How will digital natives mix with senior PR folk?

The Council of Public Relations Firms publishes The Firm Voice — trends, insights and analysis for PR firms. I recently read an article by one of its member services coordinators. She looks like she’s pretty fresh out of college (that’s meant as a compliment) and in touch with what it means to be a digital native (i.e., people for whom the Internet has always been around — that is, for as long as they can remember).

Here are some of her comments about what public relations interns think about the impact of social media on the practice of public relations:

From the time they were in grade school, the “MySpace / Facebook” generation (as they are also called) has rather effortlessly adapted to the many transformations in the online world—from its speed to the proliferation of online communities. With their innate digital knowledge, this new crop of professionals believes it is more in tune with the digital age than most senior-level PR professionals. In fact, an overwhelming majority of the survey respondents (91%) either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that they are “better prepared to work on digital/social media projects for clients than senior PR professionals.”

There’s a tsunami of social media technology rushing in on us public relations folk. Whether it completely changes the way we practice (think of the dot-com bubble burst), or it becomes another tool in the PR toolkit remains to be seen.

I agree with her point that every PR practitioner worth his or her salt needs to be informed and able to provide strategic social media counsel to employers or clients. While the confidence of digital natives may be admirable, I don’t believe social media familiarity alone will make them better business communicators or public relations practitioners.

There’s a whole set of knowledge, skills and abilities outside of technology and social media, some of which only come with experience and maturity.