Comment

Comment by Lauri Wilks on January 14, 2011 at 7:51am

I appreciate the dialogue on this topic and the opportunity to clarify my comment. I did not mean to offend anyone or diminish the importance of social media and the strategic training and guidance it requires to be an effective marketing tool.   

 

As seasoned marketers, we know the best messages to communicate and the best ways to build relationships with our customers. I agree we should be the one guiding the strategy and engaging in that conversation with the external audience.

 

My comment was simply meant to say that interns can be a fantastic resource for helping navigate the vast social media offerings and to help tactically manage the program. In my experience (regardless of age), interns often have a strong understanding of social media. Schools teach it. Students are surrounded by it, and they often have free time to explore the online community. This generation understands what tools are out there and how to use them. That is not to suggest they should guide strategy or manage brands. It is simply to say they can often be a fabulous resource for handling the tactical aspects of social media. Monitoring reviews on the Yelps and Urban Spoons of the world or updating photo albums on Facebook or collecting video of an event to post on You Tube are all functions of social media that interns are capable of executing with the right management.

 

Please understand I’m a huge proponent of social media and am particularly proud of how the entire NASCAR industry has, in many ways, led the way for sports marketing in this space. In terms of Twitter and Facebook, our NASCAR Hall of Fame accounts are some of the most popular among all sports halls of fame. I believe we are second only to football, which is impressive considering how new we are. We have been successful because we do take social media seriously and ensure we have the right individuals interacting with the public.

 

Thank you again for your candor and for allowing me a chance to respond. I look forward to our next healthy debate.

Comment by Chelsea Samuel on January 13, 2011 at 8:15pm

I actually take more issue with the "intern" part of her comment than the "20-year old" part. By definition, interns are temporary and shouldn't be running anything. They aren't invested enough in your business effectively. Social media requires someone who knows your brand and its voice and it's a very slim chance your interns get it. Get them involved, but don't hand them the reins.

 

As for the 20-year old part, if you have a bright, engaged 20-year old (or even 20-something-year old) in your office with the professionalism to run your social media initiatives, take advantage of it. But let's not confuse "young" with "early adopter." If you have a Boomer in your office who's got a Boxee, an iPad and a twitter account him/herself, don't overlook him/her just because someone else is young.

Comment by Brandon Uttley on January 13, 2011 at 2:34pm

Lots of 20-somethings are smart as hell and think they know it all (I am recalling that I believe I did). They certainly deserve a shot at putting their energy, spark and sometimes wonderful naivete to work—meaning, they aren't jaded yet or set on how things are "supposed" to work. Meanwhile, older folks deserve to be heard based on their experience. I read somewhere that we lose the ability to multi-task as we age, but we gain the ability to see the big picture better. So it really makes sense for all of us to learn and grow from each other. LET ME SPEAK UP SO NATHAN CAN HEAR ME! :)

Comment by Scott Hepburn on January 13, 2011 at 1:23pm

Your social media program should be "run" by the person best qualified to do the job. Period.

What does the organization want/need?

Do you want a low-cost worker to treat social media like your online help desk? Fine, hire someone to do that. Tons of experience is necessary, and a customer service background probably helps.

Do you want a strategist who can lead a program and people? Hire for that. It'll require someone with more experience (social media experience, yes, but other experience, too). If that person sets direction, establishes process, has decision-making authority, controls a budget and provides training, they'll need skills and maturity that cost money.

Can you do social media without a strategist? Yes. Will you be able to leverage it fully? No.

Like everything, who "runs" your social media depends on your size, resources, risks, objectives and culture. A 20-year-old intern might be a brilliant business strategist, and a veteran PR strategist might be a bumbling idiot online.

Your social media program should be "run" by the person best qualified to do the job. Period.

Comment by Nathan Richie on January 13, 2011 at 1:08pm

I can't take the time to answer right now, I'm too busy tweetering, myfacing and dying the gray out of my temples. 

 

Anyone know where I can hire a couple of young whippersnappers to get this what'chama-call -it to feed into my foodledoodle thingy?

 

Hit me up.

 

Comment by Dean Shaw on January 13, 2011 at 12:24pm

Absolutely! I encourage all my competitors to hire a 20 year old to run their Social Media.  They have a wealth of experience that tells them how social media is just one arrow in the organization's marketing quiver and never view it as the be all to end all.  They understand and appreciate how all marketing tactics need to work together (not in isolation) in a coordinated and cohesive manner.  Their vast business acumen has also taught them that the marketing strategy (of which SM is just a component) all flows from the broader corporate strategy.   Additionally, social media is VERY complicated and could never be fully grasped by someone with graying hair who has been preoccupied with things like building coherent marketing strategies using offline and online tactics for 20 years.  All this Facebook "Likes" and Twitter "RT" stuff is best left to a 20 year old who has been using it with their high school friends for at least a year now.   

 

Also, don't forget that 20 year olds work for pennies on the dollar and nothing says 'Social Media is important to me' like investing $8/hour in the effort.

 

So yes competition of mine, go forth and hire a gang of 20 years old to run your social media.  I'll...ummm...I mean...you'll be glad you did.  You might also want to consider hiring a 20 year old to run your finance department because they have had a checking account for, like, 3 years and are also saavy with complicated stuff like making payments to Ebay using Paypal.

 

PS> please don't hate me because I am sarcastically expressing what many of us "over 20 people" are thinking, but the inference of "20 year olds should run social media" is "40 year olds are too stupid to adapt to new technologies" and that is offensive.

 

 

 

Comment by Tessa Harmon on January 13, 2011 at 11:45am

My short answer? She might be right. It depends on the 20 year old in question. But they aren't always interns.

 

There are many smart young web professionals these days who are worth hiring. I am 20 years old. You would not know my age from working with me unless I told you. I started taking freelance programming work at 14 or 15 and have never interned, mainly because I had the strong desire to support myself at a young age, not because I was adverse to internships.

 

To be clear, I am not discounting the internship path—I am simply making the point that there are professionals in my age group who should be taken seriously, and are not only smart about the tools and technology, but about marketing strategy, reputation management, and brand representation.

 

I am not an anomaly. Check out the recently published list of 30 Most Influential Under30CEOs of 2010 and see how many of them started their businesses in their teens. You will be surprised.

Comment by Mike Coombs on January 13, 2011 at 11:41am

It was a sweeping generalization and maybe a dumb cliche... but cliches have some truth!

Last night, some of the panel members spoke of really "knowing your audience" and actually having a strategy.  So...  if your person doing social and mobile really knows the audience and really has a strategy, then great... who cares what age they are?   I have ranted on a similar subject lately...  Sweeping generalizations and dumb cliches  Thanks Cory...

Comment by Corey Creed on January 13, 2011 at 11:39am

Thanks for your comments so far.  Here's my opinion:

Social media should be typically handled by younger people (in general) due to their abilities.  It's much like a football team.  You don't go out and hire a bunch of old guys to play on your team.  You draft the young, healthy guys.

However, they do need to be coached and directed by wisdom, intelligence, and experience.  The "coach" needs to be intelligent, aware of the needs of the organization, and have the ability to guide and direct the entire team and each individual.

This is obviously primarily directed toward larger organizations.  However, I believe that a good social media team is managed by a good coach and made up of a wide variety of talents and ages.

Comment by Stephanie Nelson on January 13, 2011 at 11:26am

Well, I guess that would knock me out of my dream job since I want to manage social media but I'm far from being 20 and/or an intern.  :)

 

In all seriousness, I understand that a lot of companies look to younger people for these types of positions because there's a tendency to think they're more up-to-date on the latest and greatest.  But there are a lot of people no longer in their 20s that are just as interested and passionate, if not more so, in new media and finding amazing ways to use them.  Just because you're older and need a real salary shouldn't knock you out of the running for a social media position.

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