Social Media Certification? – Says who!?
Image by glenn.batuyong via Flickr
Beth Harte posted a link on Twitter this evening that prompted quite the Tweet conversation.
The link posted was to a enterprising person who is offering a Social Media Marketing Certification for a bargain price of about $1500.
Now, Beth covers a lot of what is wrong with this, and there is so much wrong with it. I guess I can cover more of a technical aspect (because that’s what I do) and throw in some of my own thoughts too.
First, the site looks truly shifty. If you’re going to offer something marketing to others you really need to make it look good. This is almost like trying to market a book on the back of a paper towel.
The domain has very little to do with the site – Marketing Community Resource? that could be much better suited for something else.
It’s online based! It has to be, being 12 weeks long. Could you teach someone to play the violin by correspondence?
I have more certifications in a variety of areas than you can shake a stick at but I agree with Beth and others when I say that I don’t think that you can certify someone to be a “Certified Social Media Marketing Coach/Consultant/Marketer” (sounds rather vague).
There is no authority in Social Media Marketing, there is no standard. The only way to prove yourself, your methods and prowess in the field is in the outcome. Do you create exposure? do you help business? are you making a difference? the proof of the pudding is truly in the eating.
I’m no authority, I don’t claim to be, I likely never will. I do what I do and what I know. To get anywhere in Social Media Marketing you need personality. You need to be exciting, excited and excitable. You can’t teach or quantify that. You need imagination, you need to have ideas and be personable. You can’t bottle or put it in a book.
Social Media Marketing is something you need to be, it’s a tool, it’s not a cure-all but it helps.
12 weeks isn’t enough time to build a reputation, develop skills, build relationships and make contacts and more, heck people have been doing it for 12 years and are still working on it!
Another interesting, and saddening point raised is that anyone who pays for this title will certainly put it on their resume.
Enterprise (and anyone else needing SMM) isn’t versed enough to know any different. they’ll likely skip over someone with true SMM Passion for someone with $1500.
A standard will stymie growth too. Social Media and Social Media Marketing is changing so much on a daily basis. Companies are coming and going. Sites are up and down. If you set a standard it will stop those with it from pushing further.
I suggested that we create a non-certified certificate. Stating that we’re not certified in Social Media and won’t be. It makes sense in my mind.
What do you think?
Sadly this isn’t the only place claiming to offer some kind of authority in Social Media – A quick Google Search brings up a few places. (here)
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Comments
Andy, thanks for taking up the cause here and adding a different rationale to the situation. Social media is still so new I am not sure how anyone can be in a position to certify anyone else. And don't you think that technology certificates are a lot different than a certificate on how to use social tools that can be used in any number of ways depending on who's using them? The whole concept of training people to go out and coach others (all without having any real experience) is just amazing to me.
I've never been one to spend money on being certified, especially when the person who is doing the certifying cannot show me how they got certified. Wow, that was a mouthful. This certification makes about as much sense to me as my first sentence.
Dopey. Just dopey. But hey, if someone pays for it, have a ball. If that makes someone feel more put together, I'm excited. Keep thinking that way.
The sad thing is that there will inevitablly be people that fall for this. Social Media is so new, and although there are being college classes offered in it, there is nobody out there, as of yet, that can claim to “certify” you as an expert. As a matter of fact, I believe one of the draws to this medium is the fact that anybody can do it, and do it well.
I too am into the technical aspect of things, and I can't for the life of me see how anybody can make these cliams. I say “buyer beware”
Andy – Great post!!! As I was saying to Seth Godin & Clay Shirky over dinner last night, the whole industry has to grow up if we're going to be taken seriously. Check out my site for more information!!!
@NetwkPittsburgh similarly to that see: http://bit.ly/TJmPb
@SugarJones @steffanantonas – Social Media Certification? huge con! I wrote about this with @BethHarte a while ago http://bit.ly/1EE37B
RT @techburgh Social Media Certification? – Says who!? | TechBurgh Blog and PodCast http://bit.ly/5LXkl
hey, @BethHarte we got a retort to the Social Media Certification post. http://disq.us/2kfyo interesting reading
This post is now almost one year old and still as current as it can get. The question is out and we are one of those who conquer the above question.
A certification is as good as the details describing their content. The Social Media Academy describes in detail what we teach and certify through exercises and tests that a student learned and understood what we teach. Not more and not less. We don't claim we are the ultimate authority, nor do we claim that what we teach is the only way to go. But we wholeheartedly trust that what we teach is literally best known practice. Yes, social media is new but not THAT new. I started to use LinkedIn in 2003 and blogging in 2004 – that is almost 7 years ago.
Here is why we believe a certification is VERY important:
1) We (practitioner of the field) know too well that there are thousands of self proclaimed experts who ruin the reputation of this industry every day.
2) Who ever puts a certification together, at the very least defines and states the methods, models and frameworks they teach, certify that the people who learned what they learned went through that process and can go out and practice the content they learn.
3) We may not agree with the certificates of one or the other institute – but at least we have some defined curriculum we can argue about
4) With no certification we all continue to run around with ideas and hopes to do thongs right – and that is wrong (in MHO)
5) At the end – the customers and hiring managers will decide whether they prefer a certified social media manager, strategist or what ever title is out there or just hire somebody where they “hope” it's right. My bet is – they hire a certified person, and if it is only because they can double check and see what their background is.
Always looking for thoughts and input – Social Media Certification? – Says who!? http://bit.ly/5LXkl Speak Up!! #fb
RT @techburgh Social Media Certification? – Says who!? | TechBurgh Blog and PodCast http://bit.ly/5LXkl
[...] not alone in my skeptic thinking but I’m joined by others in the field like Beth Harte, Andy Quayle and Olivier Blanchard. All of which talk about the dollar amount spent on the programs, the [...]
Social Media Certification? Says who!? | TechBurgh Blog and PodCast http://ping.fm/9PLh4
I live that my (negative) post on 'Social Media Certification' ranks so high in Google. Check it out. http://bit.ly/5LXkl
RE: @techburgh Thank you for this article.. People throw certifications around like they are police badges. I was curi… http://disq.us/c33of
Thank you for this article.. People throw certifications around like they are police badges. I was curious and luckily my google search brought up your article!
Thank you for this article.. People throw certifications around like they are police badges. I was curious and luckily my google search brought up your article!
@pearsonified know what drives me crazy? This: http://techburgh.com/blog/2009/01/30/social-media-certification-says-who/
@wk4coffee My certification sure cost a lot less. FYI, found a blog post that is pretty relevant. http://bit.ly/a0g7Za
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The market itself is still too immature for there to be any reliable certifications in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, offering some sort of structured grounding into the subject may be valuable, but unless a certification is backed by an academic institution, or has proven it's worth through practice, I wouldn't be betting that something like this would help you get a better job.