I think you misunderstood what Peter and I were saying about interns. I absolutely agree with you that interns should not be the voice of an organization, whether on social media, in-person or in any other venue. What Peter and I were arguing is that you can look to interns to give you ideas about how to effectively use the new channel called social media. I absolutely agree that those creating the brand and the strategy for the organization should be the voice in that channel.

First, social media isn’t for the young. It’s for experienced networkers who know how to build and foster relationships. Most young people just don’t have that ability because schools just aren’t teaching networking skills – though they really should.

Second, I always tell people to think of social media as a party where everyone you want to speak to – your donors, your volunteers, your fans, etc – are all there. Would you then send in the intern to represent your organization?

I’d love to see more development and PR pros – or even executive directors or board presidents – on social networks. People who are empowered by their organization to speak to and respond to their missions.

I know it’s easy to view social media as “extra work,” but remember that journalists used to view creating content for the Web as “extra work,” too. And those who haven’t been doing it for the past few years now wish they had.