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Why do you work in social?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I notice a bit of a divide between people who work in social and genuinely love it (testing, learning, new feature exploring, getting on the newest channels immediately, etc.) and those people who work in it but are going through the motions (don’t keep up with platforms, etc.). It may be as simple as, to some people a job is just a job and it is where life has taken them at the moment or may some people are trying to get out. Or maybe social has lost its joy for some because of legal teams or restrictions. 

All of that leads me to, which person are you - do you still love social and the industry or are you just doing the job you’re in right now? Neither answer is right/wrong! I feel like it is a healthy discussion to have to better understand how our industry is leaning. 

11 replies

Nycole
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Forgot to come back and leave my own answer! I have worked in social for much of my career and I’m one of those people who loves it, mostly anyhow ha. I love testing new platforms, trying new content types, pulling social out of silos, etc. I will say, I’ve had periods throughout my career when I’ve got burnt out though. Definitely when I was more hands on posting but even when leading teams and dealing with clients.

 

 

craig.cordell
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Such an interesting question @Nycole! 😀

I’m the social manager who tries to limit my personal use of social media at all costs. What intrigues me about social is how to tell stories within short attention spans, across various mediums, on ever-changing platforms. It feels like an experiment that never ends, which can be frustrating and motivating.

Community Manager @ Goosechase 🪿
Nycole
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Such an interesting question @Nycole! 😀

I’m the social manager who tries to limit my personal use of social media at all costs. What intrigues me about social is how to tell stories within short attention spans, across various mediums, on ever-changing platforms. It feels like an experiment that never ends, which can be frustrating and motivating.

 

So true that it’s the experiment that never ends. You can put it down for like a week and all of a sudden you feel out of the loop with a change or trend. I’m not nearly as active as I use to be but I like to keep up through reading and testing when I’m not burnt out. I really do enjoy Threads and look forward to its future.

Gayatri Shukla
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I’m loving being a fly on the wall here on this conversation! What a great question, @Nycole. “The experiment that never ends”. That should be on a T-shirt, @craig.cordell!

Curious to hear from @Kalee.Williams @lisa.rodrigo and @emily.haworth! 

lisa.rodrigo
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Thanks for the tag to contribute! I came from the PR world… I worked at a company focused on high-tech clients in Silicon Valley. We hopped on the platforms early and reporters were so much easier to talk with on Twitter. They were sharing details on what interested them, what didn’t fit in their story, asking for resources. It was thrilling to have this inside look into their brains. It made our pitches sharper and more successful. At that time, newspapers were consolidating and press releases where being written for shareholders more than media… I made the jump to be one with the people… connect customers to help, prospects to solutions. As said above, I think it’s kept my writing sharp, as you have to get to the “why” so quickly in our attention economy. It also provides a constant challenge to teach others how it impacts the business; there are many execs still out there who nod their heads to colleagues claiming to understand it’s importance, but in their own minds, they still think it’s crazy cat videos and what I ate for lunch. 

Lisa @eskeymo
K
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Great question, @Nycole and thanks for the tag  @Gayatri Shukla

I think about this a lot. What else would I want to do if I didn’t work in social? TBH nothing comes to mind because I freakin LOVE working in social. I don’t actually see my job as a job most of the time because I truly enjoy what I’m doing. I think a big part of this is the trust I’ve built with my stakeholders and the autonomy that I have. This is very important to have if not burnout can come on quickly. If you work in social you’re always on and most likely a highly creative person. We need our space to ideate and step away. This is hard for me so I’ve been trying to put myself first to make sure I don’t get burnout. If you need that afternoon walk or workout, just do it! 

I’m a natural connector in my every day life and really enjoy bringing my friends and community together. I think this is why social brings me so much energy and joy. I love creating experiences on social and strengthening my brands community across platforms.

I have observed colleagues that just check in and out. If this is you, I recommend talking with your manager about this so you can figure out a new career path and find what brings you joy again.  

 

kevin.vicker
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I love working in social media, but like Craig I’m abnormally inactive on social personally.

Professionally, I enjoy that it allows me to practice my diverse skillset. I’m fortunate to be on a wonderful and large team where I don’t have to do everything myself. Even with all the help, I still need expertise in community management/customer service, data analytics, content creation, video and graphic design practices, ad buys, etc. A lot of those are specialized positions in other disciplines.

I also generally like the two-way conversation capability, but of course I may feel differently that on a day when my company is the target of criticism!

I don’t want a same-routine-every-day kind of job, and as others have said, “The experiment that never ends” is a t-shirt worthy slogan for what it’s like to work in social media. It can be challenging, but I like that it’s always changing and keeping me on my toes. There’s certainly never a dull moment!

C
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Thanks for starting this conversation, I’m loving reading everyone’s answers! I’ve managed social media in every role of my career so far, and I still love it.

I feel lucky to be with an organization that supports social media and truly understands the value of it. I’m happy to manage campaigns, create reports or share quick stats (shout out, Sprout!) with my team, and strategize to meet changing audience needs/habits every day. I also love that my team celebrates our social wins and gets just as excited as I do for new campaigns.

Like others shared, social lets me be creative while connecting with the community and making impacts. I like knowing that there will always be something new to learn or try!

Nycole
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@Kalee.Williams so awesome to hear how much you love it. It is so rare we find jobs that feel like that for us so it’s cool that you have!! 

@kevin.vicker I totally hear you on not being active. When I was earlier in my career and honestly social was still super young and I was more hands on with social I was also using it heavily but then slowed down when I got so drained. The past decade+ in leadership roles and hands off I’ve started to get more interested in testing and having fun on the platform again.

@caitlin.mcdanels such a great answer. I love social for many of the same reasons like making a true impact on communities and being creative. You can really live outside of the box in social and have fun. 

Krouleau
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I like working in social because it’s another way of telling stories. As humans, we are connected by stories. 

Nycole
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I like working in social because it’s another way of telling stories. As humans, we are connected by stories. 

 

Love this answer. One of the reasons I love what I do and how i’ve built my team. We’re a storytelling engine! 

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