Comments on: Edelman Admits They Don't Know Social Media

By: Will your agency have a “ROTNEM” program? – Textifying

Will your agency have a “ROTNEM” program? – Textifying — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:19:05 +0000

[...] Dietrich of F.A.D.S agrees and remarks how scary it is that Edelman does social media for clients when 95 percent of its [...]

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:24:19 +0000

I also don’t buy that it’s a generational thing. Some people grow up with particular tools – fine. For other people, regardless of age, it’s part of their JOB to learn about new media as it comes along. I don’t look down on my mother for not using social media tools (though she uses Skype and Facebook) but then again my mother is not a senior executive in a PR company.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:21:43 +0000

@Christine Are you serious? October 2008 is only a year ago. Twitter and Flickr and Digg have been around for a lot longer than that. I actually don’t regard myself as an early adopter – I’m usually way behind most of my friends with tech adoption. But the only thing that has changed for me with those three tools is that I have more Twitter followers than I did a year ago.

Why are people suddenly discovering social media and making out like it’s only just taken off? Just because you* personally were late to the party doesn’t mean it didn’t exist and have real, live people using it before then. Or is every year Year Zero in social media?

* I mean the proverbial ‘you’, not Christine in particular.

By: wordymouth.com » Blog Archive » Edelman Dust Up Explains Why Strategy Trumps Cool Kid Toys

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:51 +0000

[...] and had turned over the asylum to the junior executives and interns. Gini Dietrich said as much in her post last week, which led to this reply by Shel Holtz. Of course, the article never said that [...]

By: Mizz Information

Mizz Information — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:59:27 +0000

Forget twentysomethings; Let Carol Brady Teach You…

Pretty please, mainstream media–can you stop perpetuating the myth that the only appropriate guides for “older” people into the scary world of social media are “younger” people? Seriously. It’s getting really, well, old…

By: Mike Krempasky

Mike Krempasky — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:10:18 +0000

EJust dropping by. Wasn’t going to comment until I realized – holy crap, that’s Rusty Speidel in the thread. I’ve only seen SGGL like two dozen times.

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:28:16 +0000

Ya know, you have to start somewhere. These guys (older CEOs) didn’t have the luxury of growing up with these tools and capabilities, like my generation. I think it’s noble for them to step up and admit that there are still things they don’t know, but they’re not going to let that get in the way of their business. While it may seem like everyone is on the bandwagon right now and everyone knows what they’re doing, a year ago today, that wasn’t the case. We’re all new at this social media world in some way or another and I think everyone needs to take a step back and remember how much they knew about Twitter and Digg and Flickr in October 2008.

By: Teresa Basich

Teresa Basich — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:57:34 +0000

Interesting: Michael Brito, formerly of Intel, announced he’s joining Edelman Digital. Brito is stellar at what he does — I saw him speak last week and the man knows his stuff.

I really wish Edelman would pipe up; I’d love to hear where they’re coming from.

Great discussion here. And, I’m definitely more inclined to question the clarity of the Trib’s reporting.

By: Raymond Alvarez

Raymond Alvarez — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:51:57 +0000

Gini did the PR industry a service by drawing more attention to this. Obviously, there is need for more training and more discussion. There is somewhat of a void in social networking skills as it exists today. After this well-read blogging, we might also take note that we all could do a better job of informing clients and PR firms where they can find expertise. Perhaps what we need to do is form a Society of Social Networking Communicators. Anyone interested?

By: Rusty Speidel

Rusty Speidel — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:26:11 +0000

Gini, you know I love you and what your firm does. You totally, completely get it. But I am having a lot of trouble seeing this as a bad thing. I think these execs are smart to tap into a base of expertise or a mindset that they may not be as proficient in as they need to be. How could they be? The stuff is volcanic. Tools come and go as fast as you can learn them. I think the article spins this to make these senior folks look silly.

That said, they also have a responsibility to their clients to ensure that their strategic communications goals are met. Simply tapping into a younger generation to learn more does not a marketable solution make. If they cannot show a compelling plan for the use of these tools in that overall communications strategy, they are doing their clients a major disservice and deserve to be left behind while more nimble firms take the business.