Should social media be taught in school?

Where there is misunderstanding, opportunity or liability, there is a need for education.

Teach a man to fish

However, social media theory and etiquette are much more important to teach than social media technology.

The technology will continually change, but human behavior changes much less rapidly or dramatically.

It’s better to learn the foundations of social etiquette, the principles of effective networking, and the case studies of success and failure, than it is to learn how to use Graph Search or what hashtag to use for food photos on Instagram.

This is the difference between learning to write strategy, and learning to execute tactics.  We need more people who can THINK because the technology is simple enough that nearly anyone can DO.

The most appropriate approach, in my opinion, would be to have social media layered into all classes in some way, rather than specific classes dedicated to Facebook Marketing.  In this way it can be more tailored to the program or class so that the technology is used in context rather than in a vacuum.  How a finance professional uses social media is likely very different from someone in healthcare, retail, or restaurants.

But…

That being said, there’s no harm in having classes that zero in on specific networks or tactics, especially for adult and continuing education.

Similar Posts