Fluff digital \u201cskills\u201d if you can even call them that have been around forever. The perfect example of one is\u00a0social media\u00a0(this is why\u00a0certification is absurd\u00a0and\u00a0masters programs make even less sense). By itself social is not a skill, merely a meta layer for expression and collaboration talented individuals have used organically\u00a0since the web existed.<\/p>\n
Social is a \u201cskill\u201d in the same sense being on conference calls is a skill or sending an email is a skill.<\/p>\n
So the general rule of thumb is this: anyone heavily emphasizing or marketing themselves as experts in something simply because it is \u201cnew\u201d are\u00a0snake oil salesman. Plain and simple. It takes time to cultivate an understanding of a given sector and while certainly there is rapid acceleration in given areas due to technology,\u00a0those at the edge are the cause of that acceleration<\/em>. Anyone playing catch-up has to try and use buzzwords, self-proclaimed titles or FUD to appear more important than they are.<\/p>\n Some even\u00a0try to use Potemkin numbers\u00a0to shroud themselves in legitimacy but those with real talent don\u2019t hawk something because it\u2019s a buzzword. They don\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n So when I saw Danny Brown (who I genuinely like)\u00a0post a list\u00a0of 20 \u201cjobs of the future\u201d I was compelled to read. I expected to see jobs such as data scientist which\u00a0are already undeserved. Instead I saw professions such as this:<\/p>\n The above isn\u2019t really a \u201cproblem\u201d that\u2019s difficult to solve, nearly anyone smart enough to afford such a thing would have their digital \/ physical life organized already. Also\u00a0there is no information overload, just filter failure. We\u2019ve already reached infinite, infinite + 1 is no different. Also there continues to be software which does this for you \u2013 no humans necessary. And we\u2019ve seen what happens when a profession is replaced by software: this is simply not a defensible area.<\/p>\n There\u00a0already exists\u00a0software and services for this today, it is hardly a \u201cjob of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Did you get your PhD? No? Don\u2019t worry. You can simply brand yourself as a \u201cdigital detox therapist\u201d and you\u2019ll be more than qualified to provide life council. Nevermind that treating Internet addiction\u00a0is treating a symptom, not a cause of an illness. So basically as effective as masking the symptoms of any real disorder. Because the Internet is somehow too complicated for already qualified psychotherapists to understand anyhow: we need new people with no research background and fancy titles.<\/p>\n \u201cPivot professional?\u201d Did they really just say this? I\u2019m not sure if that is worse than than buzzword rich \u201cCultural Skill Sherpa.\u201d Let us know how that works out for you. Prediction: brands that need to hire \u201cCultural Skill Sherpas\u201d are probably already done for.<\/p>\n Speaking of buzzwords \u2026as if anyone took people who call themselves \u201cGrowth Hackers\u201d seriously today, we\u2019re now apparently due for a future with people calling themselves \u201chackschooling counselors.\u201d Bonus points to the first reader who finds us one of these people making real money in the wild. Although maybe with Universities\u00a0this clueless\u00a0these might exist.<\/p>\n Just one more for this thread\u2026<\/p>\n Another that isn\u2019t some kind of magical future job \u2026entrepreneurial people already make money off memes today like Ben Huh, platforms like Reddit \/ Imgur benefit from them, and sites like Quickmeme make it easy to create and ship. Aggregate or be aggregated is where the \u2018value\u2019 from memes is derived and knowing several people who\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0memes personally it\u2019s laughable to think for most of them there is some sort of business model here. Merchandising, sure but this sort of awareness is a proxy to revenue. If you attempt to assert IP rights associated with a meme as this suggests you\u2019d inspire the ire of the web. Yeah you could cash in at a company to be used in their ads but you don\u2019t need a middle man for this. Why give your money away? The web, used correctly, removes the middle men.<\/p>\n In a world where\u00a0programming is the new literacy, fluff skills simply aren\u2019t valuable. Everyone has them. They\u2019re not difficult or meaty problems to solve (as opposed to something like being a software engineer). You need to carve out a skill set not easily duplicated by software or one that involves more creativity than just common sense.<\/p>\n I was excited when I saw this story title to see some valuable, well-researched future skills. The market demand in several sectors is growing rapidly and it\u2019s clear future professions are emerging. But let\u2019s not pass around fluff professions as the future and persuade anyone away from developing a skill set with lasting economic value.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fluff digital \u201cskills\u201d if you can even call them that have been around forever. The perfect example of one is\u00a0social … <\/p>\n