I’m a social media professional. I work with Griffin Technology as their Social Media Coordinator. I’m responsible for engaging with our customers online, joining and creating community, and representing our company at conferences and speaking engagements. I also do a lot more.

Michael E. Rubin wrote a post on Marketing Prof’s blog yesterday entitled “Is the Social Media Expert Going the Way of the Dodo?“. He raises some great points about people working in this space.

He writes:

This is the question at the heart of the matter: is the era of the Social Media Expert drawing to a close?

For the time being, my answer to that question is a qualified “no.” I do believe that there is still a great deal of need for education and training in what social media can and cannot accomplish. I also believe there is still a huge amount of confusing hype that is hurting its adoption rate in companies both large and small. There is most definitely still a need for someone who can help cut through the clutter, provide examples and case studies of what’s worked (and what hasn’t), and demonstrate a clear-cut case of business value and ROI.

If you spend as much time on Twitter as I do, you’ll be well aware of the social media snake oil salesmen out there. Just a quick search will reveal much of the crap flooding Twitter these days. Although, I’m not writing this post about the spammers and scammers in social media, I’m writing it about the profession itself.

Rubin continues,

However, my belief is that by 2015-2020, social media is going to be a part of the basic skillset in which anyone who communicates for a living will have to have a decent amount of knowledge and expertise.

A wake up call

This is the important part, it’s a great wake up call to social media professionals, the good and honest ones, that this can’t be your only skill. What else do you have under your belt?

Chris Penn has talked about being the best marketer who is excellent at social media, rather than simply a Twitter expert. Chris is a great example of a guy who is an expert in student loans, because that’s what he does for a living. He uses social media as an effective tool in his everyday career.

My background is in promotions, publicity and marketing for one of Canada’s largest broadcasters, live theater producers, and newspapers. I also happen to be a geek . My previous skills and experience help to make me an effective social media professional.

Do you agree with Rubin? Do you think the social media professional will be a thing of the past in the next decade?

Photo by: toastforbrekkie