On The Life and Times of Young Social Media
Chris Clarke has been under a bit of fire lately for a less-than-inflammatory post about the recent breakup of Joseph Jaffe’s Crayon. In recent post on PR Works, David Jones wonders if
“younger bloggers in the PR and Marketing space (are) doing themselves and their reputations harm by taking their 1-3 years of experience in the working world, running it through their “everyone’s entitled to their opinion” filter, and writing about things on their blogs they can’t possibly have developed the sophistication of thought to opine on credibly.”
Reflecting on that and the whole brouhaha surrounding Chris’ post about Crayon and I’m reminded about a few posts I wrote a few weeks ago that were fairly critical of both Shel Holtz and MyRagan.
Everyone will make mistakes along the way. I could have certainly been more tactful about my choice of wording, and Chris Clarke has also reconsidered his original words (while providing some excellent advice).
However, I’m slightly disappointed at the suggestion that young folk like us shouldn’t speak up at all. While we might overstep our boundaries as we learn along the way, I like to think that we are also able to provide a unique perspective that is otherwise lacking amongst those with years of agency and blogging experience. I feel similarly about those new to blogging and social media. While their etiquette might not be up to standards, the ability to provide an outsider (or youthful) point of view is valuable enough to warrant their inclusion in the conversation. As David Jones writes, I too worry “that this space can be a little too self-congratulatory/back-slapping/up-with-people Utopia where everyone’s a winner.”
For more on this, Paull Young has an interesting post rounding up some of the links discussing these issues.
Cheers,
-Parker
September 16th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
It seems I contradict myself, doesn’t it? At one time I’m suggesting young PR bloggers be careful that they have the gravitas required to write a challenging or negative post, while at the same time I’m complaining that the blogosphere is a little too collegial.
Therin lies the dilemma. But it is the same one communicators deal with on a daily basis: what message to deliver to which audiences by which spokesperson in which way.
As I wrote in a follow up post:
Education gives you skills and critical thinking abilities. Experience teaches you how to best apply them.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:39 am
I was a bit disappointed when the “grown ups” started weighing in on Chris, and thought his comments were legitimate.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Parker,
As a 20-something, I admire your boldness and in this post I think you illuminate a larger issue that extends beyond the PR and marketing world.
Think about some of the world’s great thinkers (at least in the West in the past couple hundred years). So many of them were making bold, highly provocative statements in books or articles, the stage or in film (and even television).
Hector Berlioz wrote the groundbreaking symphony “The Fantastic” when he was 26, Alexis DeToqueville was in his 20s when he wrote Democracy in America, George Sand and George Eliot all wrote masterpieces in their 20s, Frederick Nietzche published many bold ideas in his 20s (which were slaps in the face to many older German philosophers), Einstein did some of his best work in his 20s, Bob Dylan helped revolutionize America in his early 20s … Jesus Christ–dead by 32–changed the world … The list goes on (and it’s starting to make me feel like a failure).
These people (and countless others) all kicked their elders in the balls, metaphorically speaking of course. Evidence suggests that if you haven’t overthrown your leader in the field by the age of 30, you won’t ever do it. So if you have the power to rebel then you better do it NOW!
But you can also bet that Nietzche had read all of his predecessors before he kicked them in the balls, same for Christ, Berlioz, DeToqueville, Sand and Eliot, Einstein and Dylan. They knew the literature of their respective fields backwards and forewards before they destroyed it with their ideas.
The point is Parker (and others), as long as you’re educated and not personally insulting anyone then keep the ideas flowing. Let’s just make sure we keep our eye on the ball and talk about the important stuff. As youngsters, we hurt our credibility when we spend more time spewing forth about Britney Spears’ “comeback” performance than General David Petraeus’s ridiculous song-and-dance before the impotent U.S. Congress.
Michael
September 18th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
[...] I agree with on the whole). But the main theme appears to be (and that was the take-away by some of Chris’ peers): Chris is young and inexperienced, his tone was out of bounds and he and should not have [...]