In this time of increasingly sophisticated personal communications - instant messaging, social media sites, e-mail, cell phones, and now iPhones – it is beyond belief that a young woman recently walked out of the Cambodian jungle, unable to communicate in any intelligible language. If the story checks out, the woman is 27-year old Rochom P’ngien, who disappeared as a child, presumably living for 20 years in some primitive existence, and now returns only able to grunt and point to make her needs known. What a contrast to the back-and-forth instant electronic messaging of her generation miles away in a city or town anywhere on the planet.

A recent blog entry at http://blogs.mediapost.com/media_riffs/?p=337 announced the launch of a cooperative blog with students at Ball State University and MediaPost. Notes From The Digital Frontier http://blogs.mediapost.com/digital_frontier/ will serve as a sounding board for students to express their opinions about the media. It’s no surprise that the first few student postings on the site made it very clear that lap top computers, Facebook, digital cameras, iPhones, iBook (G4) and the like aren’t just desirable playthings – they’re a necessary part of student life.

I think I’ll check in every now and then on The Digital Frontier to see what media college kids prefer using and why. It’s cheaper than focus groups and seems like a great way to keep up with the latest opinions and trends. You might want to do the same, otherwise your PR efforts to reach this audience may seem as primitive as pointing and grunting.