Although I’m more than happy to consult. Does that make sense?

I’m a social media practitioner. A community builder. A conversation manager. A customer services spokesperson. I am the person who actually communicates with the public.

As a result I do, of course, have a lot of ideas about metric and strategy. It would be shortsighted and counterproductive in the extreme not to have a healthy grasp of the bigger picture. But I reject the word ‘consultant’ because there’s just so many people out there who belittle the task that the real consultants do. It’s hard work to win over the ditherers, give them case studies and examples to take back, support them with internal buy-in and then help them find their voice. These are real people, who just want to do the best for their business or charity, and seek guidance. So publishing a billion articles on ‘truths’ and ‘rules’ of social media is definitely unhelpful.

There’s only one social media ‘truth’ that applies to everyone, everywhere in every business (with the sole exception of parody / character accounts, and even then it partly applies): be honest. Be authentic. Be truthful and respect the bullshitometers of your readers.

I guess, really, I AM a consultant. But the word is almost as tainted as ‘feminist’ now (one of those, too. Old style, where you respect women, men and choices. I know, right?!). So what do I call myself without creating another meaningless or slightly spurious buzzword?