Now kids are practically born with an iPhone in their hands and assigned a Twitter handle before they’re born.

The older generation is not as tech savvy. Perhaps this is because they’ve never had to deal with a barrage of connected devices the way the younger generation seems to take it in stride.

One could offer countless arguments about the digital revolution and its effects on society, but one thing is certain, it is becoming the new normal.

Companies like to hire millennials because they’re more tech savvy. They grew up in this digital world so posting a tweet to Twitter or running an online marketing campaign is absolutely no sweat off their backs.

Older Adults and Social Media

We’re not saying you’re out if you’re not tech savvy, but learning social media is certainly one way to get ahead—especially in the world of real estate. See why 2014 is the year of social media for the real estate industry. For starters, it can increase your referrals, create unprecedented brand exposure and help you connect with other professionals.

It’s a very valuable skill to have.

How Do I Learn How to Use It?

I know some of you are thinking I will never have any down time to learn a new skill, but once you get to know the basics, it can be a lot of fun—and not to mention super rewarding too.

Some companies like the San Francisco chronicle think it’s extremely important so they’re putting all of their reporters, including the 95-year-old science editor, through a social media boot camp.

“The approach is novel for newspapers,” says Audrey Cooper, the San Francisco Chronicle’s managing editor. “It physically removes reporters from the traditional newsroom and gives them new digital metrics, such as engagement time, to judge whether their stories have reached our core audience. We also plan to use real-time monitoring of the clicks we get from social media and other referral sites, including LinkedIn, Pinterest and Reddit.”

Comment below if your company has done something similar.

A Few Words to Our Older Friends

Social media may seem silly at first. There’s no clear-cut strategy because trends are always changing and updates are constantly being released.

It’s easy to get discouraged, but keep plugging away and you WILL see results.

This article from Mashable gives new social media users’ insight on pay-to-play, how to create a community of insiders and how to pick platforms wisely.

The platform you use affects your content, message and the number of people who see your post. This article will help you determine which social media networks go together.

And these were the top 10 brands on social media in 2013 if you’d like to see some examples of great social media marketing to get the ideas flowing.