I just wanted to drop in here and point out how much I agree, especially with the final paragraph, which perfectly encapsulates the type of reaction I can get in my profession (I work in PR).

Put another way, there are people in any profession who are less than trustworthy. But one, or even thousands of bad eggs don’t immediately invalidate the ideas and efforts of people who are talented and passionate.

As someone whose mother has worked in the Ontario public service for over a decade and who did a short stint in the Ontario public service myself, I can personally attest that some of the most hard-working individuals I’ve ever met worked in the civil service arena. It is the generalizations that have not only hurt the image of civil servants, but has also made recruiting talent and justifying risk-taking extremely difficult. This is particularly sad because the civil service needs people who are committed, dedicated, good at what they do, and willing to try new things in order to keep serving the public in an efficient and effective manner.

In essence, the civil service needs people like you. Thank you for being a shining example of all that is good with the public service — let’s hope we can turn those misconceptions on their head.

Possibly related: I Am Public Service.

While I acknowledge that marketing plays a large role in the social media work at large organizations, my point was that social media does not automatically mean marketing. I’d argue that knowledge management and cross-silo employee connections, among other such activities, do not necessarily have a marketing component to them. I’m sure it could be argued that even such activities are “marketing” in some way, but that’s definitely not the context with which I see them.

But hey, thanks for disagreeing. Also, since it had to be said: thanks for being a pretty darn awesome colleague. =)

I admire your post but I’m in disagreement with the following statement:

“This is not social media marketing (and the fact that social media has now become almost synonymous with marketing makes me shudder)…”

I believe:

- Participation in social media for one’s personal life can absolutely be separated from marketing.
- Participation in social media on behalf of a company/organization/corporation should not be separated from marketing. There is a purpose, a perceived (or un-perceived in many unfortunate cases) business value that is necessitated by you being gainfully employed as a social media professional -> to market the product or purpose or whatever it may be for the company/organization.

It resonates because it echos how I feel about being a public servant. I’m *really proud* to work for the government, and feel that my job makes good use of taxpayer dollars. So I cringe when folks malign public servants as a group. “We leave the workplace at 4:00, we take 2 hour lunches, we’re bloated at the seams and need to downsize.” Bollocks! I heard this from a fellow public servant the other day, and nearly lost my head!

Just like in social media (and really, any other profession!) bureaucracy has bad apples who taint an industry’s reputation. There are sullied investment bankers, miserly accountants, and lawyers just out to make a buck.

But then there’s the young gal … who just happens to make a great investment banker - because she’s got a strong analytical mind and the tenacity to work 100-hour weeks. And the accountant who does taxes for all his clients’ poor college-age kids because he can. And the human rights lawyers who spend much of their time doing great pro bono work for NGOs.

Sure, it makes me cringe when every third person I know is a “social media professional cum marketing professional” … but the ones who are the real deal are easy to spot in the weeds.

Generalizations never do much good.