I'm entertained by the thought of them getting a diehard World of Warcraft fanatic, or a mod from Outpost Gallifrey. Of course, they mean someone who does things that this agency thinks are cool, but meanwhile it sounds like it's open to any groovy-looking 21 year old with a serious Facebook habit (=probably any 21 year old).
Which, good luck and all that, but it's not the world. My 33 year old mate who lives her life simultaneously through Facebook, Twitter, Livejournal and Ravelry can't apply; and as you say, it's not necessarily 'being online' but being able to make sense of it.
I'm also twitching at the idea of the staff gathered in rapt silence round the graduate trainee. Mind you, I speak as someone who advised a well known agency on the use of avatars. Plenty of people in regular jobs aren't online much.
tomewing
· 3 months ago
TBH I don't want to mock it too much - when I was a graduate trainee I was "The Web Guy" and it's heartening in a way to see that kind of thing recompensed. On the other hand I genuinely DID know more than the rest of the office about what was happening - now the idea of putting your trust in one of The Kids to tell you Where It's At smacks of a certain underconfidence.
Alison
· 3 months ago
John Peel was once asked what it was like working with young presenters all the time and he said, being a DJ was pretty much like driving a bus - you only really saw the people on your line. I think social media can be a little bit like that, in that most of us hang out in certain halls but not on others.
There are things that someone under 25 will know about online life that an older person definitely won't know, and arguably someone right in the age bracket can reach out and talk to people online...oh wait, online...:D...interesting question, actually: would it make a difference? I think it definitely could; on the other hand, I've seen yoof researchers really struggle to connect with qual groups.
The risk is in using the Young Person as a kind of 1-person focus group. Like the Chairman's Wife.
Jared
· 3 months ago
I make the same sort of distinctions, caught myself using the word 'traditional' the other day when talking about focus groups. I guess the better distinction is face to face focus groups or online focus groups.
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Which, good luck and all that, but it's not the world. My 33 year old mate who lives her life simultaneously through Facebook, Twitter, Livejournal and Ravelry can't apply; and as you say, it's not necessarily 'being online' but being able to make sense of it.
I'm also twitching at the idea of the staff gathered in rapt silence round the graduate trainee. Mind you, I speak as someone who advised a well known agency on the use of avatars. Plenty of people in regular jobs aren't online much.
There are things that someone under 25 will know about online life that an older person definitely won't know, and arguably someone right in the age bracket can reach out and talk to people online...oh wait, online...:D...interesting question, actually: would it make a difference? I think it definitely could; on the other hand, I've seen yoof researchers really struggle to connect with qual groups.
The risk is in using the Young Person as a kind of 1-person focus group. Like the Chairman's Wife.