As a very, very old-timer (that hurts to say…) in online communication practices it is sometimes very hard in this environment to keep my head down, stay behind the scenes, and not strive to be out front. Yet that is exactly where my clients need me to be – observing, doing, learning, deconstructing and pushing them from behind.

However, because many agencies (and companies) are not yet savvy enough about social media to evaluate and translate true practitioner expertise for their business, they look to the most obvious things they can grasp – followers or level of “celebrity.” We really can't blame professionals for wanting to up their likelihood of being hired, promoted or recruited.

It will sort itself out in time, but I do think the industry has to help professionals sort this out. Because you are right – PR professionals are supposed to be in the background.

To this point, (I train professionals in social media practices), one of the topics I believe is part of digital or “social media” literacy is understanding the difference between community participation, “fame” (merit) and “celebrity.”

We're all learning as we go. Thanks for the great post!

As a very, very old-timer (that hurts to say…) in online communication practices it is sometimes very hard in this environment to keep my head down, stay behind the scenes, and not strive to be out front. Yet that is exactly where my clients need me to be – observing, doing, learning, deconstructing and pushing them from behind.

However, because many agencies (and companies) are not yet savvy enough about social media to evaluate and translate true practitioner expertise for their business, they look to the most obvious things they can grasp – followers or level of “celebrity.” We really can't blame professionals for wanting to up their likelihood of being hired, promoted or recruited.

It will sort itself out in time, but I do think the industry has to help professionals sort this out. Because you are right – PR professionals are supposed to be in the background.

To this point, (I train professionals in social media practices), one of the topics I believe is part of digital or “social media” literacy is understanding the difference between community participation, “fame” (merit) and “celebrity.”

We're all learning as we go. Thanks for the great post!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/business/05pr…

I feel the same way. It's so important to find that balance and build a community, as opposed to continuously shouting at people “look at me”. Of course, we all want to have people following us and reading our blogs, etc…but it's important to realize that you're not going to get there without giving to others and promoting others first.

I was at a social media conference this weekend, IZEAfest, and just about every presenter talked about the importance of giving (instead of trying to receive all the time) in the social media space. Obviously the people that presented were some major thought leaders in the PR/SM space, so they know what they're talking about. I just hope that more people listen to those words and follow those guidelines and continue sharing. In addition, hopefully the people that are just all about themselves will dwindle down and we'll be left with more sense of community!