I just read a great article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek called Twitter, Twitter Little Stars. Props for the title and for using the word boomlet in the story. My absolute favorite part comes from another PR person. Check this out:

A long professional track record is not necessarily a prerequisite. Curtis Hougland, the founder of Attention, a New York-based specialist in social media PR and marketing, says the supply of seasoned candidates has failed to keep pace with demand. As a result, a swarm of self-proclaimed social media rainmakers has appeared at job interviews, aiming to parlay a high number of Facebook friends or Twitter followers into salaried positions with benefits—all of which is vaguely reminiscent of the frenzied hiring during the first Internet boom in the late 1990s. “There’s a tremendous amount of B.S.,” says Hougland. “The company hiring may not have the sophistication in social to verify the person’s experience. They may be personally really active on Twitter and have a great blog, but it doesn’t mean that they understand how to apply it to a business context.”

Amen, Curtis. Sometimes the only thing more preposterous for some of those making the self proclamation is the titles they give themselves. Guru is obviously pompous, yet I will say confident. On the other hand, when did taking a word with a negative connotation and using it as a self-descriptor turn said word into something cool? (But presumably less pompous.)

While I seek candidates with combined traditional communications and social media/emerging communications experience, I’d like to add the following disclaimer: Geeks, nerds and ninjas need not apply.