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Here's a very interesting perspective from the chair of the communication department at Northwestern College in Mpls/St. Paul:\

Note From the Chair

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The Minneapolis-based advertising agency Campbell Mithun announced last month that it would choose this summer's interns based on an application process that consists of 13 "tweets" sent between February 13 and February 25.

It seems to have been a good move for Campbell Mithun, in that it generated a lot of positive media coverage even before the application window begins, and much of that coverage helped to position the nearly 80-year-old agency as a forward-thinking, tech-savvy kind of place. I can't decide if it's brilliant or stupid, but I suspect it's a bit of both. (See what kind of tweets applicants come up with by searching for the hashtag "L13" on Twitter, starting February 13.)

Is it a publicity stunt? That's probably part of it. But it's also indicative of a changing media world where old-time companies feel that they have to do something - anything - with social media, even if they're not sure what it would be and if it would make sense. The Internet continues to be a huge game-changer in the media world, and a lot of folks are scrambling to try to figure out the rules of the new game. And where's there's scrambling about, there's opportunity.

What does this mean for Northwestern's communication students? If you want to work in a media-related field, think about building some social media "street cred" now. Start a blog about a topic that interests you - something professional that you'd be proud to show a future employer. Start tweeting to support your blog. Build and interact with an on-line audience, if only to show a future employer that you can.

The odds are good that your future career will require social media skills, if only because dusty old "digital immigrants" like Campbell Mithun are looking to young "digital natives" to blaze the trail.

Doug Trouten
Chair, Communication Department