Ken Kadet, an independent communications consultant (previously an agency guy) left a great comment here the other day that got me thinking.
Let me pull out the part I want to focus on:
“Back at the agency, we kept waiting for the Digital Natives to show up, but they never did. There are plenty of 20-somethings entering the workforce with no clue how social networking can be used for anything beyond posting a plastic-beer-cup toast on Facebook, let alone marketing.”
I think it’s interesting he makes that point, as I grew up building computers, making websites, interacting online and ultimately being passionate about technology for as long as I can remember. I figured most of my peers had as well, at least the ones who saw how incredible the emerging tool was for society. It was just too cool of a movement not to be a part of.
It actually turns out that I was a rarity, as most of my peers are products of their education and experiences gained working with others. This isn’t a negative thing, and I’m sure they’re doing just fine. The thing is, while my peers grew up using tools like instant messaging and texting, sharing content online, etc, most didn’t dive in deeper because it wasn’t part of their education, nor were they surrounded with it during their intern experiences.
At UF, for example, to get a marketing (or any business) degree, you merely have to take the CS 101 class, which is nothing more than learning the basics of computers and how to manipulate MS Office products. I did not learn a single new thing in that course, it was a complete waste of time (side note: they should allow you to opt out of a class if you can get every exam question right without even buying the book).
The communications courses I took (in 2003 or so) were all focused on traditional media. No one taught us about blogs, no one taught us about HTML or CSS, no one taught us how to build networks or build a web brand. What I was taught was how to use other people’s networks to my advantage – an important skill for sure, but I had to learn how to use the web properly on my own.
The difference is, while many of us have been mastering the art of bending technology to our needs for years – whether for communications, marketing or just for fun – only recently has the marketing industry caught up. And, what lags behind the edge of any industry is education. The educational world needs to also realize that programming is the new literacy.
Hopefully this explains where the digital natives are. I think that they exist, in that my generation (I’m 25) grew up using technology/the web and is comfortable using it as a communications platform. However, there are few who actually have taken the time to dive deeper and learn how to use the system strategically to their advantage.
I know plenty of incredibly smart people who are successful at using the web as marketing professionals, and many of them didn’t grow up on technology like I did. Age does not appear to be a qualifying factor for being successful at using technology for marketing.
Talented marketing folk can spread their messages anywhere. But, understanding the tools, the culture and how to properly communicate with your team members (whether they are coders or clients) are all necessary elements for success.
A deep understanding comes not from any available books or structured education; the internet currently morphs far too quickly for them to be useful. The understanding comes from being an active participant in this space and keeping your finger on the pulse of trends and what’s happening. (To me) that keeps it interesting too.
Related articles from The Future Buzz:
Your Resume Is Meaningless (And Building Career Security, Not Job Security)
Related articles from around the web:
The Go-To Guy (Shoe String Branding)
Because We All Just Wanna Be Big Rockstars (Social Media Explorer)
Who’s Telling The Truth About Your Online Personal Marketing? (Seth Godin)
7 comments so far
Participating in the world of social media and the media of tomorrow is the best way (imo) to understand it and the effects it has on society, business, marketing, etc. As you said, you need to be an active participant.
I think a lot of people are missing the boat here…those new to social media and the various tools within are trying to get without giving. But the whole thing only works if you give first.
August 31st, 2008Society is quickly reaching a point where being just literate is not good enough. Being technologically literate will be just as important to the citizens of the 21st century as simply being literate was to those of the 20th century.
As a graphic designer I work daily with people from many different fields. I am continually amazed at how little the average business person knows about technology, their computers, their email, text messaging, how the internet works, how their cell phone works, that there are different types of office tools other than MS Office, and on-and-on…
I never fault people for not knowing something, and certainly don’t think everyone should know how to field strip a cell phone, but as the world slips further and further into a technological information based society, it is EXTREMELY important that everyone take the time to learn the basics, and then be willing to relearn them as often as possible.
If you learned the basics somewhere around 1995 and have been surfing on that knowledge ever since, you are about to be washed away in the tsunami of the information age.
September 2nd, 2008I think to your own point, this is hard work (particularly establishing yourself as a trusted brand on the internet). I think it’s fair to say that most of my exposure to this sort of thing happened as a result of the people I was friends with, and one class in college (basic web/html development). If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even know about these sorts of discussions. Although, I’m just holed up in a cubicle farm all day developing code, and my professional focus is very different than yours.
I like the term “digital native” - it’s interesting that our generation is being thought of that way. Most of the people I grew up with are very non-technical and believe that understanding computing is difficult and beyond their capacity to understand. While I think we were exposed to computing at a young age, it was not a cool thing to be a computer geek. Computing is becoming a cool thing to younger people, and that we will see people who are more savvy, and who may be more comfortable with these concepts in coming years.
I agree with you in that I think it’s unfortunate that Universities don’t put as much emphasis on the importance of these technologies, especially when they are supposedly behind the design and development (and sometimes the movements) of the underlying technologies and standards which eventually become adopted by industry professionals. This aligns with my personal belief that for education in technology, the professors should not be allowed to become stagnant and basically ruin whole classes of students who would benefit from the kind of exposure you talk about in your article.
A side note - I interview for a job in the Ft. Laudy area tomorrow. I’m hoping to get down there by the end of the month!
September 3rd, 2008Trackbacks
Add a comment