What is a social media guru?
Social Media guru is a term that, when self assigned, is a quick way to identify someone who is likely full of crap. Guru is a Sanskrit term meaning teacher or master. Anyone who would voluntarily assigned themselves such a smug title is likely neither worthy of the title nor well versed enough in the principles of influence to be taken seriously. Likewise anyone using Ninja, Sensei, Pirate, Warrior or Black Belt should also be approached with significant skepticism.
On the other hand, some people will often assign others the title of guru. In this case, someone is trying to show deference to someone to whom they respect.
People often introduce me as a “social media guru” and though I am quite uncomfortable with the term, it does not stop people from assigning it to me, even though I have requested that they stop.
So if I were to interpret what a social media guru is based upon the fact that others assign the title to me, here is what I think it is, or more appropriately, here’s what I think I am.
Social Media Guru
Someone who has chosen to become a student, teacher and practitioner of the tools and technologies of social media. These individuals study the ideas, theories and practices of others, and in turn share those learnings with others.
Specifically, these individuals spend their time seeking to deeply understand social media from the aspects of how the tools can be used, how the tools and functions of these sites alter human behavior, how human beings relate to the social interactions on these sites, and how these tools and behaviors fit into the overall context of human evolution.
From a business perspective, these “gurus” seek to understand best practices, and leverage the opportunities inherent in these tools to drive substantial, and real, business value.
- Notice I didn’t mention the number of followers they have.
- Notice I didn’t talk about their Klout scores.
- Notice I focused on much deeper ideas primarily learning, teaching,and understanding with the explicit purpose of utilizing social media through both the technology and the human behaviors.
So, what is a Social Media Guru? It’s just a title. If it’s self assigned, it’s probably BS. If someone else assigns it, it still might be BS.
Just look for the person that talks about your goals, has been doing it longer than a week, and has more to show than a bunch of Twitter followers.