Tuesday, August 3, 2010

My 17 year old son...another indication that 'social media' may not be the answer?

Sitting here at Rehoboth Beach, DE, part of our summer vacation ritual (for the past 16 years), I'm pondering my son's New Year's resolution...to get rid of his FaceBook account. Yep, a 17 year old, honor society student, heading to college in a year, is getting rid of his social networking link.

Why?

He says its a 'waste of his time.'

Really?

Yes!  It seems he thinks he has better things to do with his leisure time than sitting behind a computer screen for hours at a time and engaging in multiple 'interactions' (my words to represent his sentiment).

His resolution, on the heels of my previous post, may indicate a trend AWAY from social media for our 'student' and 'young professional' prospective members.

This is by no means anything near to being considered 'scientific,' but I think it is interesting that I'm hearing (and somewhat sensing - the same way I felt the dotcom 'boom' was nothing more than a 'thud') this as more and more associations are asking me to develop and implement online awareness campaigns that utilize more and more social media. I think we need to be cautious and realize that, like the dotcom rush, social media is not the great panacea for attracting young members and keeping them engaged.

So, you may want to think twice if you're thinking that you MUST HAVE a social media component to your acquisition programs. It may not produce what you want, you'll have difficulty tracking it, and it may only last until the next big thing.

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