People under the age of 30 define social media by a different word — “life.” — @perfectporridge

I hear it all the time: companies are scared of social media due to the ‘lack of control’the medium presents. Whether they realize it or not, what the companies and brand managers are actually scared of is the responsibility that comes with knowing what their consumers have to say about their brands.

Lets be real. It’s not like consumers weren’t talking about brands before social media, or even before the digital era. Oh, they were talking. Brands just couldn’t hear, monitor or respond to the word-of-mouth that was going on like they can today.

As social media puts the consumers in control, it also presents a huge opportunity for brands to connect with those consumers on a personal level. Social media doesn’t give brands less control – it offers them a way to blow their consumers away by actually caring and reacting to what they have to say.

So what if a company finds out their product actually sucks?

The fact of the matter is that this shift in the way we communicate is forcing marketers to make truthful claims and awesome products. The nature of social media holds companies accountable for the performance of their brands and product claims. It forces companies to go back to the core values of what they are promoting and be responsible for the quality of what they are marketing. And that is what companies and brand managers are actually scared of.

I have this problem with people coining themselves as social media experts. Why? Because the technology is young, ever-evolving and there are infinite possibilities in utilizing the medium that have yet to be discovered. How could somebody possibly be an expert when there is a vast amount of uncharted territory and so much that has yet to be discovered?

Okay, I get it. People are branding themselves as “social media experts” left and right because they discovered an opportunity in the knowledge they’ve acquired, simply by using the tools more than the general population. And since the general population is curious about social media, but either afraid of or too busy for it, the few who use it frequently can call themselves “the experts.”

Hell, I’ve even been perceived as an expert by my clients, simply because I am able to present the opportunity social media offers brands. Yes, I would agree that I have educated myself on the subject of social media by doing, using and reading much of what I can get my hands on, but I’m no where near an “expert.” There is so much more to know.

I could not have said it better than Michael J. Goldrich, Director, Global Web Services and E-Commerce with Dolce Hotels and Resorts, who stated “This industry is so new I am puzzled by how someone can say they are a social media expert.” Golrich continued on to say, “The one that is an expert is the marketer in the company that has found success by trial and error.” (link to article: http://ow.ly/jxZV)

While I agree that the best way to gain an understanding of social media’s capabilities is by doing, I disagree that trial and error makes you an expert. I believe those who are actively testing out social media can call themselves”educated,” but not “experts.”

What do you think?