Can Social Networking be a career?

Perhaps it is already. I think it is clear that social networking is here to stay - and is not some Gen Y phenomenon. The platform begs for viral marketing, and saavy companies should be exploring hiring full-time social networkers, if they haven't already. Social networking takes time, as a previous post of mine already outlined. If your organization is pursuing social networking as a viral marketing campagin, it should dedicate sufficient staff to the project, and should maintain a legitimate presence. An employed social networker should meld into the community with an honest profile, making it known that they work for a commerical interst, but participating in non-commerical online activities. The goal is for the employed social networker to be the go-to person for that brand, and perhaps that product category, within a particular social network. This hands-off approach, soft-sell approach should alleviate any concerns by the community that the network is being polluted by advertisers.

Employed social networkers will do more than be the online point person for that product; they'll also bring valuable intelligence about the target community. It's the kind of intelligence that's hard to gain from surveys, polls and research, if not costly.