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I was recently talking to a group of 40 something guys about career 2.0, and the conversation moved to LinkedIn – the business social networking site. One seasoned CIO had never used it, while another had over 1,100 direct connections and more than 5 million indirect ones. I mentioned Facebook as the latest tool. One was unfamiliar with MyFace [sic], the others thought it was for personal relationships.

The latter point of view was confirmed by Alice Mathias, a recent college grad, who recently shared her thoughts about Facebook in a New York Times op-ed piece. The piece received a lot of play in the blogosphere with postings from bloggers like Mathew Ingram, Scott Karp, and Mario Sundar about the nature of personal and professional networks.

According to Ms. Mathias we post graduates don’t quite get it.

She writes: “Just a warning: if you’re planning on following the corner of this map that’s been digitally doodled by my 659 Facebook friends, you are going to end up in the middle of nowhere.”

To her and presumably her generation, Facebook is not a valuable social network; it’s “online community theater,” less a functional tool and more a source of entertainment.

We can learn a lot from today’s youth. How they embrace technology is of great interest to me. But their (i)tune may change when the Facebook generation scatters across the country and around the world to start new jobs and begin families. They may abandon Facebook for LinkedIn or begin using Facebook the way we working stiffs have started using it – as a valuable social network to keep touch with friends, family and colleagues. Or maybe a hybrid will form that combines the personal and the professional, just as work and play have merged in the real world.

And when that happens, the youth of tomorrow will likely do what today’s youth have done — embrace a whole new network they can call their own. They will put up a digital warning on their doors that reads– Knock before entering or Keep out – signs any parent of a teenager will recognize. And once again, adults will be told they just don’t get it.

And so the generation gap continues — only this time in cyberspace. In our youth obsessed culture, it’s not surprising that adults want to enter the bastions of the young. I don’t see too many college students clamoring to join eons.com, the social network for the over 50 set.

Yes we adults probably don’t get it, but give us credit for trying and for recognizing the knowledge and sensibility that the young bring to the table. It’s not as if we are trying to dress like college kids in age inappropriate clothing.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Alice Mathias; Social Networks; LinkedIn; Facebook; Career 2.0;

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For those who don’t know, I am leaving EarthLink as part of its corporate restructuring announced in August. My last “official” day is at the end of the month. I’m entering a new phase I’m calling – Career 2.0 – to reflect my focus on social media. Whether I finally wind up working at another corporation, with an agency, or for myself, I know social media will be an integral part of my job.

As a sign of the times, I have created a new Facebook group called “Career 2.0“. I invite others to share their career 2.0 observations with others in this group. From the ridiculous to the sublime, I hope this forum will be a collective diary on a micro level of how we are adjusting or radically altering our career paths to embrace web 2.0. For another perspective, check out the career path of Jeremy Owyang who just started a new job with Forrester.  Feel free to post questions, provide answers or offer comments and suggestions.

Undaunted, I started with two stats from a terrific video Shift Happens from Karl Fisch.

1. Former Secretary of Education Richard Riley has said that the top 10 ten jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. That means that students are preparing for jobs that don’t exist using technologies that haven’t been invented in order to solve problems that no one yet knows are even problems.

2. It is believed that the amount of technical information doubles every 2 years. Half of the technical skills students start learning as a freshman will be outdated by their junior year.

I handed out a survey to get a sense of how they use they web — from what sites they visit to how often they are online. The answers aren’t that surprising, but I did discover one thing. To them, technology just is. They don’t think about how their Internet habits are fundamentally transforming the way we market, advertise, and communicate. We talk about their expectations and assumptions; they don’t. We post blogs, write thoughtful white papers, conduct and speak on panels about the the power they are wielding; they just want to stay connected to friends and share their experiences online.

Now the Fish Story

To illustrate this point, I turn to a passage from David Foster Wallace’s monumental novel Infinite Jest.

A hoary old fish, hooks and leaders trailing like battle ribbons from his jaw, approaches a collection of loitering youngsters taking their ease by a coral reef. “Hey,” says the grandpa, “how’s the water?” The young fish smile, bob and sway their fins deferentially. “Fine, fine, fine,” they all say. When the relic has swum off and away, they turn to each other and, almost simultaneously, say, “What’s that all about? What’s water?”

Most of us are not yet grandpas, but we all know what water is. Swimming about in career 2.0, I invite you all to jump in — the water is great.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Career 2.0; Georgia Tech; Shift Happens; Karl Fisch; Richard Riley; Social Media;

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