Self-Proclaimed Gurus Multiplying Like Rabbits

Social Media "Gurus"

Whether speaking before an audience and advising clients, I caution them to wary of today’s proliferation of self-anointed social media gurus. Don’t be taken-in by big talk, big claims. A lot of followers on Twitter does not an expert make.

Most such self-appointed gurus have questionable-to-no credentials … even those who were among the first on Twitter (possibly because they were unemployed) or those who have had other people write books on their behalf and are now on the lecture circuit. There’s often little behind the smoke and mirrors.

I’ve found that many social media gurus lack experience in communications or marketing, quite a few don’t have blogs (even those extol the virtues of blogging), and a simple search of Google reveals nothing about them to support their grandiose claims. They are, in my opinion, phonies.

At the core of social media is the essential need for established credentials in communications.

The New York journalist and writer BL Ochman and I seem to be on the same page. She recently wrote on her WhatsNext blog, “Self-Proclaimed Social Media Gurus on Twitter Multiplying Like Rabbits,” and I could not agree more. She’s given permission for me to re-post her findings:

In May 09 when we first used Tweepsearch to count of the Twitter bios of self-proclaimed social media gurus, experts, superstars and ninjas there were 4,487. A mere seven months later, we were shocked to see that there are now nearly 16.000. They are multiplying like rabbits.

Here’s a breakout (according to Tweepsearch) of the 15,740 self-proclaimed social media gurus we discovered in our most recent search:

As your company or agency scrambles to get up to speed on social media, it is wise to remember that “guru” is something someone else calls you. The consultants others are likely to call gurus:

• bring experience to the table;
• sell solutions, not formulas;
• don’t promise that social media will provide a quick fix for your bottom line.

Check out BL Ochman’s blog because she knows what she is talking about.

Read more: http://www.davidhenderson.com/2010/01/26/self-proclaimed-gurus-multiplying-like-rabbits/#ixzz0djqPbrxb
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