Yes, you probably are setting young PR pros up for failure

David Mullen is absolutely right when he says We're Setting Up Young PR Pros for Failure. Assuming that they'll be good at using social media for PR or marketing purposes just because they're young is wrong.

Think of it this way: You grew up using the telephone. Does that mean you just inherently knew how to do a great phone pitch?

Of course not. Knowing how to use a particular tool, whether Facebook or a telephone, doesn't mean you know how to use it for public relations purposes. Moreover, students don't necessarily like to see marketing in social media. Mihaela Vorvoreanu's focus group research, presented at UGA's Connect conference last fall, showed that students don't want to be marketed to on Facebook -- they consider it their own space to interact with friends. Why in the heck would they be good at something they don't like, much less respect?

Students and new graduates do have an advantage in using social media, even if they haven't been trained in it for public relations purposes. They know how to navigate these online tools, and they understand how their peer group uses them. Recent graduates who have been trained in social media can be a real asset to an organization (read one of my student success stories).

But, as David says, organizations may have "unrealistic expectations" of 22-year-olds when it comes to using social media for PR. Don't assume -- find out what they actually know about social media before you turn it over to them.

Comments

[David Mullen]

I should have just let you write the post. Yours is more concise and probably clearer. It's exactly the point I'm attempting to make.

Thanks for weighing in.

david

[Karen Russell]

Let's just say I've had a little time to think about this! (As in, every time one of my students tells me they hate Twitter or that they don't see why we have to learn X about social media.)

[Todd Defren]

Nailed it.

[Karen Russell]

Thanks, Todd.

[Barbara Nixon]

Well said, Karen. My favorite line: "Knowing how to use a particular tool, whether Facebook or a telephone, doesn't mean you know how to use it for public relations purposes." I'll have to remember that one.

[Toni Antonetti]

Great points! Just because PR students know how to navigate their way around social media sites doesn't mean most of them will be able to represent PR agencies or corporate PR departments without some training.