The Importance of Social Media as a Second Language (SMSL)

For decades we’ve been told that the Spanish-speaking population is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. As a result, those who are bilingual have had a bit of an edge in the job market. Take two otherwise equal candidates, and the job will most likely go to the one who is fluent in Spanish. As someone who has been in the job market a number of times, I’ve even seen this in various job descriptions. In fact, if I spoke Spanish, I’d have much better relationship with several of my neighbors, as a full one-third of the residents of the City of Lancaster are Hispanic or Latino. That’s right, outside world, Lancaster isn’t just about the Amish!

But now there might be another language that is even more important. Those who “speak” Social Media fluently will have a major edge over those who don’t (and that doesn’t bode well for those of us in the older demographics if we don’t keep up!).

I was recently made aware of a new Social Media study via the Boston Herald article, More Companies Using Facebook, Twitter for Marketing. The article cites research from the University of Massachusetts’ Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research:

“Social media is going to affect whether you do get a job,” said Nora Ganim Barnes, director of the Center for Marketing Research at UMass-Dartmouth. “Employers are looking for people who understand these tools and their implications on business. They’re going to look for someone who can hit the ground running.”

The report indicates that while Social Media adoption still varies among the fastest growing private companies, it continues to lead the way in marketing, along with blogging. And, as expected, these tools and platforms are fundamentally changing the way we do business.

Not only are these businesses using Social Media for marketing, but they are also using it increasingly to both recruit and evaluate potential employees. I’ve read other studies that indicate that graduating college students that are already blogging will have an edge over their non-blogging counterparts.

The writing is on the (Facebook?) wall

Those who want to compete in the job market, regardless of their age, need to learn to speak “Social Media-ese”. This is not just a matter of knowing about Social Media and being aware of the platforms, but being fluent in the practical use of the various platforms.

There’s a cool side-note to this. Despite my best efforts at keeping up on all things Social Media, this study somehow slipped past me when it was released. But this past week I began teaching my Social Media Marketing course at Messiah College. I stressed to my students students that I wanted them to connect with me, and each other, on all of the various social platforms on which they are active. I also told them that I wanted them to become voracious readers of blogs, particularly those that cover Social Media and marketing. So the other day I got a LinkedIn invitation from one of my students, Gina, a senior public relations major. When I accepted the invitation, the first thing I saw on her profile was a link to the aforementioned article and research.

Gina is a college student who is on LinkedIn, is reading articles about her chosen field, and is connecting. I think she’s off to a good start and will do very well for herself when she graduates in May.

How are you working to become fluent in Social Media? Are you staying active and current? And if you’re hiring, how important is a working knowledge of Social Media as you evaluate prospects?

Tagged as: Boston Herald, facebook, Foreign Language, linkedin, Messiah College, Social Media, Social media marketing, Twitter, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth