I’ve noticed a trend emerging lately among my friends who work in social media. This trend is whether or not to divulge the brands that you work on to the general public. Part of the magic of representing brands on Twitter is that the brands are personalities in and of themselves so why should we as social media and community managers telegraph to the world that we’re responsible for the witty tweet or amazing campaign. The simple answer is we shouldn’t.
As someone who has worked on three large brands on social, I have never publicly (in my personal social handles) mentioned which piece of content I was responsible for creating. I think it takes away some of the fun of fans interacting with these brands. I understand that millennials need to be praised for their hard work, and as inherently social savvy digital natives, they turn to social media to get the praise they seek. It’s only natural, but I’m here to tell you all to stop.
Now this rule is not hard and fast, there are instances where I think it’s okay for people to attach their name to a brand. If the brand is small and you’re the only member of the social media team, then by all means go for it, especially if you’re doing amazing innovative things. If you’re brand is big and you work on a team of 2 or more, it’s probably best to just let the content and work speak for itself, there’s a time and place for getting credit, and that’s when you’re no longer working on the brand, the time will come when you’re highlighting work on your resume, or if you’re at a speaking engagement specifically because of the amazing work you’ve been doing on the brand, then by all means speak away.
I am also targeting this more towards agency folks and less so on the brand side of managing social. If you’re working for an agency, your purpose is not to take the credit for the work you’re doing, but rather your job is to make the agency look good so that the agency gets more business, and then you in turn get more experience working with different brands, and eventually a raise and a promotion. So while the urge to seek your praise may be strong, eventually your work will be rewarded. Also the payoff will be much larger for you not to mention the brands you work on can still be awesome, even after you leave them.
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