love answering questions and solving problems. I've made some bucks as a researcher and ghost writer for some non-fiction book authors. I'm a corporate escapee and a bit of a nerd and I love to yak with people. And from my experience, I can see that you do the job of Social Media Specialist quite well, because your tweets are more at people than about yourself. In the old days, we used to call that a good salesman :-) Someone you like, who you'd buy from. So, um, good job!
Wsh1266

I feel a need to clarify- the guys that make hair in animation are actually software engineers, like the great Dave Baraff at Pixar who helped develop applying real world physics to computer animation/graphics. However, the point remains there are many tools and skill sets that make up a vocation….
http://www.davemadethat.com Dave Delaney

Great post Chris. It's true, social media is becoming (is already) a part of the marketing mix. Without knowledge of actual marketing, I wonder where the social media “experts” will end up.

I wrote a post a little while back that I'd love your take on. It's along the same lines: http://www.davemadethat.com/2009/05/29/social-m…

Cheers!
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http://twitter.com/dominickevans Dominick Evans

First, it's foolish for anyone to quit their job for a maybe. If you lose your job or cannot work for some reason, then I can see taking the leap to attempt some type of online career, but it is just dumb in an economy as bad as this one to quit the job providing your only source of income when success is not only not guaranteed, it's hard to come by.

I remember when I started my career online, several years ago, as a writer and editor. I recall reading about the success rate of those working online – that less than 10% of those working exclusively online that year would be doing so without any other job/form of sustainable income the next year. It's scary to think you have left the rat race, only to go back to it because you had unrealistic expectations.

As much as social media can help us, it is still misunderstood in its value. I hear so many people say their job is working as a “social media expert”, and just have to shake my head, wondering how they've become so misled.
http://www.pushingsocial.com Stanford Smith

I think Chris has uncovered an inconvenient oversight here. There are still some important questions to be ironed out before we can open up the Social Media Job fair – I tried to tackle a few of them here – “A Response to Chris Brogan's: Social Media is not a vocation”: http://bit.ly/aJ5kMu
http://www.lynetteradio.com/ LynetteRadio

You know what is really missing from the industry list on LinkedIn? CUSTOMER SUPPORT/SERVICE. That is pretty telling of how businesses work. HR is listed, why not customer service?
http://twitter.com/addoway Addoway.com

100% agreed. Social Media is a set of tools used to generate interaction.

Types of social media tools are: forums, blogs, wikis, podcasts, pictures, videos, ratings, social bookmarking etc.

Thanks Chris
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http://muchomasismore.blogspot.com @MASisMore

You're absolutely right and well-said! This needed to be said. So, when someone calls themselves a “social media expert” they're calling themselves an expert with a tool… well they most likely are a tool ;) Marketing is the vocation, social media is an evolving, useful method for accomplishing some kinds of marketing. Thank you Chris! :)
http://twitter.com/jonnop Jonathan Pollinger

Yet, I work in IT doesn't sound weird.
http://twitter.com/jonnop Jonathan Pollinger

It will be interesting to see whether social media does become a vocation in the same way as IT – essentially a bunch of tools – has. It's quite likely because social media tools aren't just used for marketing so it's not appropriate to categorise under marketing or any other vocation. For some people you could call is a customer services, business development, internal comms or knowledge management vocation. Definitions also come about by use and I would guess that even those on here agreeing with Chris refer to him as a 'social media man' or similar as do most journalists and bloggers.
Very interesting debate.
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http://simplewebguys.com JayTurn

I must admit, it is a strange topic of discussion. Though it is provocative enough to get so much debate which is a testament to your blog writing skills Chris.

I see the word tool being used quite a bit without a preceding word… communication. That really is what social websites are, another form of communication. So I guess saying you are a “Social Media Expert” is probably similar to saying you are a “Telephone Expert”. I'm not sure how many telemarketers or marketers that implement strategies using the telephone would like to call themselves a telephone expert.

As @icanewfriend so eloquently pointed out, splitting hairs over what someone calls themselves is time that could have been better spent discussing how businesses can improve their customer experience using these new communication tools.

A bit hypocritical coming from me considering I just spent a few minutes writing this response though…
http://www.ann-sense.com/ Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR

I've been mulling over this post since I read it yesterday morning. I think one of the challenges is that it doesn't fit one of the boxes we feel comfortable placing vocations. Is it PR? Is it marketing? Is it sales? Is it customer service? Is it something completely different? It doesn't quite fit, but flows between those boxes depending on the specific business needs. Social media as a vocation is still developing. Right now it is a skill set.

I won't call myself a social media expert, but I do say I'm a public relations professional with extensive digital knowledge which includes social media. But that's how I identify myself. How do you identify yourself?
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http://www.rondegiusti.com/ Ron De Giusti

I just wanted to say “thanks” for this post.
I've been thinking for some time about “what am I really trying to accomplish with my blog?”
And, your post helped me clarify.

Always thought provoking stuff here Chris.
Sorry to waste a comment with a “thank you”, but I really wanted to get that off my chest.
ktatgenhorst

If a company has a “social media strategy” that relates to it's core business objectives and either furthers it's reach or increases revenue, then that business process needs an owner and as it is defined as strategy it needs a director or C-Level to own it. This means that there needs to be people lower than that doing it currently to learn to take on that role. All of this means that it is a profession and it has a career path.

It is a lot like IT. I am an IT professional, but my employer is an internet marketing firm.
http://twitter.com/andrewstone Andrew Stone

The sad truth is that most give zero credit to the face of business. Those who deal directly with the customer. They are the lowest paid and least appreciated employees and this is further proof that their job is not considered a professional position.
http://twitter.com/SocialityMedia Hayley Johnson

Now I'm totally confused sorry Erroin. You're now saying the realities of SM is hype!! I don't believe that SM is a TOOL. I see SM as a toolbox with copious amounts of tools and with that tool box you can create your own JOB. You can be the carpenter, baker or jewellery maker. SM is whatever you want it to be, you just haven't seen those opportunities yet and perhaps when you do, it will be too late for you…
http://twitter.com/SocialityMedia Hayley Johnson

I totally agree and as long as B2B/B2C don't embrace social media themselves and continue to misunderstand the power of it, there will be a supply and demand for social media marketing, consultancy, analysts and analytics etc. Remember when we didn't have the www springs to mind….
icanewfriend

Jay: Thank you! I appreciate your shout out and agreement. Great discussion, though.
Marc :)
http://www.ByronUnderwood.blogspot.com Byron Underwood

In opening a “How to” presentation on social media, I asked a group of real estate agents what tools they used to prospect for new business. There was a concensus of traditional methods. With each method a tool was produced (hammer, screw driver, etc.) to represent the methods.When asked asked if social sites should be included in the toolbox, all agreed. None, however, wanted to replace their hammer or screwdriver. A hammer will always be a hammer. You can't change a light bulb with it. Keep a variety of tools to effectively get the job done.
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http://twitter.com/vonlucci Brandon Lee

Great point, you and your friend Lesley Aveyard got me thinking about this. I think I will be ok, no need to reprint my business cards. http://vonlucci.com/2010/07/18/chris-brogan-www… I also put your RSS feed on my site so my visitors can enjoy your writing as well.
http://twitter.com/PMExpo Performance Mkt Expo

Agreed. If you go in full force looking at social media as anything other than a “tool”, your strategy will most likely fail and you will not see the real value of it.

http://performancemarketingexpo.com/
http://ariwriter.com Ari Herzog

People who work as plumbers, construction architects, and carpet cleaners don't have vocational choices on LinkedIn, either. Something to think about, as you go after social media.
http://www.DesertMountainHomesOnline.com CarmenBrodeur

I see so many people tout themselves as “social media mavericks” or some such nonsense as their occupation – it just makes me laugh.
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http://www.digitalpost.org/ Lalit

I am appalled by this sheer negligence by LinkedIn.

My part-time research project on LinkedIn recommendation will go complete waste!
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This is really what the social web that form of communication. So I guess you do not say social media expert is probably the same as saying you are Phone experts." I do not know how many telemarketing or operators who wish to implement strategies for cell phone to call themselves an expert.
http://www.andreolilaw.com Craig

There are plenty of people using social media…well, as a medium to keep their lives socially connected. As business people, we see Social media as a way to get our products and services before a large audience. Not everyone using social media sees it through our eyes. Based upon that, I would argue Social Media is merely a tool with various uses.
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This is really what the social web that form of communication. So I guess you do not say social media expert is probably the same as saying you are Phone experts.” I do not know how many telemarketing or operators who wish to implement strategies for cell phone to call themselves an expert.
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Social media makes you better or it will make you worst. It depends on the user. Sometimes it can be a vocation. What if you have million followers, million friends. Through social media you can have great ideas from different people.
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Social Media is Not a Vocation

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