Stop Calling IT… IT

Stop Calling IT… IT

The digital space is so vast that it’s crazy to keep saying “IT.” IT, short for information technology, is such a broad term and we’ve lost sight on what the true meaning of IT is.

When you first hear IT, what are your first thoughts? Maybe it’s the anti-social guy at your office wearing a short sleeved button up, with 2 or 3 pens in his shirt pocket who goes around fixing everyones computers? You’re definitely not alone if that is where your mind first takes you. This Saturday Night Live bit  below is the perfect depiction of how narrow minded we’ve become about the term IT.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/19050 (FULL VIDEO)

 

 

SNL is known to over exaggerate from time to time, but that’s comedy. Nevertheless, they sure did play up the well known image of an “IT guy.”

According to businessdictionary.com, IT is a set of tools, processes, and methodologies and associated equipment employed to collect, process, and present information. In broad terms, IT also includes office automation, multimedia, and telecommunications.

As stated in techterms.com, information technology refers to anything related to computing technology, such as networking, hardware, software, the internet, or the people that work with these technologies. Well that really narrows it down. The people that “work with theses technologies,” have actual titles nowadays, and are past the “IT guy” title.

The site Job Search has accumulated a list of IT job titles. We will only name a few listed but to give you an idea the list is in alphabetical order and there are at least three titles under each letter. The list includes: Applications Developer, Application Engineer, Computer Systems Manager, Database Administrator, Developer, Help Desk Technician, IT Support Manager, Java Developer, Network Architect, Programmer, Software Engineer, Technical Specialist, and Webmaster.

Don’t say IT, say what it is! Don’t umbrella everyone in the tech world into the IT category; it simply devalues our intellect. The internet has changed vastly, and now its time to make a change to stop saying IT all together. IT is such a broad term and there are many leaves and stems that branch off the root of IT that it just doesn’t make sense to categorize hundreds of different tech jobs into one.