Why The “Social Media Intern” Trope Is Outdated
Respectfully, the intern trope has to go. ♡
Enough with the "Social Media Intern" jokes.
Interns absolutely do not run the social media accounts of major corporations. It's insulting, at best. And the tweets contribute to the reason that experienced social media professionals often lack respect, credit, and budget.
Wendy’s was the first brand to use this strategy back in 2017. And while it certainly generated a lot of attention in the beginning, Wendy’s innovative approach to social media has been long forgotten for brands like Duolingo and Summer Fridays.
That said, the “Social Media Intern” trope is overdone and tired.
While this misconception is sometimes replaced by the “unhinged Social Media Manager”, both invalidate the real strategy that goes into effective social media marketing. And realistically, NONE of these brands actually have interns doing the work.
Allow me to call out a few brands who have recently shared tweets coming from "interns" who aren’t actually interns.
What Brands Are Still Using The “Social Media Intern" Strategy?
#1. Jersey Mikes
Jersey Mikes' recently tweeted “pls give a warm welcome to our intern by liking this post”.
In real life, they employ a talented social media manager has been employed with them for 5 years. Yup, 5 years.
With over 2.5 billion in annual sales, one would assume that Jersey Mikes would have the budget to fairly compensate an experienced social media manager. Face palm.
#2. TikTok
TikTok posted to Threads: “TikTok social media intern officially reporting for threads duty 🫡 -sam”
What followers don’t know is that they employ a full team of social media managers with full-time salaries ranging from $68k to $121k per year, according to Glassdoor. For a brand that is under scrutiny at the FTC for its privacy and data security practices, do you really think they would put their brand communications strategy in the hands of an entry level intern?
Absolutely not.
#3. EOS
EOS tweeted, “eos intern sam here!!! they gave me access to threads (yikes🫣). who’s up for some chaos 🤭”.
Not only are they leaning into the “social media intern” trope, they’re also applying the “unhinged social media manager” stereotype. Very clever.
Yet behind the scenes, at the time this article was written, EOS is hiring for an associate social media. In the long list of qualifications, they require a bachelors degree and a minimum of 4 years experience. Yikes, that’s not an intern!
#4. Smoothie King
Smoothie King posted to threads, “Intern Clocking In🥳 How’s everyone’s day?”
Yet, funnily enough, their social media manager has managed their social channels for 9 years. For reference, that means she’s been in the industry since when Vine was a top social media channel (RIP). Not exactly an intern.
#5. Poppi
Poppi posted, “poppi social media intern officially reporting for threads duty 🫡 -annie”.
But what do you know, they actually have a full team of social media professionals, each with 3-7 years of experience and a Bachelor’s Degree. A full team, likely with multiple approval layers, is a far stretch from “intern”.
Notice Anything?
No interns in sight. And yet, their tweets and threads paint a different picture. A picture that is infantilizing and condescending.
While these brands are currently using the social media strategy as a way to humanize the brand and increase engagements, I see many potential negatives to this strategy.
First, that the strategy invalidates the work of their talented social media team. Second, the “social media intern” trope may communicate that the company doesn’t value fair compensation and is instead, attempting to cut costs with lower level employees. In actuality, this likely isn’t the case.
How did we get here?
The voice on the other side of your feed needs to be human. And that voice may be perceived as relatable and personable – as well as unprofessional. That’s where the misconception about the intern comes in.
Followers have a certain idea of what professionalism looks like. When they see a business share memes, tweet "lmao", or clap back at a sarcastic comment, it's deemed unprofessional.
"Surely, an experienced professional wouldn't post that." Wrong.
It takes a seasoned professional to be able to communicate higher level business objectives into a digestible social media strategy that is approachable and relatable to followers.
Social media is the primary customer-facing channel for many businesses, one of the most important pieces in brand perception. A corporation would never get an intern manager any other part of a business, why would social media be the exception?
They wouldn't. And despite the cheeky intern Tweets being posted by these brands, their full social media teams prove otherwise.
the bottom line?
👉 Impactful social media requires experienced and strategic creatives.
Get scroll-stopping results
Is your business ready to move past your intern phase into your social phase? We’re the team for you. Reach out today and let’s get social!
WRITTEN BY:
Chelsea Evans-Flower
Founder + Social Media Strategist
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