Shannon Paul wrote an article arguing why we don’t need the words ‘social media’ in our titles. Intrinsically I agree with her- in an ideal world. Where social media’s perception is at right now we still need to visually identify with it in our job titles.

Some companies likes Zappos have completely integrated social media with communications and customer service into their brand identity. Unfortunately most companies are not like social media. Many large corporations are still wrapping their heads around social media and it’s effects on the company as a whole. They realize the power of it to affect their bottom line and know they should be involved with it but are still figuring it out.

In the future all media will be social but as of now we’re still laying the landscape. Shannon and her peers are thought leaders and early adopters. We tend to forget that we are in a “social media bubble in a social media bubble” (hat tip to Sarah Cooley).

Having social media in your title does one main thing- it signals to others what your focus is on. When focusing on social media in relation to the brand’s overall positioning you will undoubtedly take in offline messaging & communications, PR efforts, brand strategy, advertising campaigns as well as many other factors.

Having social media in your title intrinsically makes you a natural multitasker, conversationalist, discoverer, analyst and strategist but you were hired to focus on one specific thing- social media. Just because you can do many jobs at once in your position doesn’t mean you should be taking on other people’s jobs as well.

Until you’re able to change your position to encompass more or your company’s viewpoint and implementation of social media as a part of it’s brand DNA, just remember why you were hired.

A rose by any other name would smell just the same. At the end of the day you’re still a part of the social media Rennaissance while many others are still in the online dark ages.