If social media experts aren’t experts only the charlatans will be “experts”

Late one night last week a message appeared in my inbox from a local TV reporter. “Hi Lisa. I’m looking for a social networking expert to quote for a story. Are you game?” I called her the next morning to say that I’d be happy to talk to her about social networking but that I’m no expert. Social media are evolving so quickly that there are no experts, I explained.

After the interview the reporter looked me in the eye and said, “You know more about this than 99 percent of the population. I’m calling you an expert in the story.”

I couldn’t argue the point. I spend much of my time reading, writing and talking about social media with other evangelists. I can talk for hours about the subject and I soak up words of wisdom from the many generous bloggers and tweeters who eagerly share their ideas and experiences each day. When I’m called upon as a consultant or panelist – where I’m viewed as an expert – I consider it my responsibilty to consistently offer solid, helpful information, and to say “I don’t know” when I don’t. So I looked up “expert” in the dictionary. 

expert n. A person who has a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.

Huh. That sounds like me. And many of the people I’ve heard deny the status.

In our passionate circle of social media evangelists, the true experts are dismissing the title while the just-add-water “experts” are scamming people into believing they know the way to social media salvation. I’m now convinced this is a mistake. It’s our responsibility to communicate our level of knowledge and abilities in a way people who don’t spend every free moment tweeting and reading social media blogs will understand – as experts. To save them from the charlatans.

What do you think? Should we keep humbly denying that we’re experts?

If you’re interested, you can see my 15 seconds of fame here.

Photo credit: Kriegerinhummel via Flickr