![Age is no barrier to becoming competent in digital and social media.
[[MORE]]Marc Prensky probably did us all a disservice when he heaped us all into one of two camps: digital native and the more disparaging digital immigrant in his now-famous 2001...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/f2effbc6e421e8e27100127a53d764c5/tumblr_nv78c6iynh1uxr35ho1_540.jpg)
Age is no
barrier to becoming competent in digital and social media.
Marc Prensky probably did us all a disservice when he heaped us all into one of two camps: digital native and the more disparaging digital immigrant in his now-famous 2001 paper.
A more helpful moniker is digital natural. It describes anyone comfortable in an online environment. Here age isn’t a yard stick. Rather being natural on digital depends on how you’re equipped through experience and exposure to both digital’s cultural norms and the technological competencies required to operate it effectively.
Experienced & New PR practitioners need to learn from each other
Both seasoned and new public relations practitioners need to learn from one another. To blend experience with technical ability.
Younger PR practitioners may be digitally savvy – but they may not yet possess sophisticated PR skills.
Senior practitioners may have a developed capacity for contextualising issues in a broader corporate or societal sense. Context becomes increasingly important the further we move up through different levels of learning. But, senior practitioners may need to learn technical ability from their juniors, too.
Stuart Bruce, PR advisor and trainer, makes this point well in a blog post:
“The problem is that as social and digital becomes more important senior practitioners lack the expertise or experience to actually do their jobs and integrate it properly into public relations strategy. As a result they delegate it to the digitally and socially confident junior members of their team, who do get it, but unfortunately don’t have the broader PR experience to be able to do so most effectively”.
In today’s social age there is a desperate need for technical ability and business experience to come together.
Gary Hamel, the iconoclastic business thinker, says there is a mismatch between what science knows and business does. Linkedin’s CEO, Jeff Weiner, hints at the danger for businesses who fail to grasp the nettle. He speaks of “the increasing gap between the skill sets people have and the skill sets that businesses will need.”
At this point I usually trot about a favourite quote about change. I shan’t disappoint now.
“In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
It’s a line usually attributed to social philosopher Eric Hoffer.
These are short thoughts. For longer, more fully-formed thoughts covering communications, change and creative management visit www.sabguthrie.info or sign up to email updates.
![Public relations is about helping organisations build relationships in public with various publics.
[[MORE]]In the social age that means helping clients become ruthlessly transparent. Working with business leaders to help firms be honest and...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/30412c5f8ac8fdf479807c2f7857e58c/tumblr_nvw11cwJWQ1uxr35ho1_540.jpg)
![Profit optimisation is fine. Profit maximisation isn’t. Turning a Nelsonian eye to everything apart from making money for shareholders is no longer acceptable - or commercially viable in the long run.
[[MORE]]Unilever’s CEO, Paul Polman, told the...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/7d9986cd0561452539967780e2d1b629/tumblr_nvu6nnyso71uxr35ho1_540.jpg)
