The "Real" Social Media Gurus

I've enjoyed Twitter for personal use for a few years. Earlier this year, I took a self-taught approach to learn more about how Twitter can be used for personal branding as well as corporate purposes. I quickly discovered that there are a lot of self-described social media experts in the Twitterverse. Many claim to be able teach the mysterious ways of social media and label themselves as ninjas, Jedi and gurus. But I've also learned that the real social media gurus don't have to tell you that they're social media gurus. Fake gurus all seem to use the same techniques:

• They obviously buy the majority of their followers
• They operate multiple but similar accounts
• They ask you to connect on every other social media platform
• They avoid periods of Twitter "silence" (apparently a big no-no) by posting inspirational quotes.

Here are some sample Tweets from a "guru" that I come across frequently. Notice that despite Tweeting from different accounts, they all feature the same message and all hit my feed at the exact same time.

Here's another guru that doesn't even bother to cite his "inspirational" quote - and this person does this quite often.

"Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue.",
— Robert G Williams (@RobertGWilliam1) April 9, 2013

These are definitely two of my social media pet peeves. But don't let this discourage you. There are lots of people that know their stuff and are happy to interact on Twitter - all you have to do is drop them a line. Just remember the rule of thumb: if they say they're a guru, they probably aren't!

I'm far from guru status but I'd like to connect with you on Twitter - - @Nick_Baggett. Look me up and be sure to let me know about your experiences with social media gurus in the comments section below!