Many people are labeling themselves as social media pros these days, using it as a marketing advantage in a stiff job market. But what does it really mean to be an expert in social media? Would you still consider someone a social media pro if he or she wasn’t personally active on social media sites?
As public relations professionals, I think it’s important for us to build our own personal brands, which can be done extremely easily through social media sites. If you’re the only person out of a pool of potential employees not active on social media sites and not showing off your own personal brand, you could find yourself at the competitive disadvantage. After all, a big part of PR is influence. Influence could become a PR prerequisite, just like strong writing and verbal skills. In addition, social media gives employers a huge insight into candidates – what their strengths are, what kind of person they are and what they like – all invaluable information in the hiring process.
I think to truly be a social media guru, you should practice what you preach and act as a source of good information.
Would you consider someone an expert in social media if they were not personally active on such sites? Do you think PR professionals who haven’t personally embraced social media are at a disadvantage?
This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Trish Wyatt.
1 comment:
I think that it is important to be active on a wide variety of social media sites to be considered a social media guru. It is easy to say that you should tweet like this or blog like that, but the real question should be can you actually put what you are saying into action?
Can you really get a good following and set up an extensive network via social media? I think that this post poses a really good question and makes an excellent point about how people view themselves. If you want to make it in the Public relations and now social media world, you better know how to work it, and work it well.
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