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    The hard parts of social media work

    Social media has been my primary job for 5 years. Granted those first few years it was alot more trying to sell people social so I could then do it but each year the work continues to increase. I'm now at the point where 8-10 hours each day is nothing but putting together social media strategies or implementing those strategies. Part of me thinks I have no reason to complain because I have everything I ever wanted. But there are a few things I didn't count on.
     
    Not being able to tell anyone:
    I get to work on some amazing projects with some amazing clients and I can't tell you about it. That's hard for me. But some of it is of strategic advantage to my clients and some of it just hasn't rolled out yet. I promise to share what I can.
     
    Watching the fringe go main stream:
    I've blogged about this before but every trend starts at the fringe and as it gains main stream acceptance it becomes watered down. When you join a trend on the fringe it can be painful to watch it go main stream.
     
    Staying grounded:
    I've blogged about this before to but when you live, eat and breathe this stuff you sometimes loose the ability (or interest) in talking about anything else. Dr's suffer from this as well, they become so specialized in what they do that they can't carry on conversations with non Dr's.
     
    Knowing that it's all going to end:
    Eventually social will just ne the way things are. In a few years I doubt we'll have social media specialists anymore. When that happens I wonder what a lot of us will do? Some have always been marketing or digital focused and they'll stay that way. Others will always be looking for the next big thing. I don't know what I'll do, I really don't.
     
    What about you? What do you find the hardest part of working in this space?

    Tags » Blog Social Media WaggEd Work
    • 7 July 2009
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    almost 3 years ago Dan Bishop responded:
    Great post Tac... I haven't been in the space as long as you and I certainly have not reached levels that you have so I can only imagine what is must feel like to see your vision becoming a mainstream reality. For me, the hardest part about working in this space is that my eyes see a different vision than 90% of the people that I speak with on a daily basis... my eyes see the world from a social media/ technology standpoint and therefore my talk is influenced in that manner... when people ask what I do or make a comment about the Twitter rage or the social media trend... that gets my blood flowing and I love talk talking about it because I know how incredibly important, relevant and cutting-edge this discussion is. But the reality is that most peoples' understanding of and appreciation for this topic of discussion only scratches the surface. Where I see that we're talking about something that has paramount importance now, and for the future... they see it as as though we're talking celebrity gossip... fun and juicy for a few minutes but not longlasting and worthwhile. Oh how wrong they are :) Cheers - Dan
    almost 3 years ago Tac Anderson responded:
    Tac Anderson
    Thank you for your comment Dan. I find in those situations a little self righteousness goes along way :)
    almost 3 years ago Sam Swenson responded:
    For me, one of the hardest things, right now, with social media is that it is still so undefined. People / companies are scrambling to 'get learned up' (typically for free) as fast as humanly possible on what this 'social media' thing could do for themselves, or their company.

    Personally, I see history repeating itself. In 1994, the domain name chevrolet.com was purchased (seems crazy that it really wasn't that long ago). And I guarantee you, if we were in the board meetings at Chevrolet at that time, they were asking the same type of questions we're asking today about social: "What will having a website DO for us?" "Can we SELL stuff on a website?" "Do we need to hire a webmaster?" "What's the ROI?"

    Today, we see that the once-all-inclusive webmaster position has splintered into an innumerable array of job types and titles. The technology has gone every which way and found massive success.

    I see the same thing for social-media ... in the future. The Most frustrating part? - that we're still in the land grab phase; justifying its purpose in our lives or the lives of our companies, asking if it'll make us money ... wondering is we need to hire a 'social media guru.' :)

    almost 3 years ago Tac Anderson responded:
    Tac Anderson
    Sam, it can be a really tough sell at that level. You have to balance educating the client enough to buy without giving too much away. We've talked about this before and I think it comes down to finding the right clients.

    But yes, I see more similarities to the "digital" wave than not, but there are some key differences. Social is more of a mindset  or approach than a tactic. At least that's what we like to tell ourselves on the fringe.
    almost 3 years ago Sam Swenson responded:
    Like you said, on the fringe, something like social media can -be- a mindset. As it develops into the mainstream, the mindset is accompanied by tactics that make it more accessible (watered down). That's where the innovation comes in to play. Companies have a hard time investing in mindsets, unless they are wired that way from the start.

    Social media introduces a special challenge, because at its core it's simply a form of communication. And when a company sees others use this new form of communication to their advantage, they lead with a desire to 'own it' themselves as a tool or tactic, as opposed to the mindset that most likely made it work for the others in the first place.

    Honestly, I can't say that one is more right than the other. If you can view it as a mindset and have it work for you, it did what it was supposed to! If you view it as a tactic and it worked, and you found an audience that embraced your tactic, then good on ya!

    almost 3 years ago Owen Richard Kindig responded:
    Owen Richard Kindig
    Refreshingly candid comments, Tac. I'm with you.
    First, I really appreciate your practical how-tos & NBT alerts. You and @GeorgeDearing have really gotten me up to speed on SM in the last month or two. And I'm an early adopter by nature... so 80% of the business world is still way, way, behind.

    On watching the fringe go mainstream: seems to me it's a lot like being in the fashion business ... or surfing. There's always a new wave to ride.

    On staying grounded, I've been a hobby farmer for the last 20 years. (sold my sheep 2 years ago). But even gardening or long walks in the country/mountains are great for physical exertion, generating ideas ... and bonding with the fam. Yesterday, I started ripping out a fence. Last week, I cut and hauled 5 tons of wood. One word of advice: ground the kids, too. Read Dr Seuss or Mark Twain at the dinner table. Have Saturday watercolor "classes" all morning instead of cartoons. Buy a telescope, or just get 'em up at 4am August 12 to watch the Perseid meteor shower. http://bit.ly/LBhb1 Grounding is experiencing anything that just happens, whether we watch or not.

    On wondering about career changes: All of these things are just tools for helping human beings and businesses communicate. There will always need to be creative ways of reaching audiences, moreso when time and attention are so scarce. I have worked on the bleeding edge of advertising typography, OCR scanning, multi-image, business theatre, trade shows, "personal computers", desktop publishing, video, DVDs, digital photography, the "World Wide Web!" and now SM. There have always been 2 constants. New technological tools, which mastering is part of your job description; but more importantly, business challenges that demand human-to-human communication. Viewpoints that require intelligent listening, and audiences that crave understanding. Cold spots that need warming, and chasms that need bridges. New content as opposed to new media. And you're in the perfect place to serve your clients for years to come.

    almost 3 years ago Owen Richard Kindig responded:
    Owen Richard Kindig
    PS - You gotta watch the PEN story -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Et7UQh1tg
    What a great song/animation to illustrate what you're writing about.

    PPS - And I didn't mention Flash... that was a true galvanizing phenom when it hit, with cool leading exponents like you showing us what we could do with it, and having panel discussions on how it would change the world! Only 9 years ago...

    ORK

    almost 3 years ago Tac Anderson responded:
    Tac Anderson
    Owen, farming huh? Now I know why my grandfather who was an investment banker for 50 years has a small farm when I was growing up.
    almost 3 years ago Owen Richard Kindig responded:
    Owen Richard Kindig
    Yep, you haven't lived till you (with your kids) have watched a lamb born, or confronted a menacing rooster, or nursed an orphan lamb in the house, or discovered the secrets of compost. Grounding... :-)

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    Post-Social. Futurist.
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    Post-Social. Futurist.
    Digital anthropologist.
    Gen X. Geek.
    Expat from Seattle, living in London.
    Husband of Jen. Father of 3.

    This is a collection of notes, thoughts and pics that I've created, collected and then scattered across the Web.

    Find me:
    Twitter: @tacanderson
    New Comm Biz
    /tacanderson

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