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Nobody Knows What Social Media Work Is

By on February 28, 2012

What Blogging Really Looks Like - The Anti-Social MediaEvery day, I hear or a read on a social media blog that someone needs to “start doing the work.” Hell, I told people the same thing yesterday.

But nobody actually knows what the fuck social media work is.

You think in the circle jerk of passionate, loving social media folks, we’d gladly support each other’s work because we all have been through it.

But no. We all bitch that everyone else needs to get off their ass and do the work.

It’s easy to criticize someone’s work when all you see is a handful of tweets, YouTube videos, and Facebook updates because these seem so insignificant. It seems like anyone can just hop on Twitter and start writing a bunch of promotional messages and gathering followers.

What you don’t see is the boatload of emails trying to get a 48 pixel avatar correct with the design team. The messages across the company trying to resolve a customer service issue. The stress of trying to cram a bunch of mandated information into a format that doesn’t support what the communications department is determined cram down your followers’ throats.

You don’t read the 25 page strategy and planning document that someone spent an entire month working on, only to have it rejected by a troll who hasn’t touched the internet.

So get off your high horse and stop complaining that other people don’t do social media work when they don’t tweet/blog/pinterest/Google+/Facebook like you do.

Just because you don’t see their work doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it.

13 Responses to Nobody Knows What Social Media Work Is

  1. Sara Öhman February 28, 2012 at 7:25 am #

    Thank you! I’ve been trying to set off this discussion in Sweden and have been written some posts about it. Fun!

    • Jay February 28, 2012 at 8:46 am #

      Are the Swedish being lazy complainers? I also imagined them as a jovial bunch of go-getters.

  2. Dennis Taylor February 28, 2012 at 8:55 am #

    I thought it was only me who had trouble explaining that the profile pic for a client looked shit it it did matter.

    • Jay February 28, 2012 at 9:33 am #

      It’s always hard to deliver bad news.

  3. Camilo Olea February 28, 2012 at 10:13 am #

    Preach it, brother!

    I just finished a 35-page strategy, by the way. And I channel every single customer issue we get through all the different channels our customers are in. Among many other things on my daily schedule. Also, when I get home I continue working on my personal projects.

    Yet, in the eyes of both coworkers and people I know, “all I do is sit on Facebook all day. And get paid for it.”

    It used to annoy me, now I just laugh and say: “Hell yea. What a job, eh?”

    • Jay February 28, 2012 at 3:31 pm #

      I “like” this.

  4. Angela Connor February 28, 2012 at 4:06 pm #

    Clearly my friend, you understand the meaning of doing the work. Nice, important, (yet quick) read. You’re probably too busy doing the work to write long boring stuff anyway.

    • Jay March 4, 2012 at 9:36 pm #

      Who has time to read (or write) long blog posts?

  5. Danicia February 28, 2012 at 4:42 pm #

    I love you so much for this. *bigfrackininternethugs*

  6. Jill Tooley February 28, 2012 at 6:05 pm #

    You’re hilarious, Jay! Loved this post. I’ve slowly come to realize that the majority of my family and friends think I talk about LOLcats on Facebook and Twitter all day instead of doing actual work. And even though I’ve explained it to them a dozen times, they still have no clue what I’m talking about. Sigh…

  7. Mattatsmf March 1, 2012 at 7:16 am #

    Great post! Friends always question my work and say I just spend all day on twitter. There is so much more to it that people don’t see!

    - Socialmediafrontier.scom

  8. Kristen Daukas March 1, 2012 at 12:51 pm #

    Lets not forget the beauracratic, legal red tape that the corporate attorneys want you to go thru to post every single tweet or page update. 30 days later…

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