I was recently questioned on twitter about the way I described former TV anchor and reporter Tom Tucker in this post.

I referred to him as a social media enthusiast and evangelist. I’ll tell you right now that I simply copied that from his bio and quite honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with that.

I had also spoken with him at length before we recorded this podcast, and he talked about his blog and his history of pushing hard for social media with his employers and his excitement about his new endeavor, Talk Social Media.

It is not his full-time job and does not yet pay the bills, (he’s a corporate trainer by day) but he is passionate as most of us are, and it may pay them one day, if he’s lucky. But someone on twitter wanted to know more, and that’s okay too.

Here’s the @reply:

@communitygirl How can you call Tucker a social media enthusiast and evangelist when he’s only tweeted 7 times since Feb. 2008? Where else?

Now, I don’t think that having only seven tweets in a year disqualifies you from being a social media evangelist. Perhaps it is an account that you decided not to use, or maybe you didn’t “get” twitter at first, much like I didn’t. Maybe you’re active on many other SM platforms. The possibilities are many.

I do recognize that this person only wanted to know more and I did oblige, because that’s what we do on twitter. But it got me thinking.

When can one claim this title without bringing criticism their way? Is it after 500 tweets, 1,000 followers, 2,500 Facebook friends, 348 blogposts? What? Maybe it’s once you’ve explained twitter to 134 people and got your mom active on Friendfeed and Flickr and convinced your company to start a corporate blog.

Here are the definitions of evangelist on dictionary.com:

e⋅van⋅ge⋅list

–noun

3.	(initial capital letter) any of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the four Gospels.

5.	(initial capital letter) Mormon Church. a patriarch.

So, if we go with those definitions, evangelism can be all word-of-mouth. We can argue that you have to practice to be able to speak about anything with authority and I buy that to a certain extent. But you can also dabble, understand the benefits and spread the word.

Think about it. Aren’t we all evangelists of some sort?

I am a Coach Purse evangelist, a Little Gym evangelist, a lasagna evangelist and a Arm & Hammer Carpet Cleaner evangelist. I am also a PTA evangelist, a Lexus evangelist (don’t have one but I love them and I will get one some day) and an outlet mall evangelist. You could also consider me a Desperate Housewives and Mott’s Applesauce evangelist as well and I don’t think anyone is going to ask me how many bowls of applesauce I’ve eaten to clarify my status as an evangelist.

You may be laughing but it’s true. Anyone can evangelize. Yes, there should be some experience to back it up, but who’s to say how much or how little?

What are your thoughts?

RELATED POST:

• Strategist or Practitioner?

Get the blog delivered to your inbox

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Stumble It!

Share on FriendFeed

I was just checking out ReadWriteWeb’s post on Social Media Evangelists and realized that I myself am a part of these individuals.  No, I don’t have the title at a company nor do I have specific credits to back it up (besides the social networks you can connect with me on on the right of the screen) but what I do have are friends.  These people are more and more becoming involved in social networks and they are not using them to their full potential or haven’t found the niche network they enjoy most.  I see my own role in my circle of friends to help push them towards networks that will benefit them and to help realize them to their full potential.

 The other day I was having a conversation with a few friends regarding Facebook applications and how annoying they can be but I was able to bring a few applications that are actually beneficial!  Applications like Takes all Types! (a way to connect blood types & organizations that use that date) and Linking Universe (an app that helps professionals see the value of their network) are just a few examples!  Or the other day when I was hanging out with a few friends and my cell phone kept going off and I was texting, everyone immediately assumed I was texting a girl but alas it was Twitter and I was able to go into a diatribe about how useful Twitter can be for your professional life and how beneficial the building of a network can be.  

Would I relish the opportunity to do this sort of work on a day to day basis professionally like Robert Scoble? Most certainly!  But for now I’ll work on learning the various API’s while Twittering my heart out!  And if you haven’t noticed I’ve been on a bit of a network binge and have asked around 10 new friends on both LinkedIn and Facebook.  If I don’t have you on one of the networks listed on the sidebar, all I can ask is what are you waiting for!