I just read a Craigslist job posting with this as the job. This is a joke, right?! What is a social media specialist? There is NO such thing as this. That’s like saying back in the day that I need a Vibe Chat Specialist or a Black Voices Chat Room specialist! What the hell. Anyone that’s been on the Internet for the last ten years knows there is no specialist in social media. In fact, why is it even called social media?
Social Media and Twitter Specialist Job
Twitter and Facebook both knows that the chatrooms were once popular and bangin. Black Planet, Black Voices, and the Vibe chat rooms were all social media rooms where people just sat around and talked smack all day while at work. They could never monetize these and pretty much all of them failed. So, to me, a Twitter specialist is someone that sits at their desk tweeting about the sun shine all day or talking about social events. Do you really need to be a specialist?
In fact, my true argument is that social media is only crazy popular due to the unemployment rate. If everyone was back at work circa 1999 there would be no Twitter in the form that it is today. They would exist but Twitter and Facebook would not be so popular because people would be at the job instead of at the house. With record numbers of people unemployed and getting their Comcast Cable TV shut off, why not log on to Twitter and talk all day? That’s what truly makes a social media expert.
So, here’s the qualifications as I see it: 1). unemployed. 2). unemployed with nothing to do. 3). watch TV and have the laptop in front of you so you can have ideas to Tweet about. 4). Link your Twitter to your Facebook so you don’t have to say it twice. 5). Watch all Reality shows and Tweet about them and gain followers. 6). Watch the news and ESPN and Tweet about everything the announcers say.
BAM! You are a social media specialist and expert. Now, how to get paid? This is the ever elusive question. People want to hire you to be a social media specialist but NOT pay you until someone clicks on the link in the Tweet and fills out the form. The promise is that you will get paid $50 for every person who fills out the form. Easy money! Yeah right.
If you have 200 followers and you send out a Tweet you can expect roughly 2 people to click on it. You are fighting a number of factors happening on Twitter. Out of your 200 people at any given time, only 20 may even be online at the time of your tweet. Out of the 20 people that see your tweet, you will be extremely lucky if you get 2 of them to click on it and you will be super lucky if they fill out the form. What to do? Use Twitter to promote the mess out of your own company or just talk to your friends. If anything, set up yourself to make money and not give it to some other person who claims they will make you money. Brand YOU first while you’re on Twitter.
