Like Danny, people who brag about the fact that they are social media “experts” or “gurus” often irk me. Calling yourself an expert or a guru does not automatically make you one.

After all, guru status is a lot to live up to. Imagine having to spend every day on the top of a mountain, prophesying about the awesome wonders of social media, keeping your believers continuously captivated, as they hang on your every word.

That’s a lot of pressure!

I thought it might be amusing (well, for me, anyway) to put together a list, in the style of “You Know You’re a Redneck When…” by Jeff Foxworthy. So, Danny has kindly provided me with a forum to do that (Thanks Danny!). Here goes…

You know you’re NOT a social media guru when…

• Your Twitter profile description says “Social Media Expert Guy” but your profile picture is of you with no shirt on.

• Your blog’s About page would win the Buzzword Bingo jackpot every time.

• Your “Areas of Expertise” list is 3 pages long.

• You regularly throw flaming Tweets out at anyone and everyone who “Qwits” you.

• You think that the best way to “reach out” to your public is to send mass unsolicited emails about your new startup/podcast/e-book/insert-product-here.

• Your signal to noise ratio is equivalent to trying to listen to a Norah Jones song on your iPod during a Limp Bizkit concert.

• All of your online profiles talk about your expertise in social media but your blog is about the crazy antics of your 12 cats.

• Your “10 Things You Must Do to Get Into Social Media” list mentions Facebook, Flickr and Twitter in at least 9 of the steps.

The reality is, those that call themselves gurus ultimately seem less credible in the eyes of others. This often becomes apparent once their followers start to ask them to do real work. Suddenly, they are unable to live up to the high expectations they’ve created. Like not being able to provide any real, tangible value. Or, not being able to back up their claims or expertise.

The point is, these people call themselves experts expecting that the title alone will make them experts. If what they are really after is that elusive “guru” status, they will probably never get it.

However, by engaging with people on a human level, building their audience by making genuine connections and, perhaps most importantly, being open to continuous learning and growth, they will more than likely have other people singing their praises before long (and with much less effort, I might add). In the end, it’s not about being the best at social media; it’s about just being genuinely involved in social media.

It’s when others start to call you an expert and a guru that you’ll know you’re doing something right.

* Susan Murphy is a partner at Jester Creative Inc, a new media production company based in Ottawa, Ontario. She blogs about social media and life in general at Suzemuse. Susan can be found on Twitter as @SuzeMuse.

You Know You’re NOT a Social Media Guru When… originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

But apart from my lame attempt at humor, there’s another reason for the title of this post. For anyone that’s ever listened to corporate team-building speak, they’ll have heard a similar phrase before. It may even have been something as simple as, “There is no I in team.” While we all may have rolled our eyes and groaned at the time, it turns out it’s actually a pretty smart phrase – especially in social media.

Look around you on the web – if you’re part of a social media website or network, I’d be fairly confident on laying a bet that it feels like you’re on the world’s best team.

Take a look at Twitter, for example. You have a problem, you send out a Tweet and immediately you have the ears and eyes of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Each and every one of them will look at your problem and if they can help, they will.

Or how about BackType, or Disqus? Two similar methods of tracking blog comments that are helping to pave the way at improving the quality of comments left on blogs. Encouraging ways to make people think and comment respectably, as opposed to leaving the “WaReZ RuLeZ” type of gibberish. Building a better community.

This is where social media is leading the way at changing the way we look at the people and world around us. We’re no longer saying we’re only in it for what we can get out of it – now we’re saying to people we’re here for you. If you have a problem, one of us will have the answer and we’ll help you – because we want to help you be the best you can. And in doing so, making ourselves better people.

It’s strange. I look at Barack Obama and I see him as the true social media guru. Not for the way his team used social media to get the word out about his campaign, and not for the way he embraced the medium when millions of others still see it as immaterial.

No, where I see Obama standing as a focal point for social media is that he wants everyone to believe we can.

We can achieve our dreams.

We can overcome obstacles.

We can become one voice reaching for a better world.

We can do all this and more if we simply listen to each other. And respond. And help.

Sound familiar?

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There’s No I in Social Media originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.