A while back, I held the position that interns should clearly not tweet on behalf of a company. And if companies are looking to hire social media interns, what should the criterion be? Jay Baer of the Convince and Convert blog brings up a valuable argument about the issue of being passionate – as opposed to my formerly held view: experience.I’d still be biting my fingers to suggest that an intern should be the social media point person or spokeperson, which is why I’ve bawked at several companies hiring ‘social media’ interns instead of holistic learning and involvement recurring at all levels.
BUT if you are passionate about social media, should that be more important than experience? Do interactive marketing VPs know more about site infrastructure and less about building conversations online ? Are there search-marketing analysts who can provide sound strategies on e-commerce distribution channels and not necessarily sound strategies on how to build a Facebook Page that will act as a mechanism to promote FREE product giveaways? Do C-suite level executives understand the importance of FREE STUFF in general anyway? Southwest Airlines does. Coke does. Why do they get it and so many companies don’t? Who’s running the show and does that really matter?
In the summer of last year, I learned more from the online behaviors of one of Axiom’s interns who had a real passion for social media than I have from listening to a VP of Digital Marketing for a leading integrated PR/advertising agency. While this intern had some experience, he didn’t boast 20 years like the other guy did. He just had passion and that was enough to really listen to him.
Suddenly, 20 years of the baby boomer methods become somewhat obsolete and Gen Y soon take the lead as the most sought-after contributors to the social media space that... actually know how to keep fans on a Facebook Page, provide comment-geared content for a blog, acquire 2,000 followers on Twitter by simply talking more off-brand than on-brand – a strategy that is looked down upon by most experienced brand marketers. So regarding experience, I stand corrected when it comes to truly knowing social communities.
Who are we listening to now that social media is never going to go away? Gen Y interns or baby boomer VPs?