October 22, 2021 – The Thirty-Seventh Official Friday Night BeerBlog

I’m not old by any means. And I’m not tech stupid either. At least I didn’t think so. That is until this week. Let me go back to the beginning… (Cue sound effect from any Wayne and Garth skit.)

So, as most of you have read or heard in previous posts, as a self-employed person, I keep an eye on the job boards in case anything jumps out at me, especially during the times that being self-employed sucks. Anyway, in a profession search I always type in “Communication” as I found that gets better results for me than “Production”, which usually urges me to apply for warehouse jobs.

Where The Jobs Are

The trend in job postings for Communication, that I’ve noticed in the last 18 months, is one thing. The same position, but disguised in different titles. Everyone is looking for a “Social Media Marketer”, a “Digital Producer”, or a “Communications Specialist”. They want someone working all day communicating and promoting their business to the masses via social media channels – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, You Tube, TikTok, and countless others.

Mass social media is a young person’s game. Not that I’m in an “I’m old” vein, but there is SO much. And it’s not about posting once; it’s about different types of posting, times of posting, engagement after posting, studying your analytics, and on and on. Beyond being able to get the “message” out there, you have to know all the tips and tricks to get these things done. It can’t be just a simple message.

In a virtual SEA of other posts, yours has to kill. So there is a button for this. A click for this. Add music. Punch in some titles. Create a group. Post. Then post again. Don’t forget your hashtags!! It reminds me of the old Limp Biskt song “I did it all for the nookie”, except that now it’s “I did it all for the clickie.”

How Does This Affect Me

I normally skim right over these job postings. I’ve always had enough trouble getting my own stuff out there, let alone basing my salary on doing it for someone else. But then I created my own thing. This blog. Two podcasts. All good stuff, but how do you let people know that these things are out there and available to entertain them, fill their space, give them ammunition against me? Nobody creates just for themselves, they really, deep down, want to share with everybody.

So. You have to become your own social media marketing manager. Ugh. All of these things that I have been avoiding have marched up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said, Hey, remember us? Okay, fine. How hard can it be? I’m familiar with the formats. I’ve been on Facebook and Instagram for years. I’m an old pro. An old expert pro.

How Hard Can It Be

Ha Ha Ha. Just because you know how to a post picture with a comment doesn’t make you any kind of social media expert. 20 year olds who grew up with this stuff is laughing at your attempt at that hip social media posting. I swear to you I am in a self-imposed social media boot camp. Thank God for Google, YouTube Tutorials, and much hipper friends who know.

Get this, I didn’t even know how to REPOST something from another account on Instagram. I’d never done it. Then, I, very poorly, recorded a video and put it in my stories. It kept cutting off after a minute. Why? Don’t know – gotta look that one up.

I’ve been put in my place the last few weeks trying to figure this stuff out. I thought I didn’t need it. But I know now that for real, this is where the world is absolutely headed. I would assume that any job that I would apply for in the future would expect some real, concrete knowledge of all the social media channels. I also think if we want to keep up with our kids and then their kids in the future, we’re going to need to be as tech savvy as our feeble minds allow.

Advice For The Aging

So don’t get too far behind. Don’t put yourself in a place where you are having to play catch up, because this stuff changes so fast. I don’t think you have to be an expert, but I definitely think you should check it all out and at least have an idea of who Noodle is and if it is a Bones day or No Bones day. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Then you’re behind.

Wishing you good tech. And I’m still waiting for @melrobbins to touch base with me on being on The New Old You. Maybe I should beef up more social media skills – the message isn’t getting through.

LLM

LINK to our Friday Night BeerBlog Podcast:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1822142/9418090