It was not long ago when one of my wonderful children said in total seriousness “free Wi-Fi is part of my basic human rights”!
After I stopped laughing and realised that it was a serious comment I went about trying (unsuccessfully) to put the point across that it was “free” but there was a cost to someone so it wasn’t actually free, just perhaps free to the end user.
But why is Wi-Fi so important – I see it as a necessary thing for the social media that is now just part of their lives, after all they are growing up with this and it has always been there. Us “oldies” are still in a position to remember days before social media, but times are a moving on – and unless we all embrace this change we will be the ones getting left behind – in personal and business aspects of life.
Every day there is something in the news about social media and the dangers that can be out there for the unaware user. Everything from grooming children and vulnerable people (of any age) to scamming people out of money.
OK, so its not all bad. I used social media recently to give my complaint against a utility provider a public platform, it definitely helped get a resolution.
But back onto the topic…. We need to educate the youth how to control the power at their fingertips because as soon as the social media gets out of hand it creates so many issues, from the school bully who can carry on after school to the public humiliation and issues that can be happening without parents knowing.
About 5 years ago I hated social media and saw it as a real nuisance in my business life and trying to control my teens in the amount of internet use. Now I have embraced it and see it as an opportunity to get my message out there in a form that is personal and would have been next to impossible in years gone by…. image putting out a leaflet to tell people about my views on a variety of topics! We have a chance to see what is really going on in Afghanistan right now that years back we would have relied on a reporter having to be on the ground to supply the information.
So now we have a new generation of computer literate teens entering the job market and we may have to educate them on using the social media they have been using for personal reasons and amending it for business use. Easy? I’m not really sure, but I do know its got to be done.
I think the youth coming into the job market will have a great bearing on moving business forward because they will absolutely embrace social media within the market place. If we don’t let them exercise their knowledge they will think we are the idiots!
I would love to hear any good stories you people have on social media experiences.
Thanks for reading
