The Onion released another "Onion Talk," the satirical news outlet's parody of TED Talks, and this time took down so-called "social media experts" and their glamorization of new communication tools rather than visionary concepts.
"I’m a successful social media consultant, even though I’ve never had a thought or original idea in my life," says the speaker from the outset.
He explains how several of his clients look to "social media experts" to brand their product on the Internet, and instead of doing anything revolutionary, just set up an uninspired Facebook page. The examples are fictional, but their example of raking in the big bucks by trying to give Cheetos a dynamic social media presence might as well be replaced by, say, developing indie cred for Campbell's Soup.
So how long will these jobs exist, as everyone with Internet access slowly becomes a "social media expert?" As the speaker says, "Remember, any teenager could have done what we did, for no money, and much faster."
This isn't the first time The Onion has taken a less-than-rapturous view on how social media is reported on in the press. In 2010, they ran an article entitled "New Social Networking Site Changing The Way Oh, Christ, Forget It."
And yes, the irony of the fact that we're promoting this article primarily through social media tools, largely developed by social media experts, is not lost on us.