From what I can tell;
- “SEO” is an unspoken synonym for “works better in Google”
- “Social Media” is an unspoken synonym for “works better in Twitter”
Both of these are unfortunate for they:
- turn something easily understandable into something vague and amorphous – the exact opposite of good framing
- mask the monopoly those companies have on their respective service.
This is analogous to using “entertainment” as synonym for not just “television” but the specific televised offering from BBC Four.
Of course, promoting yourself as an expert in Twitter (without having a Twitter-issued business card) should elicit giggles from anyone within earshot. But at least it’s being honest and authentic – the first step to being more social.
“That tweeting it is a private breed of microblogging verges on irrelevance. Twitter is now as necessary to tweeting as Google is to search. It’s a public activity under private control.” – Doc Searls
Someone who works for Twitter may know more about how to build Twitter, but someone outside of Twitter could certainly be an expert on how to use the platform effectively for communication.
SEO has become rather Google intense due to Google’s market share, but the concepts of creating quality content that search engines can easily index applies universally.