Why the 10,000 hours of practice rule doesn’t apply to social media
By Jeannette PaladinoI recently posted a comment to someone’s question on LinkedIn’s Social Media Marketing Group. She wanted to know, “How Do You Engage a Social Media Guru?” There were several thoughtful replies with what I would call the standard advice: look at their social media projects and communication experience, the processes they use, how they measure their results, etc. All worthy goals. But I disagree with this approach. Here is what I said in my response, with a few new thoughts:
We have to remember that social media is so new that even the “gurus” have only been at it for a couple of years, i.e., Mari Smith is the Facebook expert and I heard her say that she’s been consulting on Facebook for only two years. Three years ago, Jason Alba was out of work and now he’s a LinkedIn expert. Malcolm Gladwell’s claim that you need 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert at something simply doesn’t apply to social media.
Greybeards may have tons of experience and be very talented but do they bring a social media sensibility to the table? Are they really wired into the social media community? Maybe yes, maybe no. It doesn’t take long become an expert. Amy Dean, a PR consultant in Chicago (see Keyword Communication) and a good friend and colleague, has become known as the ghost buster — within a few months of her going after Twitter imposters reporters were coming to her to learn which celebrities and CEOs weren’t writing their own tweets.
John Byrne, the executive editor of Business Week, asked her to write a byline (which she did) and USA Today and other publications have interviewed her. She’s young but she understands how to engage the social media community (see her special website Tweetexorcist). She’s also helped make an IT social media star of one of her clients. Just talking to her is energizing.
If you ask a consultant for his/her last six social media projects, how many will actually be able to produce them? How many people have had 10,000 hours of practice — I’d venture none. Instead, find out how consultants would address your specific needs. Are they enthusiastic? Are they full of ideas? Are their current clients happy with them? I don’t think you should get hung up on process and rely on what’s worked in the past. That’s old. It’s difficult to apply process when you’re shooting for the moon.
What do you think? Would love to hear your comments below.
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- Nonverbal communication in a social media world
- Blogging as the Centerpiece of a Company’s Social Media Strategy
- Fortune 100 CEOs are Social Media Slackers, Says New Study
