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Era of the Social Media-Internet Specialist Over? Probably not.

by Tris Hussey on March 23rd, 2008

Steve Rubel has a thought provoking post this morning about the wax and wane of Internet and social media-based careers (ooh is that a spam-bait intro or what!) saying that several “specialist” jobs are doomed for the dust bin.

In many ways, he has a point.  We will be expected as part of our jobs to understand and work with many forms of social media.  However, I think the role of the specialist won’t ever end as I see it.  Sure, everyone might be expected to understand social media, but someone will likely be responsible for that specifically (though maybe not as their only duty).

Here is an excerpt from Steve’s post:

The web has finally become the dominant marketing and media platform and where everyone is largely focusing their resources. It’s “the new normal.” To me, this means that there will be less of a need for digital specialists across many industries. Some of these jobs won’t exist in their current form within a couple of years. They will be integrated into broader roles. Everyone will be expected to know how to navigate the online landscape if they want to have a thriving career.

Here are three such jobs that will soon be integrated into other roles…

• Social Media Consultant, Social Media Manager, etc.
• Internet Advertising Sales, Online Advertising Sales, etc.
• Digital Talent Agents

Source: Micro Persuasion: Three Internet Careers That Soon Won’t Exist

Similarly the role of the specialist consultant is pretty safe.  The trick is for the specialist is not to wrap themselves so tightly into one thing that they can’t adapt to changing times.

I’ve moved from web development and design to knowledge management to blogging to social media.  Lots of Internet-related careers.  When I’ve run into trouble is when I thought that people still needed consulting on basic things (web strategy was my first try as a consultant, missed that boat by a few years).

While I don’t think I’m going to win any awards for consultant of the year, I do have a sense of what is going on.  Maybe my strength has really been learning and adapting (and people say I don’t use my Masters degree!) to changing landscapes.

The unifying thread across all these different specialities has been managing information (again a hat-tip to my Masters work)…what’s next for me?  Who knows, but it will probably have to do with information in some way.  That and helping people learn and use it.

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POSTED IN: Entrepreneurs, Opinion