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Never Too Old for Social Media

September 18, 2017 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

You, too, can become a digital native!

A bright and accomplished colleague wrote me with a troubling question. 

There was  a job opening my contact encouraged me to apply for. I hesitated because one of the requirements said “Digital native” which threw me off. My understanding of the definition is people who grew up with technology from birth, but I thought that would be age discrimination, so they couldn’t possibly mean it that literally, could they? Can I get your thoughts about this situation?

How would you answer her?  Here’s the gist of what I said:

You, too, can become a digital native!

“Digital native” is a tricky term.  It should mean someone who lives and breathes social media, someone who doesn’t have to think about how to use them any more than you have to think about how to send an email—and that could be a person of any age.

Sometimes it does (thinly) disguise an attitude that the agency doesn’t want to deal with older workers, which is against the law, as you know.  The more I read, the more it appears to me that age discrimination is easy to get away with and hard to prove.

I like your impulse to head off the criticism by showing what you know.  That’s what I have been doing on my blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  But realize that  I have been my own boss for the last few years, and you have a full-time job!

So, I agree that you need to pick your spots carefully.  LinkedIn is currently your strongest medium, and it would make sense to build on it.  If you’re asking me, I would suggest:

  • Get people to recommend you.  If your profile included at least one recommendation of your work at your most recent job and one at a previous job, that would help a lot.  If they can talk about your website skills, so much the better.
  • Post content that you have written.  You’re right, you’ll need permission to post materials you wrote for your job, and you can probably get that.  Have you written anything for outside publications in the field, or for conferences?
  • Use LinkedIn Groups to learn and to show your expertise.  Join some groups. Have them send you updates by email.  Click on links to read posts you find interesting.  “Like” posts and comments that you especially appreciate.  When you can add to the conversation, either by adding information/examples or by posing a new question that moves the discussion along, do so.  All your activity will show up in the Activity section of your LinkedIn profile, and the end result will be that when prospective employers look you up on LinkedIn, they’ll see you keep up with the field.

What would YOU tell her about avoiding age discrimination?

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Too Old for Social Media? Not!

August 1, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 3 Comments

A bright and accomplished colleague wrote me with a troubling question. 

There was  a job opening my contact encouraged me to apply for. I hesitated because one of the requirements said “Digital native” which threw me off. My understanding of the definition is people who grew up with technology from birth, but I thought that would be age discrimination, so they couldn’t possibly mean it that literally, could they? Can I get your thoughts about this situation?

How would you answer her?  Here’s the gist of what I said:

You, too, can become a digital native!

You, too, can become a digital native!

“Digital native” is a tricky term.  It should mean someone who lives and breathes social media, someone who doesn’t have to think about how to use them any more than you have to think about how to send an email—and that could be a person of any age.

Sometimes it does (thinly) disguise an attitude that the agency doesn’t want to deal with older workers, which is against the law, as you know.  The more I read, the more it appears to me that age discrimination is easy to get away with and hard to prove. 

I like your impulse to head off the criticism by showing what you know.  That’s what I have been doing on my blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  But realize that  I have been my own boss for the last few years, and you have a full-time job!

So, I agree that you need to pick your spots carefully.  LinkedIn is currently your strongest medium, and it would make sense to build on it.  If you’re asking me, I would suggest: Continue Reading

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Congratulations, You’re Our New Social Media Expert

May 16, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 4 Comments

Congratulations, class of 2016. You graduated. You even landed a job.

Now, watch out.

Your employer thinks you’re a social media expert.

Just because you’re a “digital native” who played with an iPhone before you could ride a bike, your new employer thinks you can be the company’s social media manager.  Without training.  In addition to all your regular duties.

What are you supposed to do with that?

It all depends.  Do you want to be a social media expert?  Then, here are three things you need to do right away.

One: Explain to your boss what you have to learn.

  1. How to create a strategy for your organization, so that you reach the people you want to reach, where they hang out, with a purpose in mind.
  2. Who in your organization has great stories to tell.
  3. Who in your organization can take great photos.
  4. Who in your organization can produce great graphics.
  5. How to motivate the people in 2, 3, and 4 to send that content to you to use.
  6. What a publication calendar is, and how to stay on schedule.
  7. How to write killer subject lines for email, headlines for blogs, and text for tweets.
  8. How to write content that will make people look past the headline.
  9. The best ways to make sure your Facebook posts get seen.
  10. The best times of day and days of the week to post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn….
  11. How to integrate your print communications, website, blog, email, and social media.
  12. What will make your followers like, share, and comment on your posts.
  13. How you can find and curate content your followers will be glad to read.
  14. How to tell whether any of it is making a difference.

 

Two: Tell your boss you’ll need a budget for training.  (Call it “professional development”: it sounds classier.)

  • There are great online courses.  John Haydon’s Facebook Bootcamp and the Social Media Managers School founded by Andrea Vahl and Phyllis Khare are two of them.
  • You can also take webinars on the subject of your choice.  I will humbly mention my Blogging on a Mission webinar…and check out the entire series offered by NPO Connect.
  • In-person classes and conferences will bring your skills up to date and keep you there.

 

Three,  politely explain that being a social media manager could be a full-time job.  Heather Mansfield, author of Social Media for Social Good, estimates that doing a good job with just Facebook could take you seven hours a week.  Get a very clear set of instructions about your boss’s priorities: in writing, if possible!

 

But perhaps you’d rather eat live snakes than manage your organization’s social media.  Then show your boss this blog entry to make the case that it’s just too big a responsibility to do on the fly.  Suggest that he or she hire a communications consultant to do it right. (I might just be available.)

You just helped make your organization better.  Congratulations, graduate!

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