My view on Cathryn Sloane's controversial piece about social media managers…

August 3, 2012 by 10 Comments

My view on Cathryn Sloane's controversial piece about social media managers and age.

Reshared post from +Goldstein Media LLC

A Naive Author: Social Media Managers Need To Be Under 25

Have you seen this yet? If not, stop reading this for a second and go read this article. 

Okay, you're back? Good. Is your blood boiling yet? I know mine was when I read this.

First off, the author, Cathryn Sloane, clearly doesn't have a firm grasp of the fact that many people (myself included, at 31) have a pretty good grasp of how Social Media works, even though we didn't grow up with it.

Second, by writing this article she's causing herself more harm than good. If you scroll down to the comments you'll see such note-worthy social media types as +Jason Falls, who I might mention is a bit over 25, and Google+'s own +Carter Gibson, who is much closer to the author's target range of acceptable Social Media managers. Jason's comment especially sums up what many of us "Old people" are thinking

"Do me a favor: Call me when you're 35 or 40 and tell me how short-sighted this was. It'll make you feel better. I hope that just today you realized your education doesn't end upon graduation. It begins."

I want to give Cathryn the benefit of the doubt. She's young, naive, and inexperienced. It certainly shows in the article.

One of her main arguments is that since young adults under 25 have been living with Social Media for most of their lives they are by default more qualified than people who are much older and who have been working in not only "New Media" but "Old Media" for a number of years.

Take it from a former newspaper journalist (Old Media) turned Internet Marketer (New Media), knowing more than just Facebook, Twitter and other such networks makes you much more qualified.

To be honest, though there are plenty of under-25-year-olds who really do know a thing or two about Social Media, there are even morewho are losing jobs and causing themselves much more harm because of the inappropriate things they say and do on these networks.

Honestly, I don't think age really plays a part in what makes a good Social Media Manager. I think it's depends on the the individual who is tasked with the job.

I know personally, I wouldn't make a greenhorn straight out of college a Social Media manager just because they've been using Social Media for most of their lives. I'd have them start off at low pay grade and have them prove themselves.

Finally, there is something to be said for the older you get the wiser you get.

Embedded Link

Why Every Social Media Manager Should Be Under 25 – NextGen Journal
No one else will ever be able to have as clear an understanding of social media as our generation, no matter how much they think they do.

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  • Aaron Quinn says:
    August 3, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    that's crap.  I am 28 and understand it incredibly clearly.  Social Media Manager is a BS title anyway.  There is no science to it.  It's like "i do SEO for a living" congratulations, you are profiting from information that you didn't come up with anyway, you have proprietary  knowledge.  Lame story. 

  • Platte Clark says:
    August 3, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    I'm 45. This is where I fill out my taxes online, right? Man, this internet is confusing. But seriously, innovation often comes from connecting existing ideas in new ways. Being Gen X means I remember the massive influx of technology into people's lives, for good and bad. Now I don't aspire to be a social media manager, but I do understand what a broad view of the world gives you when you need more than just tactical execution. Experience adds context. Privates make good foot soldiers but you don't put them in command. Now I need to go and yell at some kids to get off my lawn. 

  • Katy Knight says:
    August 3, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    As a 24 year old (gosh, I guess I better start looking into retirement) former Marketing Manager who handled social media as part of my job responsibilities, I have to say that the biggest thing Cathryn is forgetting is that you can't just pop into some company with zero understanding of their business and "do their social media." I had to understand the basic principles of marketing, real estate marketing, branding a corporation (one with a 50 year history that long predated the advent of social media) and much much more to effectively manage the social media for my job. Even then, that social media was part of a unified marketing strategy that I developed that included other more traditional forms of marketing and "old media." I didn't know much of anything just because I had spent a portion of my class time in college browsing Facebook during lectures! 

    And as an aside (but not a plug, I swear) I meet way too many young "social media managers" who don't understand Google+ for business! That just consistently demonstrates to me the lack of basic marketing knowledge and understanding that a lot of self-proclaimed social media folks have. Yet look at all you "old guys" on G+! =) 

  • Bill LaBrie says:
    August 3, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    I agree with her. It's a lot more entertaining when social media consists of Tweets that are inane, offensive, or totally inappropriate for the brand.  Or when the managers pick fights on comment threads. 

  • George Beckingham says:
    August 3, 2012 at 2:14 pm

    When I took an Engineering program about ten years ago, one of our first courses was Drafting Fundamentals, where we learned to create engineering drawings with pencil and paper. We knew that we would never work for a company that still had drafting tables and T-squares, and in fact the very next course was CAD fundamentals. But learning how to draw properly had a significant benefit when learning computerized drafting. The consensus among professionals was (and I'm sure still is) that a good understanding of manual drafting would make you a better CAD operator, but understanding CAD wouldn't make you a better draftsman.

    Pay attention to that ancient history, kids; everything you know is based on it.

  • Seth Goldstein says:
    August 3, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    I think she's inexperienced and naive and this article just shows it. I know I won't hire her after this article.

  • Eric Fisher says:
    August 3, 2012 at 4:19 pm

    I wouldn't hire based on the article because she comes across as saying I'm better then you because I'm not old…

    I'm only 28 so barily out of the scope she refers to. As I was growing up the internet as we first knew it was born, computers started showing up in everyone home, the first homes were wired with broadband, and pretty much every technology ever used online was invented… I don't pretend the fact I grew up with this magically makes me better than someone who's got 10 years working experience internet technologies…

    Plus, lets face it. Look around your company if someone's said or done something stupid and narrow sighted that they genuinely think is for the best… who was that person? New blood? Yep, fact is young people (myself included) tend to want to be shakers and movers, this in itself isn't bad, rather you need the experience to know when and where to shake, and when it's time to let the dust settle for a few.

    With social media a PR person can easily  throw the entire company under the bus in regards to PR. (Though watching companies say something stupid, then back pedal amuses me so, it's bad for the company :P )

  • Ankush Narula says:
    August 3, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    Come on man – at 31 you should also know what link bait is – she made no sound argument

  • Eric Fisher says:
    August 3, 2012 at 5:17 pm

    Yep, Mashable these days (like many blogs) is all about the link bait

  • Seth Goldstein says:
    August 4, 2012 at 10:10 am

    Honestly has she responded at all? She's either in a corner hiding our she's not real.

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