“(Social media intern) might not look as glamorous as another title, but there’s so much more that goes into it than just simply posting something and never looking at it again,” advertising senior Allison Lacey said.

Since last May, Lacey has been working as a social media intern for King Media, 1555 Watertower Place.

At her job, however, Lacey isn’t just thinking of creative Facebook statuses, as regular parts of her day include researching potential clients, measuring the effectiveness and traffic of different social media outlets and planning social media strategies for clients, she said.

Lacey has found it challenging at times to attract attention and engage with people when using social media professionally as opposed to personally.

“You have to do your research,” Lacey said. “You can’t just post something and expect people to like it or respond to it.”

The number of positions working with social media started to increase about a year and a half ago, said Karin Hanson, career consultant in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

These positions can include a variety of responsibilities including blogging and compiling social media strategies for other companies.

“I do think that it’s definitely a big trend right now,” Hanson said. “However, it’s grown so quickly. It has sort of snuck up on us, which I think is kind of neat.”

Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, 131 Albert Ave., worked with a team of MSU interns last spring to help develop its social media presence.

Manager Doug Curtis said the restaurant requires some of its employees to use Facebook to draw people to the restaurant and let them know about specials.

“Kids, I feel like, are always looking on Facebook, especially college students,” Curtis said. “Before they go out, they want to see what kids are doing (and) where the party is at, so they’ll look toward Facebook.”

With so many students already using social media for personal use, employers have struggled with how to determine what makes an individual qualified for these positions, Hanson said.

Results are everything when it comes to social media work. Hanson said being able to show employers tangible evidence of one’s work on social media, such as an increase in Twitter followers, can help set prospective employees apart.

“That’s almost like your pieces in your portfolio — it’s what have you done so far with social media,” Hanson said.

Within the next few years, Hanson expects more companies to be creating and looking to fill social media positions, she said.

The line between people’s personal lives and the companies and products they support on social media is constantly growing thinner, Hanson said, something she expects companies to re-evaluate in coming years.

“It’s starting to creep into so many people’s personal lives, and people aren’t a huge fan of that,” she said. “I don’t think it will go away, but I think it will be used in a different way.”