Digital Skills Development

Not all platforms are worth it After I shared the story behind Mongabay’s decision to deprioritize Facebook (https://lnkd.in/gtNhEDYh), several people asked: Where should impact-driven organizations focus their energy instead? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The best platform depends on your audience and what you want them to do with the information you share. Are you trying to spark in-platform conversation? Drive traffic to your website? Reach decision-makers or a mass audience? For Mongabay’s global English-language reporting (Mongabay News), we’ve found LinkedIn to be the most valuable platform for engaging people whose decisions shape the real world — policymakers, funders, researchers, industry leaders, and advocates. Much of the interaction happens in-platform, but it also sends meaningful traffic to our site. We’ve experimented elsewhere. Bluesky Social, for example, feels like early Twitter — conversational but resource-intensive, requiring constant activity but with little measurable impact so far. It may evolve, but for now, it’s not much of a driver of real-world outcomes for us. If your goal is mass reach, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube might be the better play — especially for visual storytelling. But these platforms are less about driving engagement back to owned channels and more about meeting audiences where they are. This is why understanding your audience is so critical. What platforms do they use? What format resonates? Who influences them — and what motivates action? At Mongabay News, our choices reflect both analysis and mission alignment. We prioritize the channels where engagement quality — not just volume — is highest. That means LinkedIn, newsletters, syndication partnerships, and webinars. We invest less in platforms that generate empty views. One thing that’s become clear: Focusing our efforts on platforms like LinkedIn doesn’t just help us reach our audience — it helps us learn who they are. That feedback loop is invaluable when impact is the goal. Of course, every organization’s calculus will be different. Even within Mongabay, each bureau sets its own strategy based on which platforms best align with their goals. But if you’re grappling with similar questions, I’d suggest starting here: Define what success looks like, measure what matters, and be ready to shift resources as the landscape evolves. For those experimenting — what’s working for you? Where are you seeing the most meaningful engagement? 📊 Engagement score is a quick metric based on scroll depth, time on page, bounce rate, and pages/session, all of which are related of course.

I'm tired of hearing PR = traditional media. Most agencies are getting it wrong too. 🙃 It isn’t… The NY Times The WSJ  <Insert any other big-name publication> people get excited about Even if you land in a top-tier publication, chances are people will read about it like you are right now - on their LinkedIn feed - rather than the actual media platform where it was published. These traditional platforms may provide varying degrees of credibility, but they don't provide distribution. Today, EVERYTHING is media. Here’s what that might look like: Targeted Content: - Niche Podcasts: Identify the specific podcast your ideal CIO (Chief Information Officer),  CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), or whoever listens to based on their industry and interests. These podcasts are GOLD for moving prospects from awareness to consideration. - Curated Newsletters: Seek out targeted Substack newsletters relevant to your niche, not just "gems." Think "Bankless" for crypto enthusiasts or "The Information" for tech insiders. - Engaging Collaborations: Partner with influencers who genuinely understand your audience and know how to engage them on platforms like Instagram Live. Look for influencers who spark conversations and promote meaningful interactions. - LinkedIn Fireside Chats: Host live-streamed chats with industry leaders and your CEO, and top clients. This adds credibility and attracts a wider audience. - Leveraging Trends: Create TikTok accounts or tie into those that creatively engage with relevant trends and topics specific to your industry. Interactive & Community-Driven: - Virtual Conferences: Participate in or host virtual conferences that attract your target audience, offering valuable content and networking opportunities. - Twitch Streams: Consider live-streaming on Twitch for real-time interaction, especially if your target market is tech-savvy or in the gaming industry. - Reddit AMAs: Host Reddit AMAs (Ask Me Anything) on relevant subreddits to directly engage with your audience and answer their questions in an informal setting. - Pinterest Boards: Create curated Pinterest boards around themes your target market actively searches for, showcasing your brand's expertise and visual appeal. Content with Reach & Impact: - YouTube Channels: These channels have content optimized for search, and one interview alone can drive targeted traffic. - Data-Driven Insights: Prioritize creating content backed by data and industry insights that your target market craves, like reports, white papers, or infographics. Remember: If you aren't seeing the results you want with PR, it's almost ALWAYS one of two things. Either your definition of media is too narrow (and hence, strategies are outdated and underperforming), and/or you don't have a distribution plan to go with it. #pr #publicrelations #strategiccommunications #marketing #tech #b2b

THE GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the chasm between those proficient in digital technologies and those without —the digital divide—is widening. This divide not only hampers individual opportunities but also poses significant challenges to organizational growth, talent acquisition, and workforce development. 🖇What happens when there is lack of Digital Adoption? Digital technologies are the backbone of modern economies, driving innovation, efficiency, and competitiveness. Organizations that embrace digital tools and platforms can streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and unlock new revenue streams. Conversely, those lagging in digital adoption risk obsolescence in an increasingly tech-driven market. A study analyzing data from 59 countries across seven regions between 2018 and 2020 found a positive relationship between economic growth and digitalization. This underscores the critical role of digital adoption in fostering economic development and competitiveness. 🗺Digital Literacy - It is a Non-Negotiable Skill Digital literacy encompasses the ability to effectively and critically navigate, evaluate, and create information using a range of digital technologies. It's no longer a supplementary skill but a fundamental requirement. ♻Impact on Talent Sourcing Organizations seeking digitally proficient candidates often find a limited pool, especially in regions where access to technology and digital education is scarce. This scarcity can lead to increased recruitment costs and extended vacancy periods, hindering organizational performance and growth. 💪Workforce Upskilling: Bridging the Gap Continuous upskilling is essential to keep pace with technological advancements. Organizations must invest in training programs that elevate employees' digital competencies, ensuring they remain competitive and innovative. How can digital literacy be emabraced well? For Individuals: ✔ Take Online Courses – Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer digital skill training. ✔ Practice Hands-On – Use digital tools like spreadsheets, collaboration platforms, and AI-powered apps. ✔ Stay Updated – Follow tech news, attend webinars, and engage in digital communities. ✔ Teach & Share – Help colleagues reinforce learning. For Organizations: ✔ Invest in Training – Provide employees with digital literacy workshops and certifications. ✔ Promote a Digital Culture – Encourage the use of tech tools in daily operations. ✔ Offer Mentorship & Support – Create peer-learning groups to share digital knowledge. ✔ Improve Accessibility – Ensure all employees have access to digital tools and resources. Embracing digital adoption and literacy isn't merely advantageous—it's imperative. How to incorporate a digital mindset? 💡https://lnkd.in/dGGM5vCK #sonniasingh #sonniasinghleadershipcoach #digitalmindset #futureofwork #digitaladoption #workplace #productivity

I know I say this often but technology is no longer a separate sphere that sits alongside our lives, it has become the backbone of how we live, how we learn, how we work and how we connect with one another. Every career path, every opportunity for growth and every interaction with society is now touched by a digital layer that cannot be ignored (or if you attempt to ignore it, it will find you eventually). Yet millions of people remain excluded from this reality because they lack digital literacy. This absence is not just a matter of missing skills, it is a fundamental rights issue. When individuals cannot navigate the digital world with confidence, they are shut out of opportunities to progress, unable to properly protect their own data and left with little or no voice in shaping the very technologies that increasingly govern their futures. The future of work will only amplify this divide. Artificial intelligence, automation and global collaboration are already transforming entire industries at a pace that few of us can fully grasp. Those who have digital fluency will be able to adapt, retrain and thrive but those who do not will find themselves excluded from the jobs, the networks and the influence that will define the decades ahead. If we are serious about preparing for the future of work, we must start treating digital literacy as we once treated reading and writing. It should not be viewed as an optional advantage but something that everyone deserves access to. It is the foundation upon which lifelong learning, career resilience and meaningful participation in society must be built. However this cannot be the responsibility of a single sector; schools cannot do it alone, businesses cannot simply outsource it and governments cannot legislate it into existence without collaboration. Building digital confidence for all requires a collective commitment, where every organisation, every leader and every community recognises the role they play in creating inclusive and accessible spaces for digital learning. The future of work cannot be designed for a select few who happen to be digitally fluent, it must be accessible to the many, grounded in the principle that opportunity in the digital age is not a privilege but a right.

12% to 94.2%. Same audience, same content, different product design. We ran a social-to-owned audience acquisition strategy with a client over the past month. Truly organic, no paid budget. Just social driving traffic to an owned, authenticated digital experience. Three weeks in, by making iterative improvements to the product experience, engagement rate jumped from 59.5% to 82.3%. Bounce rate dropped from 40.5% to 17.7%. But 94.2% was the number that stood out most. That's engagement retention once we removed friction and layered in automations to drive urgency between each interactive element. At launch it was 12%. The team looked at every drop-off point, every friction moment, and refused to accept it. Not "that'll do." Genuine "what could this actually be." Those jumps didn't happen by accident. They happened because the team wouldn't leave good enough alone. Big shout out to Benjamin Pearson, Jeffrey Jordan and Sam Wilson for their work on this 👏 Every user in the pool voluntarily registered to participate. First-party data pool more than doubled since launch. Zero paid acquisition cost. Social reach gets you the first click. The owned experience is what converts attention into something you can build on. Identified users, behavioural data, a returning audience you own rather than rent. That's the shift most rights-holders and content publishers haven't fully made yet. If you're working on converting your social audience into owned, authenticated communities, happy to share more of what we learned.

In an era of unprecedented technological advancement, the role of executive digital literacy in driving sustainable success cannot be overstated. As I explore in my latest article, the rapid proliferation of transformative technologies such as AI, IoT, and blockchain, coupled with the escalating threat of cyberattacks, has made it imperative for leaders to comprehend and navigate the digital landscape effectively. Digital literacy empowers executives to make informed strategic decisions, from allocating resources for technological investments to adapting business models and enhancing customer engagement. It enables leaders to strike a delicate balance between seizing opportunities and mitigating risks, ensuring that innovation aligns with corporate values and responsibilities. However, fostering a digitally literate culture extends beyond individual competencies. It requires executives to lead by example, encourage experimentation, and prioritize continuous learning across the organization. By doing so, they can cultivate a workforce that is not only adept at leveraging digital tools but also resilient in the face of disruptive change. The cost of digital illiteracy in leadership is steep, ranging from missed growth opportunities to devastating security breaches. As such, embracing digital literacy as a cornerstone of personal and professional growth is not merely an option but a necessity for organizations seeking to thrive in the digital age. Share your thoughts on the importance of executive digital literacy in today's business landscape. How are you and your organization fostering a digitally literate culture, and what challenges have you encountered along the way?

In my experience, there's a LOT of tacit knowledge about how organizations operate that an AI simply won't know and can't effectively use without workers who are digitally literate and understand computational thinking. The reality is that, despite the rapid advancements in AI, the digital skills of many office workers remain, frankly, abysmal. This represents not a challenge but a tremendous opportunity for disruption in the workplace, if the right talent development strategy is employed. Enabling workers to not only use but also to enhance AI tools through their own deep expertise in the business can transform these threats into allies. AI's potential to displace jobs may have served as a wakeup call, for better or worse. However, the most effective strategy isn't to compete against this wave but to ride it. Integrating AI with the tacit knowledge of subject matter experts, those who understand the intricacies of the business, ensures an organization where technology enhances human capability, not replaces it. This blend of technical science and communicative art is the winning combo for crafting machine-readable prompts and processes for the business.

Interactive content has evolved from a novelty to a fundamental strategy for publishers aiming to enhance audience engagement in 2025. As readers increasingly seek immersive experiences, publishers are incorporating gamification elements, such as quizzes, polls, and interactive narratives, to transform passive consumption into active participation. This approach not only captivates audiences but also fosters a deeper connection with the content. Polls, for instance, are a powerhouse tool. Embedded directly into articles, they turn passive readers into active contributors, boosting time spent on-page and uncovering preferences traditional analytics miss. These insights enable publishers to refine their content strategies while fostering a sense of community, a win-win for trust and relevance. Publishers like The New York Times have pioneered this approach for over a decade. Their iconic "How Y’all, Youse, and You Guys Talk" dialect quiz, launched 10 years ago, became the most-read article in the outlet’s history at the time and remains a blueprint for hyperlocal publishers. By leveraging regional dialects, it transformed linguistic curiosity into a nationwide conversation while fostering micro-community connections—proof that localised interactive tools drive sustained engagement. Hyperlocal publishers are now building on this legacy. For example, TribLive’s 2023 “Can You Pass This Pittsburgh Slang Quiz?” became a viral sensation in Western Pennsylvania, testing readers’ knowledge of phrases like “yinz” and “jaggerbush.” This playful interactive piece not only celebrated regional identity but also drove record traffic and social shares, showcasing how dialect-driven content strengthens community ties. Also, incorporating game-like elements taps into readers' intrinsic motivations, such as the desire for achievement and competition. This strategy enhances user satisfaction and encourages repeat visits, thereby increasing engagement and loyalty. Here are the key takeaways for publishers: 1.    Implement Interactive Elements: Integrate features like quizzes and polls to create engaging content formats. 2.    Understand Audience Preferences: Tailor interactive components to align with your readers' interests and behaviors. 3.    Measure and Optimise: Regularly evaluate the performance of interactive content to refine strategies and maximise engagement. Interactive content is shaping the future of digital publishing. By embracing gamification and incorporating tools like polls into editorial strategies, publishers can craft compelling experiences that not only attract but also retain readers. What interactive formats have you found most effective? Share your experiences and examples in the comments below! #DigitalPublishing #InteractiveContent #Gamification #AudienceEngagement #PublishingInnovation

The headline is big: 2.2 lakh jobs created this festive season. But the real story is how those jobs are designed. 15% are first-time workers, signaling youth entering the digital economy for the first time. Add to that a 10% increase in women associates and additional hiring of PwD and LGBTQIA+ talent, and you see inclusion embedded at scale. Equally important is the footprint: 650 hubs across Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. These hubs are more than delivery points; they’re entrepreneurship enablers, creating ripple effects for transport, rentals, and small businesses. To make it lasting, SCOA is upskilling 10,000 associates, turning seasonal hiring into workforce capability building. This aligns directly with Digital India and India’s 5 trillion economy journey. This is festive readiness as nation building: livelihoods, diversity, regional empowerment, and skills all moving forward together. #Flipkart #TheBigBillionDays #JobCreation #SupplyChainImpact #FestiveEmployment #InclusiveGrowth #EconomicResilience #WorkforceIndia #DigitalIndia https://lnkd.in/gUr4iYX2

📊 **Gender Gaps Are Narrowing In Education, But Is This Enough For Digital India?** As I examined in my recent article, India has made remarkable progress in achieving gender parity in education enrollment across all levels - primary, secondary, and higher education. This progress earned us first rank in primary and tertiary education globally in the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gaps subindices ranking. But looking beyond enrollment numbers, concerning trends emerge: • The ASER 2024 report shows while 51% of girls in class V can read standard II level text (vs 47% of boys), only 29% of girls can do division (vs 32% of boys) • There's a significant gender gap in smartphone ownership - 36% of boys own personal smartphones compared to just 26% of girls • Between 2020-2023, Nikore Associates consultations across 15 states revealed young girls were often last to access shared household smartphones, for the least time, with most monitoring • Only 74% of private schools and 46% of government schools have internet facilities (Ministry of Education) • While women make up nearly half of STEM graduates, men continue to dominate engineering, technology, computer sciences, and management - the streams with highest growth potential With the WEF's Future of Jobs Report 2025 indicating 86% of businesses expect AI, robotics and automation to transform their companies, closing this digital divide is crucial. I propose three key solutions: 1️⃣ A mass digital literacy program for girls - a "Beti Padhao, Beti ko Phone Dilao" initiative 2️⃣ Improved technology readiness in schools through public-private partnerships 3️⃣ Celebrating women in STEM as role models For truly harnessing women-led development in a digital economy, India's girls need to be empowered in digital spaces. Today, literacy doesn't just mean being able to read and write, but to read, write, and surf. See the full article on Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. here: https://lnkd.in/gdcxrZR5 #GenderEquality #DigitalInclusion #WomenInSTEM #Education #India #GenderDigitalDivide #DigitalIndia #DigitalEconomy #Education #GenderGaps Nikore Associates