As an upcoming 20-something about to enter the professional workplace, I’d like to think that my opportunities are endless. Luckily, I’m an optimistic realist. Landing any sort of job upon graduation will be ideal. I know I don’t have years of experience, but I want to learn. I think Cathryn Sloane’s article made some great points about how millennials have the best grasp on social media, but I think she got a little ahead of herself.
In order to be in charge of a brand on social media, I believe you must have a firm understanding of the brand, inside and out. You need to know who interacts with the brand, where the brand excels, the brand’s core values, everything. College grads do not have the hands on experience with brands or companies to be given full control over its social media.
With that said, I believe college graduates should be given the opportunities to collaborate with their more experienced co-workers. We can learn the nitty gritty about a brand or company from the people who’ve seen it grow. On the flip side, these senior employees can learn a lot about the functionality of social media from us. Like Sloane said,
“we spent our adolescence growing up with social media. We were around long enough to see how life worked without it but had it thrown upon us at an age where the ways to make the best/correct use of it came most naturally to us. No one else will ever be able to have as clear an understanding of these services, no matter how much they may think they do.”
Simply put, we have grown up with social media. We’ve seen the birth and essentially death of MySpace. We’ve witnessed firsthand the popularity and expansion of social media superstar Facebook. We are the generation that will casually text a hashtag or even use it in daily conversation, despite it having no functionality. So, while Sloane has a valid argument why 20-somethings should be an integral part of the social media team, we still are young and have a lot to learn. However, social media should not be left to the senior staff members, for they haven’t been exposed to social media as we have.
For optimal success, brands and companies should embrace collaboration between the newly graduated 20-somethings and their existing staff. But those are just some of my thoughts, what are yours?
danaelmzen 