My friend Maddie Grant tweeted this post the other day about Social Media Certification. I remembered another 2 posts from this time last year (here and here). In Andy's post he says something that is the crux of it to me.
Instead of authority, what I think he meant to say was governing body. I bet these folks doing the certifications are trying to become the authority by offering them. But there is no recognized governing body. The second part is the most crucial. There is no standard.
As many of the above posts and others have said, there is no one thing that will work for every company when it comes to social media. We all have different audiences, different technology, different goals, etc. However, I think there is one way to help narrow the field from the people who have been on board from square one (or two) versus those out to make a quick buck.
There is a certain amount of objective data and knowledge out there regarding social media. How many characters are in a tweet? Which systems work with each other? And many more. I wouldn't want to be the person who had to cull through and create the body of knowledge, but it could be done. I am not advocating a certification, but there might be a way to do one that wasn't totally full of fluff.
Would someone who has a passing score be better or worse than someone who doesn't? Only your experience with them would tell. But isn't that like all certifications? After all, what do you call the guy with the highest passing grade in medical school? Doctor. What do you call the guy with the lowest passing grade in medical school? Doctor.
There is no authority in Social Media Marketing, there is no standard.
Instead of authority, what I think he meant to say was governing body. I bet these folks doing the certifications are trying to become the authority by offering them. But there is no recognized governing body. The second part is the most crucial. There is no standard.
As many of the above posts and others have said, there is no one thing that will work for every company when it comes to social media. We all have different audiences, different technology, different goals, etc. However, I think there is one way to help narrow the field from the people who have been on board from square one (or two) versus those out to make a quick buck.
There is a certain amount of objective data and knowledge out there regarding social media. How many characters are in a tweet? Which systems work with each other? And many more. I wouldn't want to be the person who had to cull through and create the body of knowledge, but it could be done. I am not advocating a certification, but there might be a way to do one that wasn't totally full of fluff.
Would someone who has a passing score be better or worse than someone who doesn't? Only your experience with them would tell. But isn't that like all certifications? After all, what do you call the guy with the highest passing grade in medical school? Doctor. What do you call the guy with the lowest passing grade in medical school? Doctor.
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