There’s no time (or room) for social media labels

There are people who use words like “guru” or “ninja” to describe themselves or other social media pros, and there are other people who hate those labels and reject them both for themselves and the “snake oil salesmen” who abuse them.

I don’t judge either side. I just feel there’s no time or room for this argument. Let me explain why, but first, a little context.

Social media constantly changes

I’ve been in tech PR for 18 years, but the traditional tech PR game changed in 2001 after the dot com bubble burst and Sept. 11 happened. Advertising dollars evaporated and editorial pages and staff disappeared. In early 2004 it was clear that PR as we knew it would not return.

At the time I managed Sun Microsystems’ product reviews program. Seemingly overnight there were fewer opportunities to land reviews. Publications shuttered test labs not only to cut costs because advertising was down, but because IT buyers started to blog about their experiences with Sun’s products. These peer reviews slowly became more valuable than editorial product reviews.