The Looming Social Media Education Gap

by Jason Keath
July 10, 2010

I run a company, Social Fresh, that is built on providing social media education. We host panels and conferences, write articles on training and news, and just started a weekly newsletter. All of this is aimed at helping marketers do bigger and better things in the social space.

Occasionally I get the question “How long will there be a need for a company like Social Fresh?”

My answer is usually “I have no idea, but I think we are still just at the beginning of this thing.”

Where Do We Stand?

The community of thought leaders in social media is still very small. There are still only a few hundred community managers out there. And while there are a lot of marketers learning social media very quickly and doing some really cool things, have no fear. The audience for social media education is only growing.

Most companies are at least dipping their toes in the social media waters. Few are diving in head first (See Zappos, Dell, Best Buy, Intel).

Where Are We Going?

The education gap is growing because companies are learning just how much social media can do – how many of their employees they need to train to bring them up to speed.

A company can “be social” with just a community manager talking to a few customers on Twitter, Facebook, and a blog. A single employee. A small commitment.

But once they decide to invest in becoming an holistic social company, the education gap grows. The number of people they need to bring into the know explodes.

The potential for how social media can change businesses inside and out is unending. And with each realization of these oppotunities, the education gap grows.

For now, the number of people looking to learn social media, looking to utilize this new tool set for business, is small compared to where it will be.

So I say again, we are still at the beginning of this thing.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

 

 

Most Commented Posts

Social Media

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

  • Amy Dean

    Thanks for the reminder that there's still a lot of teaching to offer. So many of the people who I follow on social media networks are positioning themselves as experts, so it's easy to forget that the experts are the minority. When you said social media has the potential to change companies inside and out it reminded me of my post on “turning public relations inside out.” http://keywordcommunication.com/7-steps-to-turn... It speaks to your bullet points. Thanks for the inspiration to keep teaching and learning.

  • http://jasonkeath.com jakrose

    It is easy to get caught up in the bubble of people that live and breathe Twitter and Foursquare all day. It is good to step outside as often as possible to see how the rest of business views the space.

  • http://raxraxrax.com/2010/07/15/the-raxlist-for-july-15th/ The RaxList for July 15th | raxraxrax.com

    [...] The Looming Social Media Education Gap – [...]

  • http://mobthink.com/ Rab

    Hear hear. And there are still questions of why and if.

  • http://twitter.com/SmartWoman Vicki Flaugher

    Jason – great POV. The gap feels like it's literally ripping wide open and will do so slow at first (now) but then increasingly, exponentially expanding. Corporations are not quite on the bandwagon but once they really buy in, I suspect the pie will be huge – so huge that in no time specialists in each industry will evolve up.

    I am in the midst of launching a B2B Social Media training site and I'd love to feature what you do there. What's the best way to get in touch and discuss?

  • http://twitter.com/jasonmmurphy Jason Murphy

    Sometimes I feel like a genius when I step outside of my geek circle, and trust me, I never feel like a genius…lol

    But it is a good point, the need to understand the Social IQ of the masses and the land rush opportunity that those of us with a passion for social have in front of us.

    I still think the future will be small business. Much like local SEO has unfolded.

  • http://twitter.com/PaulFennemore Paul Fennemore

    My research concurs 100% with your comments http://www.pfennemore.blogspot.com/

    I have interviewed 15 marketing directors, talked to a further 20 and my research corroborates what you are saying. Despite all the hype about how social nets will change we work as a society, today it is having minimal impact in business. But as brand ownership transfers to empowered online communities, brands will start waking up.