Comments on: Say No to Social Media “Interns”: Why You Have to Pay the Help

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:10:18 +0000

Social media is no longer “new” and it isn’t just the college kids that get it. Everyone in marketing should understand it today. Interns are great and can be very helpful, but shouldn’t be allowed to run any part of your marketing. In order to do social media well, the person handling it needs to be deeply invested in the company, its history, its policies, etc. Interns that are only around for a couple of months certainly aren’t any of those things.

By: Jen Hames

Jen Hames — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 03:56:14 +0000

Thanks for the great post. I always shake my head at the number of unpaid internships posted daily on Craigslist. I only wish those companies would read this. It’s frustrating because the perception of being able to hire “free” interns sometimes makes it harder to convince companies why they actually need to spend money on their social media marketing.

By: Selena

Selena — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:39:16 +0000

*Heavens opened and sang* You are SO right about what you said. I have been freelancing in specifically social media management lately and companies/businesses/services can be so oblivious to how it all works. An owner of a construction company actually told me he though his assistant (aka secretary) could do my job.

Like are you serious?! Your Assistant obviously hasn’t been doing a good job or you wouldn’t have thought about hiring me in the first place. What is up with these directors, owners, exects dropping the ball on something that can make or break their company? It’s simple in the sense that hiring someone to focus on it (like you said) would only benefit them.

Great article!

By: Nick Walz

Nick Walz — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:33:39 +0000

I agree 100% Having interns are great but shouldn’t be that heavily relied on to manage all the companies social media accounts. It should be more as someone to assist someone else that is doing it. Social media should be taken care of just as someone takes care of their website.

By: Unmana

Unmana — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:16:30 +0000

Awesome, awesome post! Thank you!

By: David Cohen

David Cohen — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:19:26 +0000

Well done, Rohin. In addition to all of the points you’ve thoughtfully presented, it’s likely that most companies who are using unpaid social media interns are actually not in compliance with the law, as communicated here:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm

By: Rachel Poling

Rachel Poling — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:05:21 +0000

I completely agree! Preach it!

There is another problem I see. Here is a huge gap between “we want somebody with a degree in PR and 4 years experience” vs. an unpaid internship type job. Yet, from what I’ve found while looking at the market, there aren’t many people who will take something in between. It’s such a new market, and the standards are all over the place.

By: Mike Feiman

Mike Feiman — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:20:50 +0000

The real problem isn’t using interns. The problem is the perception that interns are free labor (a perception that many people unfortunately seem to have).

Perhaps you should keep in mind that the purpose of internships is not just “unpaid labor”. If a company offers an internship, it is the responsibility of the company to both manage and teach the intern. Interns are working for free because they’re learning the ropes. If a company doesn’t want to teach interns, they shouldn’t bring interns on. Further, if a company throws an intern into the deep end of the social pool and tells them to sink or swim, they deserve the inevitable public humiliation that will follow.

By: Shelly Kramer

Shelly Kramer — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:16:36 +0000

I am STILL having these conversations with clients. With peers on LinkedIn. With stupid people who don’t stop and think this through. Clearly, you are preaching to the choir here, but reading this lovely post made me want to kiss you. Thank you – for saying what apparently needs to be said over and over and over again.

Shelly Kramer
@shellykramer

By: Andre McKay

Andre McKay — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:30:09 +0000

OMG I am so thankful you guys touched on this ver topic. It’s unfortunate when businesses and brands think that putting free work in front of the masses online is a smart move. Would you ever send an intern out on a client meeting to speak on behalf of your brand? didnt think so… Great read