Comments on: Social Media Job Description

By: How I overcame distance, built trust and landed a job with social media | Social Signal

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:10:12 +0000

[...] that mattered. My brother actually got a blog post out of this problem that more or less said “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if this job existed?” (It was 2008.) The reader will note that all the comments on that post are people asking where [...]

By: Job Description

Job Description — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:23:08 +0000

The website is brilliant. I was shown and told about you in thought/dream state and then searched for you online. I have been doing the rainbow healing on myself since and love it. I extend much gratitude to you for receiving and spreading this gift." Terrence Job Description

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:23:34 +0000

Thanks, Matt and Walter!

Walter – Great point. I agree that an understanding of the academic literature is important. Case in point: I’m still working through my Masters degree, and have found that the “formal” literature, complemented by on-the-ground observations, provides a great foundation for understanding the changes that are happening to the web, and our society.

So I wonder when the first Bachelor of Arts in Social Media Sociology will be developed?

By: Matt Garcia

Matt Garcia — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:25:12 +0000

I think that another interesting connection to the idea of a curator is the fact that they choose specific items from a large array to promote.

Those specific items were seen as valuable or worthy in the middle of all the noise and deserved to be displayed much like a social media curator must pull specific pieces of information that she finds ‘worthy’ out of all the noise (blogs, tweets, news feeds etc.) to promote (rather than pushing ALL relevant info out to followers).

Great post! Thanks for the thoughts!

By: Walter

Walter — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:05:20 +0000

All of those things seem important. I might add a familiarity with the growing social science literature on the social patterns of the net. It’s possible that some of this more “formal” knowledge of what motivates people to use social tools and participate in online communities could lend some legitimacy to a candidate. While being a “super-user” may be a big component, being able to speak confidently about this sort of research literature might go a long way towards assuring organizations that the candidate can add value.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:58:29 +0000

Hi, Walter.

Good question – I have a vision of a teenager telling his mom that time spent on Facebook is really “professional development.”

I guess, in keeping with my focus on the idea of curator, that the necessary skills would really lie in the ability to create a conversation; to understand the needs of an audience, and be able spot patterns across different media. A good museum curator can find the connections between a bunch of historical odds and ends, and use them to tell a story that her audience wants to hear. Maybe a social media curator does the same thing, but with the bits and pieces of media from across the internet.

That’s a pretty general answer – in real terms? Being able to write coherently and quickly is key. Being able to assimilate large amounts of data – great research skills. Having some ability to sell your ideas, to market them. Any other ideas?

By: Walter

Walter — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:37:05 +0000

What is the skill set of this job type as it becomes more common? Is it just a “super-user” of social tools? Or are there other things a young professional might focus on to pursue this sort of path?