It’s not that I’m not flattered.
It’s not that I don’t appreciate the respect.
It’s not even that I don’t perceive myself as having a relative expertise in the subject of social media when compared with the average person.
The reason that I make this request is that I am both a student and teacher of social media, and the terms expert, ninja and guru elevate me to a point that I am not comfortable with. In fact, my goal is to NEVER become an expert.
Staying Hungry
What keeps me hungry, what keeps me reading so much, what keeps me doing more than rehashing the content and ideas I’ve consumed and instead, creating my own thoughts, ideas and opinions, is the knowledge that I don’t know a damn thing.
I LOVE this job, I LOVE these technologies, and I am excited about the future. If I lose this hunger to push the envelope, then I’ve lost everything.
Expert implies mastery. I have not mastered a thing.
Expert implies the completion of an area of study, it is the highest level. I have not achieved this level nor will I.
If I become satisfied then I am doing my clients, and readers, a disservice.
Should you still trust me, in spite of my lack of title?
Some of you may look at this and say, “well I’d feel much more comfortable with an expert.” Fine. Please. Go find yourself and expert. While you are working with the expert, I’m going to bust my ass each and everyday to have my clients succeed. I’m going to screw up, admit error, learn from it and fix it. Your expert might do that, or they might find a way to convince you why in spite of the outcome, they were right.
The dirty little secret
That expert has been doing this approximately 45-185 days longer than I have. Social media is not the same as being a blacksmith. Putting in 10,000 hours worth of work into a craft that has changed 3,000 times in that 10,000 hours is not mastery. Many people have years of experience in public relations or marketing, but in my experience that just makes you able to retrofit social media into what you already know, rather than taking it at face value.
No disrespect
I won’t shoot you a look when you introduce me as a social media expert or guru.
I won’t scold you.
I simply make this public blog request, please just call me Jeff: someone that is more passionate and hungrier to learn about social media than anyone you’ve ever met. That is the biggest compliment you can give me.
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PS Here’s some excellent reading on this same topic:
I Will Never Hire a “Social Media Expert,” and Neither Should You by Peter Shankman
Why I have trouble with “expert.” by Mary Schmidt