Maybe you should ditch the ‘funny’ job title

Ridiculous is right. How did we become an industry that thinks it’s cool to call our professionals things like “Ant Colony Foreman,” “Chatter Monkey,” “Public Happy Maker,” and “Chief People Herder”?

Are we doing ourselves any favors by adding ridiculous job titles when we work in an industry that most people don’t take seriously?

PR is largely misunderstood, considered “publicity” at best and “spin” at worst. Community management is often considered little more than building a Facebook fan page. Attempting to claim any sort of social media expertise just begs for backlash from our colleagues.

Many of us still struggle to get our bosses to take social media seriously as an important part of our overall communications and marketing strategies. These are the people likely to shake their heads and laugh at even the thought of hiring anyone with a title on that list.

Companies that think it’s a wise idea to build entire positions around social media alone are often putting too much of a premium on that tactic and ignoring other crucial aspects of well-rounded marketing. Perhaps they are hiring people with very narrowly focused skills—a dangerous risk to take with someone speaking publicly on behalf of the company or your client.