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I have a 13-year-old whom I love every other day.
I pray that someday my affection will get back on schedule, once pubescence wanes.
On the off days, he toys with my emotions. He messes with my head. I carp that he should quit skateboarding, since he broke his index finger in his pitching hand while trying to skateboard across the railroad tracks. Yes, the railroad tracks. He’s out for much of baseball season.
He counters that I should quit my business because it interferes with my coaching responsibilities for my 8-year-old son’s baseball team.
I am not able to follow his logic, but therein lies the problem: logic and a male 13-year-old do not go together. It is logical, however, for him to sneak a peek at himself as he walks by the dining room mirror.
The other night, in one of his “I’m smarter than you” modes, he asked, “Dad, how much did you pay for that web site you created?”
He was referring to the social media community for new nurses that our team from CZ designed and built several years ago.
I was about to say something fatherly and loving like “None of your business,” when he added, “By the way, I just created a web site for my English project. The teacher said we could create a website or a PowerPoint, and the web site looked easier. Take a look!”
I was reminded by the innocent hubris of my oldest that one of the biggest barriers to communicating on the web is gone. The tools of technology have been created for 13 year olds.
Now, contrast that with the fact that the law firm that created the incorporation documents for my business back in 2000 just sent me an enewsletter. Now how “old world” is that? It was the firm’s first digital communications in 9 years. Not all organizations are part of the sea change.
The real question with all marketing technology, of course, is always strategy. Should you really Twitter?
Or is it an exercise in narcissism? Are your thoughts worth 140 characters of attention?
Is the busyness of social media (monitoring a Facebook fan page, for example) really a good investment? Or, given the scarce resource of time, should your staff be calling your student prospects by phone?
The devil of technology is not so much in the details but in the strategy.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Dave
First off, thanks for your honesty when speaking about you son. He sounds like a very bright young man, probably too smart for his own good. Hum, I wonder who he takes after? I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about your daughter when she turns 13, that’s when the real fun starts.
When you talk about technology strategy, I think it depends on the demographics of the audience. I agree that time is precious and feel like I’m on information overload, with no time to twitt, blog, whatever – but I’m a boomer. On the other hand, my college kids spend hours on facebook and who know what??? I say, “get a life”.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
The social media part of twitter I guess I’m not getting … I agree it seems narcissistic. But as a marketing tool it is helpful. When Paul Kangas announced he would be leaving the Nightly Business Report anchor desk we put the link on twitter and it was retweeted with comments all over the place. So it helps get the word out. It’s also a service for users – I follow the Wall Street Journal because they tweet all their headlines so I just click the one I want to read and I get there fast on my phone. Of course, as the marketing folks take over, the social users will get annoyed and move on to newer platforms. So who knows how long it will last?