GREAT ADAPTATIONS

A modern communication skill taken from our young friends, the Digital Natives

There’s something I’ve realized, working with people who are learning how to use new media. Newer users, who are often older people, get stuck on little things that don’t make sense.

We newer users are, in general, making use of a different skill. It’s along the lines of proofreading. It has served us well for decades and it still has a high place in the world of communication.

But it is stopping us dead in our tracks when it comes to the efficient and effective use of modern tools. Tools like Twitter, for example.

I teach people to enter microblogging by using Twitter as a search tool. Twitter is already the premium search tool, for those who understand it, and it’s a good place to begin to see what’s going on in that universe.

Here comes the dead in our tracks part. The first time someone does a search on Twitter, they’re bound to come up with a string of seemingly irrelevant posts. When I sit side by side with a newer user, I can point to this and that to help them see what is relevant on the page. But they are drawn to everything that is NOT relevant. What does RT mean? Why is it there? What are all these @ signs? Is that a link? Why are they saying #FF, is that like an obscene gesture?

Hold it, whoa, take a breath. Let’s learn from digital natives, who are able to quickly find the relevance they seek. Here’s how they are doing it:

They ignore the vast percentage of what’s on the page. Instead of looking for the irrelevant or incorrect bits like any great proofreader, they are scanning the page for relevance.

They skip over everything they don’t need and go straight to what they want. And even then, they scan. Skip and Scan. It’s the great new way to use your brain. And it will make a big difference in getting where you want to go – if you want to access the vast intelligence now available to you on sites like Twitter.

Skip and Scan! Anyone for an Evelyn Woods class?

Here’s to your new brain areas: Breathe deep, walk often, and drink lots of water.

Blessings,

Suzanna Stinnett