Just how important is being web savvy these days?

Possibly web savvy is over stating it - but given that the internet is accepted as an immensely disruptive global phenomena, then can you hope to appreciate the potential of it and the speed of change it's enabling if you don’t know how to even use a computer? And how important is that for top jobs - or indeed, THE (debatable) top job?

Picked this up from one of the people I’m following on Twitter (am I becoming a twitter fan? Maybe) and think it raises some very very interesting questions. When considering who should be the next “most powerful person (as things stand) in the world” – surely that person needs to at least be able to “get” why the world has changed over the past 10years and why, at this pace of change, it will be a very different place by the end of a double, possibly even just a single, Presidential term.

And you can argue, I think very well, that if one of the candidates doesn’t even know where the on button is on a computer (despite having what I’m sure would be a “great team of advisors and consultants” etc etc etc) then how can they truly “get” where the world is going to a decent enough degree so as to make some pretty important state and economy leading decisions. Or would a political camp actually concede that the presidential position has actually evolved into not much more than just a figurehead role?

If nothing else – I love the passion of this woman. As I believe the say state side – “you go girl!”.

But bringing this back to recruitment (always good to try and do that on a recruitment blog I think) – I wonder how long businesses can function without having Digital Natives or fully assimilated Digital Immigrants at their very heart of their business. And I mean the very heart. Be that Agency, Consultancy or Recruitment Department in a Blue Chip – it’s definitely time to get with the programme (and you still can - it isn't some dark art), or else get people in places to lead and direct your business who themselves “get”, or indeed "are" the programme.

So – onto the video (borrowed from here):

Mark Soohoo, the deputy internet director of the John McCain, was defending his boss for not personally understanding how to use a computer. Tracy Russo, Soohoo's counterpart on the John Edwards campaign (where she was deputy director of online communication), took issue with Soohoo, and then the fireworks started. Here's the video:

Read more on Tracy’s thoughts here 

 

Comments

[Jamie Leonard]

Lets be honest, it's not like the "The Top Position" has any form when it comes to undertsanding of the internet.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=90DKubFKwVo

[Sinead]

really interesting post Alex, made me think.

I appreciate John McCain's honesty in his admission that he doesn't know anything about computers and the Internet. It is a bit of a worry though, if his non usage of such a fundamental, world changing medium means he doesn't actually 'get it' and his policies and decisions reflect that for the USA and by default the world.
However I guess we may be naive to think that the president of the Unites States is the actual one making the decisions.

The statistic that 50% of the USA top executives will retire in the next four years points to the demographic challenges facing employers of an ageing workforce with not enough younger talent to fill the vacating positions.

At the same time though, this gives hope that when the old guard retire to their golf courses and holiday homes in Florida, digital natives/immigrants will at last get their hands on the reins of power and be making the decisions.

[Sinead]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/24/internet.yahoo

I guess we aren't the leaders of the future then.