Three Reasons Gen Y Doesn't Get Twitter

I love Twitter, but, my 18-year old daughter still insists she doesn't "get it". She explained it to me yesterday this way: for her, Facebook functions as a general organizing tool, much as Outlook does for me. Facebook is her calendar, contact book, and primary messaging platform. Any communication gaps are filled by GoogleTalk, text messaging, and if all else fails, dialing. Twitter adds nothing meaningful to this mix -- especially since her friends don't use it. Twitter is a hard sell, and I have finally given up.

The data has consistently shown 18-24 year olds lagging in Twitter adoption. Earlier this year we did focus groups among Millennials on Social Media usage ("The Millennial View of Social Media: Why Should I Be Your Friend?". We were especially interested in talking to Twitter users - but they were hard to find. I suspect if we repeated the study today, they would be equally hard to find.

A CNN article by an intern, Sharon Vaknin, titled "Generation Y: We're Just Not That Into Twitter" provides another view. Vaknin agrees with my daughter that Twitter has nothing to add over Facebook, but suggests a second theory for the lack of interest. Picking up on the Theory of Millennial Narcissism, Vaknin says Twitter offers little opportunity for 'self-branding':

Twitter's microblogging platform is what many Gen Y's may describe as "like Facebook, but just the status update." What is the point of that? We like to consolidate, so Nemeth explains that he doesn't "want to join another community, just tell people what (he's) doing." We have everything we need on Facebook. Based on Twenge's theory, a good explanation of my generation's lag in joining the Twitter mania is that there isn't an obvious way to achieve a self-brand on Twitter.Participating on Twitter requires a fan base that knows why you are unique, special, and deserve attention. Fan base aside, the Web site's interface paves a short path for cyberstalking--there is nothing to find past a user's status.

For example, Sally went to a great party last weekend, but where are the photos? Who went with her? These features, which Gen Y's value so much, are missing. As much as I like to know what my friends are doing, updates on Twitter happen so fast there really isn't time to react. More importantly, my friends don't have time to react to my activities.

Largely as a result of the digital communication tools on which we were raised, a big part of my generation wants to know what the cyberworld thinks of us, and we want its inhabitants to pay attention to us. How can they do this if they're following 300 other people? For the Millennials to make the move, Twitter will have to find a way to integrate the self-branding features MySpace gave birth to and Facebook nurtured. Even if they're packaged in 140 characters or less.

I have a third theory for Millennial disinterest. Millennials aren't accustomed to making online friends. For years, parents warned kids and teens against talking to strangers online. The origins of Facebook were that unlike MySpace, you could only have one identity on Facebook and it required a .edu email address. That meant it was 'safer'. The very idea that I am sharing my email address and phone number with people I only know from their 'tweets' is a little creepy to those who were warned from an early age of online predators. How do you know they are who they say they are? Suddenly, it's okay to make friends with people you don't know?

I have no answer for this, and I am a little surprised at the personal risks I have taken. But in my defense, unlike email and online chat rooms, Twitter seems spam-free and offers an unusually civil level of discourse. After all you have control over who you follow and block others from following you (although I have had no real need to do this yet).

Whatever the reason, it is clear that until Twitter offers a compelling value proposition, it is not going to attract younger users. Long live Facebook!

Why Brands Make Poor 'Friends'

Millennials use social media -- broadly defined as Facebook, text messages, Twitter, and blogs -- to connect with other people. Each is characterized by a different degree of intimacy, with texting the most personal and Twitter the least. But they are all about people interacting with other people.

Brands and social media are not natural partners. It's not that brands are unwelcome, they just don't seem to belong. That makes them easy to ignore, like a guest who has stumbled into the wrong wedding reception. Here's how young adults described their feelings about friending brands on Twitter and Facebook in two online focus groups March 5:

"Brands that show up on facebook often look like your parents when they (unsuccessfully) try to act cool."

"Seeing a brand on facebook makes me just think is spam mail or a scam.” - Bree

“Yeah I don't really pay attention to the ads on the side of facebook. A lot of them aren’t even accurate.” – Kelsey L

“I've never clicked on the ads on the side on fbook or gmail - not out of principle, but they've just never grabbed me.” – Chris S

“I mean, I think people use it as a user-to-user network. I mean, you call your connections "friends." I don't think I've ever joined a brand's FB group -- unless you count maybe a sports teams, though those are usually fan generated …There's something really offputting about a big brand sending you a facebook group invite. I'd never accept it.” – Mike G

“I think there is a sniff test people give brands when they use such tactics. And I'm not sure what the formula is for passing it” – Courtney S

“I really enjoy being able to "friend" indie rock bands for their music, but I don't really friend any product company, or brand. I always feel like most brands are scamming you in some way when they want to be your friend.”—Andrew A

Brands are working hard to find a place on social networks. And social networks drive a lot of traffic to branded sites. According to Forrester, (Ad Age, 3.17.09) PerezHilton.com and Dlisted get more traffic from social media than from Google. But this traffic has little to do with paid marketing campaigns, and everything to do with the personalities behind them. In contrast, brands seem to have little of value to give back. Millennials are keenly aware of the motivation behind brand communication is to 'sell shit', which is an automatic turnoff.

"If it looks like you’re getting an ad, it’s a turn-off."

"I don’t need incentives … I see that as a front … I want to see that they are run by humans and I can relate to them."

I don’t think I’d friend one unless there was some explicit benefit to being its friend.

“I would want added value from a brand if they are going to connect with me. It has to be worth it. If they added value that they normally didn't because they were on social media then it would make sense.”

There is evidence that Millennials do want to connect with brands as long as the connections are genuine and of value. One study even suggested Millennials would welcome a separate channel for 'friending' brands. Research by Pace University indicates 51% of Gen Y respondents saying they’d "join a separate social network dedicated to managing brand interactions." Until such a channel comes along, marketers will continue to try to find ways to connect with Millennials and Facebook and Twitter. Here is our advice:

1. Act and Sound like a Real Person

"They need to surprise me with their content or genuine nature or candor."

"I think a possibility for twitter posts and facebook pages for companies would be to have actual people doing them – to have entertaining personalities or something."

"If you get the stars of the shows doing it it would work."

2. Interact.

"One cool use of Twitter is with starbucks where they have a person at corporate who will communicate back to you."

"Yeah Comcast has their customer service reps on twitter actually helping people."

3. Make it worth my while.

"Make me feel special."

"Yeah exclusive deals are always good, makes you feel special, get you more engaged."

"Good deals catch my attention too, especially for stories I like!"

"Two for one tickets to events always grab my attention, but again, that’s more locally oriented.

"Yea if products and brands to be my friend I want something like … 89 percent off everything."

"Make me feel smart for buying your shit."

Word of Mouth: Millennials Talk About Social Media

Over past few weeks the buzz about social media, and especially Twitter, has outbuzzed the loudest of buzz campaigns. Much of the noise seems to originate from marketers. According to Pete Blackshaw (Ad Age, 3.11.09), “nearly 30,000 Twitter users self-identify as marketers. Nearly 8,500 use the term "PR," and another 8,000 use the term "social media."

With so many marketers talking about marketing to other marketers, we wondered, ‘is anyone else really listening?’ To get beyond the marketing hype, we conducted two online focus groups to see what Millennials think of social media. We confirmed that they are not as gaga for Twitter as marketers -- just half use Twitter despite our efforts to include tweeters in the groups. And those that do were still figuring it out, although we had one enthusiast.

“I have yet to get a twitter, but I'm on the fence with it”.—Andrew A

“Twitter for news and deals, facebook for friends, I read digg to laugh at what people think is an important news article. Though I don't tweet enough.” – Dustin H

“I haven't gotten into twitter yet. I'm afraid of it. I am afraid it will consume me.” – Justin D

“I have not ventured into the land of twitter yet.” – Courtney S

“I'm a little frightened to use Twitter... it's like, should everyone know exactly what I'm doing all the time?” – Mike G

Millennials define social media very broadly as anyting where you interact with other people. That includes message boards, text messaging, Skype, and blogs in addition to Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. It even includes Amazon Reviews and video games.

“Social media is that media that connects you socially with friends mainly and some family. it makes it social because a large percentage of your friends relative and colleagues use it too.” – Courtney S

“facebook - friends, twitter - interesting people/networking, linkedin - ponzi scheme (I don't think real networking happens this way)… I agree with Chris--amazon reviews are def social media and have big pull on influencing my purchase decisions – Dan S

“Facebook, it's learning about culture and stuff through visiting the personal profiles of people in your area, or who you know.” – Kelsey L

“When I think of social media I think of points of view… social media is media that illicits me to talk, not just take in info.” – Ben T

Instant messaging seems to have fallen into disuse, a victim of text messaging.

“I used to use AIM all the time, but I don't know very many people who use it anymore.” – Holly H

“I can't believe Yahoo! is even up there. Does anyone even use Yahoo! anymore?" – Justin D

In fact text messaging appears to be the preferred way to connect personally, relegating Facebook to the place to maintain less immediate or personal ties with distant or long ago friends.

“I also text, but only my close friends....my casual friends I message facebook.” – Bree

“Well facebook keeps me updated on their lives, but it doesn't feel very personal. I'm more of a texting person when it comes to that - Kelsey L

“Yeah, I’m with Kelsey. The internet is a tool I'm likely to use to reach old friends or casual acquaintances. People that I don't see on the day-to-day.”- Mike G “I'm also much more connected now with old friends than I ever was before e-mail and now with facebook (which seems to have replaced e-mail as the stay-in-touch-with-friends application.” – Chris S

“If I want to be more connected I call or text.” – Natalie B

While it’s theoretically possible to be ‘too’ closely connected online with friends, in practice Millennials feel they have it under control. Most Millennials say they are as connected online as they want to be -- about a 6 on a 10 point scale. Control appears to underly some of the appeal of Facebook.

“prob a 6, which is where I want to be--we have the choice to be less connected if we want--every once in a while I check out for a week or two and go on a subconscious Facebook fast and read a book or two.” – Dan S

“A 5 - not too connected, except with some who have bad facebook habits but I can turn their exposure down if I want.” - Chris S

“Yeah, I think online can keep you disconnected sometimes. It lets you keep a "safe distance" that's not there if you have to pick up the phone. – Mike G

“It's fine because I can set the terms.”- Scott K

Fast Food Marketers Target Missing Millennials

Everyone is cutting back on eating out these days, but Millennials are leading the way in frugality. As of March last year, 18-24 year olds visited fast food restaurants an average of 3.0 times a week, down from 3.7 times in 2007. Even more telling, 18-24's were the only group to show a decline. We expect that number to drop even farther by March of 2009.

What are QSR marketers -- other than high profile Burger King -- doing to win back this important segment? A lot it turns out.

1. Pizza Hut: Pizza chains are among the hardest hit by the recession (WSJ, "A Smaller Piece of the Pie", 2.23.09). Pizza Hut is taking direct aim at Millennials with its "Pizza Hut Interface" launched October 2008. The Interface allows Facebook users to order their Pizza Hut favorites without ever leaving Facebook. According to AllFacebook, Pizza Hut is the first national pizza chain to offer this method of ordering. In 2008, Pizza Hut awarded $50 gift cards to Pizza Hut friends on Facebook on a weekly basis. Currently, Pizza Hut is running a “Passport to Italy Sweepstakes” through its Facebook page to celebrate the launch of new Tuscani Lasagna. According to Bob Kraut, VP of Marketing Communications, Pizza Hut is pleased with the results.

In the last month, we’ve gone from 700,000 fans to 750,000 fans, which makes us the largest restaurant fan page on Facebook. We want to strike a fine balance between communicating with our fans and giving them meaningful offers, without overcommunicating to them and becoming a nuisance. We want people to see our Facebook page not as something they become a fan of and then forget about, but a place they come back to on a regular basis for the latest news and deals from Pizza Hut. To have a live measurement of the number of fans we have interacting with our brand and the ability to create an ordering application within the site makes Facebook an extremely effective online channel for us. We’re very pleased with the results we’ve seen so far.

2.Culvers: Last month Culver's launched its first ever national ad campaign, starting with E!'s pre-Academy show. The premise is that there is an 'outbreak of niceness' at Culver's. While this is not Millennial-specific message, it is definitely Millennial-friendly. (Pepsi, anyone?) The campaign includes social media: a Twitter feed and Facebook page, although only the eClub sign up is on their home page and the effort is not as integrated as the Pizza Hut effort. Company vice president Chris Contino: "We still aren't sure that it works for quick-service restaurants, because so much of the buying is impulse, but we're hoping to hit on something that makes sense."

3. Arby's: Arby's is betting on new products, especially an "All-American Roastburger" sandwich positioned against hamburgers. Launched in February, it will sponsor an NCAA tournament bracket on Facebook through CBS SportsLine. Arby's spokeswoman: "Facebook engages more than 80 million active users, and 1.5 million people signed up for Facebook NCAA tournament brackets in 2008." Online ads on CBS SportsLine and NCAA.com this month will support the effort, along with March Madness network TV and radio (CBS, Sirius). A PR program for called "Change Your Clock/Change Your Burger" on March 8 will promote a free Roastburger with the purchase of a soft drink. It will be interesting to see how (whether) they leverage the 'news' value of daylight savings on Twitter...

4. Taco Bell: Taco Bell is the second favorite fast food restaurant among 18-24 year olds, right behind McDonalds. Millennials love Taco Bell for their ingenuity in mixing the same basic 7 ingredients into a constant stream of 'new' products (Crunch Wrap Supreme, Fully Loaded Nachos). This gives them a constant stream of 'news', which combined with lots of items for $.79, $.89 and $.99 makes for a experience you can enjoy frequently. Taco Bell has smartly leveraged their late night hours to connect with Millennial bands and their fans with their 'Fourth Meal' promotion, "Feed the Beat".

Social Media: Why Twitter Matters to Marketers

One of my Twitter buddies, Stuart Robertson (aka 'designmeme'), tweeted me this bit of wisdom yesterday:

@carol_phillips Facebook is the backyard BBQ, Twitter is the Convention, MySpace is the NightClub, LinkedIN is the Job Finding Club. :)

I promptly 'retweeted' his idea to my 179 'followers'. That ended an exchange that started like this yesterday morning:

designmeme: How To Turn Twitter Followers Into Friends http://tr.im/gQmg

carol_phillips: @designmeme Not sure I want followers as 'friends'. That's what I have Facebook for. Twitter brings me acquaintances with common interests.

This exchange illustrates what I have discovered to be Twitter's primary attraction, which is to have "conversations" with people you would otherwise never meet. designmeme is on the faculty and web manager for University of Guelph-Humber. We are unlikely to have met anywhere other than cyberspace. We don't care about what each of us had for lunch or even want to know any details of each other's lives. I didn't even know or care what his real name was until I started writing this post. But I like what Stuart has to say, and I must have said something that caught his attention, as well. And this is precisely the reason I think Twitter will be more important than Facebook: Twitter is not about friends, it's about strangers.

The first lesson I learned about Twitter is to refrain from answering the prompt,what you are doing? No one, outside of those who love you, cares two tweets about what you are doing. But acquaintances and your larger network just might care about what you are reading, thinking and talking about. And that's where Twitter comes in. Twitter is about ideas; you don't need to be 'friends' to want to share ideas. In that sense, designmeme is right, Twitter is a convention, a virtual watercooler where interesting conversations are happening day and night. The conversations are easy to find and make little demands. You can just listen, or you can chime in.

In contrast, Facebook is the backyard BBQ. You can't stand silent on Facebook you have to participate; Facebook is where you connect with people you know and like, aka, your friends. The in-house sociologist at Facebook, Cameron Marlow, revealed that most users actually communicate with a relatively small circle of friends. While many people have hundreds friends on Facebook, they still only actively communicate with a few.

The average male Facebook user with 120 friends: Leaves comments on 7 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall Messages or chats with 4 friends

The average female Facebook user with 120 friends: Leaves comments on 10 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall Messages or chats with 6 friends

The average male Facebook user with 500 friends: Leaves comments on 17 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall Messages or chats with 10 friends

The average female Facebook user with 500 friends: Leaves comments on 26 friends’ photos, status updates, or wall Messages or chats with 16 friends

I prefer Twitter to Facebook because I have other ways to connect with friends.

Most Millennials I know have yet to use Twitter. They prefer to talk to their friends online and Facebook is perfectly designed to do just that.It therefore comes as no surprise that the average Twitter user (Twitterer?) is older than the average Facebook user.

Which brings me to my point (yes, I have one): While they are lumped together as 'social media', LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are fundamentally different in ways that will be increasingly important for marketers to understand.

Because Facebook is intimate, it is inherently unfriendly to commercialization and marketers will continue to struggle to find a way to leverage it effectively. (The exception will be 'events, such as Starbucks 'Red' event in December. Advertising a specific event (party) on a specific day makes perfect sense.) Because Twitter is about anonymity and connecting with people you don't know very well, it is inherently much more friendly to breaking news, self-promotional messages, causes and ideas. I predict Twitter will surpass Facebook fairly quickly as a marketing medium.

Marketers: Start your tweeters.

Dentyne's 'Face Time' Campaign a Winner with Millennials

I love Dentyne's contrarian "Face Time" campaign. It leverages the current obsession with Facebook and virtual friending to make a point about the importance of face-to-face encounters. First launched in October, the campaign includes TV, a web site and remarkably, no NO Facebook group or application I could find! In fact the web site only gives you 3 minutes to find what you want and get out.

Last night, a new 'Face Time' commercial on The Colbert Report caught my attention. It features a charming couple who can't stop kissing. Adorable. And it makes the point: kissing is fun, do it more often (with Dentyne)! (I can't find the new spot on YouTube or I would have inserted it here).

I was pleased to see Millennials, not just boomers like me, enjoy this campaign. Adrienne Waldo, creator of the blog AskAMillennial, says she likes it for being 'genuine' and 'happy' (how Millennial of her!):

"I am absolutely crazy about the most recent Dentyne campaign.It is fun, warm, unique and targets Millennials without being patronizing. I think the essential goodness of this campaign comes from its genuine nature. ..The commercial ties in well with the print. The song selection, "Summer Day" by Coconut Records, comes across pleasantly quirky, the setting is beautiful, and the whole thing leaves me feeling happy."

Move Over Facebook? Here Comes Zumeo

What happens when you combine Facebook with job search? Zumeo is about to find out.

In past posts, I have speculated Millennials may be fickle about Facebook if they find something better. I am not saying Zumeo is necessarily better, but it fills a need -- jobs and internships -- that Facebook will never be able to address. Most of the Millennials we talk to would never want a prospective employer to see their Facebook page. Many older Gen Y's talk about deleting, or planning to delete, their profiles when the time comes to get serious about their careers.

Unlike Linked IN, Zumeo is all about jobs and it is focused on college students and recent graduates. It takes a social networking approach to creating and posting 'live' resume that can be updated and shared with recruiters, friends or colleagues or even shared with other social networks like Facebook and MySpace. The process includes a self-assessment that matches your resume to prospective employers. The voice and tone of the site is completely Gen Y, describing the frustrations of traditional job search sites and the advantages of Zumeo (discover your strengths, relevant matches) in simple relevant language and videos. There's also a nifty video of CEO Jared explaining the concept.

Unlike Facebook, Zumeo comes with a revenue model. The service is free to users, but recruiters are charged $9 per post and $19 per month for unlimited posts. There is also a free test drive. According to Tech Crunch where I first learned about Zumeo, there are only 500 users so far, but the company has $100 million in venture funding. I expect we'll be hearing more about Zumeo.

The Facebook Juggernaut

This week I lost another kid to Facebook. Like most Millennials, my 18-year old daughter has been addicted for years, but my son, who just turned 15, had so far found it uncompelling. No longer. This week, he went from just a handful of friends to over 140 friends. Like his sister, he now spends hours uploading photos, posting remarks on friends' walls and making new connections.

According to Gallup poll data, there are dramatic differences in amount of time spent on the internet by age group. Those spending at least one hour a day drops steadily with each successive age group, from 62% for Millennials to 24% for their grandparents. (See chart) If my kids are any indication, the 'Facebook Effect' is a large part of the difference. (My dad likes his computer, but doesn't know what else to do once he's done with email).

According to Nick Burcher, who follows Facebook and other social media site usage, Facebook's U.S. user base grew from 27.8 million users in July to 42.0 million in December, a 51% jump. Internationally, its user base grew even faster. Altogether, Facebook added an eyepopping total of 47 million new users in the last 6 months of 2008. The largest non-US user bases are in the English speaking Canada and UK. (For more on international use of Facebook relative to Twitter, see Brendan Mitchell's Jan 11 blog post.)

There is no doubt that Facebook dominates the lives of many Millennials, but whether this pattern will continue indefinitely is still up for debate. In our research among young adults we are starting to hear some reservations about Facebook as the end all be all social network application. While Twitter is not really registering yet among young professionals we talk with, we are hearing that they think of Linked In for professional use, and fear that their Facebook profiles may come to haunt them as they advance in their lives and careers.

Millennial Target: Starbucks Project Red

Starbucks appears to have hit it right with Millennials with its Dec 1 RED Event for World Aids Day. So far, nearly 580,198, people have RSVP'ed on Facebook. Whether all of them actually come and sip a 'handcrafted beverage' (and generate a 5 cent donation to Project Red), is irrelevant. Starbucks is already a winner just by getting that many people to raise their hand in support of the effort. At minimum, those handraisers will think twice before buying a latte someplace else on Monday. The event is only the beginning. For the next few months, all holiday drinks will also result in a 5 cent donation. There's a Red Community site where customers can use an 'impact calculator' to see how their donations are impacting the world crisis.

If Monday's event results in lines at Starbucks stores, it will owe its success to doing its its homework on Millennials. The Project Red promotion hits a number of Millennial hot buttons:

1. A worthy cause.

2. Easy to do - doesn't require any extra effort.

3. Social - hey, let's all go!

4. Multi-media - everything from TV to celebrities in Times Square.

5. Lots of ways to participate online and in person -- even a photo op in the store.

While RED is a promotion, it feels bigger, more like a party. That's what makes its appearance on Facebook more permissible than most commercial attempts on Facebook, and consequently something Millennials click on rather than ignore. A lot has been written lately about Facebook's struggles to become a viable advertising medium. Perhaps Starbucks has just given us all a clue as to how to leverage its potential.

Millennial Target: Hot PINK

Victoria's Secret's PINK brand is hot. With sales approaching $1 Billion, it is growing faster than VS overall according to Ad Age (7/7/08). PINK's Facebook Group boasts 509,478 fans, one of the largest on the site. This fall, PINK started directly targeting the collegiate crowd with a COMPREHENSIVE approach that leaves no stone unturned, with apps for your facebook page, style guides, videos of favorite bands, logowear from 33 universities, video personality profiles, events (PINKAPOLOOZA) text messaging sign up, free customizable goodies for your myspace page or computer, insider blogs, a maglog, cause marketing, a $5 planner promotional offer -- even horoscopes. Nothing was left out. And the overall sense is that they won't stop here, there's lots more to come. (I was interested to note that Notre Dame is not one of the participating schools, you can see a list click here; be sure to click Roll Call to hear the charming Behati from Namibia read the school names to you, definitely worth watching).

Overall, the site feels more like a social network than a comercial site, and that apparently is the intent and its appeal. I admit I found 30 minutes of total entertainment. It makes college look so COOL! Who wouldn't want to be part of this scene? Cool is apparently is the goal, according to Sara Tervo, PR Director:

With fickle teens jumping from one fashion brand to another, it's a balancing art to stay relevant and "cool" in the eyes of this consumer group. "What VS Pink does is it listens to the customer, pays attention to the fashion trends, and stays true to the brand," says Tervo. (PR Week, 2/11)

Brands who want to approach the college market would do well to look at VSPINK.

Social Media: Not Just Facebook and MySpace

On the occasion of my 50th post about Millennials (wow, can hardly believe it myself), I did some digging on the social media phenomenon. While many believe it is values that define Millennials. Millennials themselves believe it is their use of the Internet, nothing defines Millennials on the Internet more than their use of social media. In March 08, McCann released Wave 3 of its Social Media Tracking Report based on a survey of 17,000 Internet users in 29 countries. Here are a few findings worth noting:

1. Social media is much broader than social networking. McCann defines social media as “Online applications, platforms and media which aim to facilitate interaction, collaboration and the sharing of content”. That includes blogs, photo and video sharing, podcasts, microblogs (Twitter), widgets, chat rooms and message boards, and more.

2. Social media's reach is surprisingly high.. 83% of active Internet users watch videos, 73% read blogs. 39% have started their own blog (I am sure the number is even higher for Millennials, especially young women who are more into blogging than similarly aged guys, who favor gaming. In fact, McCann believes blogging rivals traditional media with a 70% weekly reach. 33% have a favorite blog they read regularly. "As a collective, the blogosphere rivals any mass media in terms of reach, time spent and wider cultural, social and political impact."

3. Social Networks have evolved into platforms to organise users’ internet experience. 74% use them to message friends. Social networks are becoming a 'one stop shop' for all internet needs: messaging friends, posting photos and videos, and unique applications. Consequently, they are becoming one of the most powerful ways to disseminate information.

The blurring of media and creators is nearly complete, as the popularity of Engadget with trendsetting Millennials makes clear. The 'citizen' journalist has become a reality and bloggers are becoming mainstream personalities. Need evidence? The NYT and Entertainment Weekly had this to say about www.pinkisthenewblog.com/home/:

“Pink is the new Blog: Must Star Hazer — Why This: Trent Vanegas may run the uproarious gossip roundup from his home outside Detroit, but he doesn’t need proximity to make riotous observations about celebs — often typed directly onto scary paparazzi photos.” — Entertainment Weekly “Anyone looking for a case study in the convergence of homespun blog culture and market-driven mainstream media need look no further than pinkisthenewblog.com and its creator, Trent Vanegas … It’s Not Just a Blog, It’s a Brand”. — The New York Times

Finally, we have prospect of 'Facebook: The Movie'. The New York Times reports today that West Wing creator, Aaron Sorkin, and Columbia Pictures producer Scott Rudin, are collaborating on a film about the creation of Facebook. They have set up a place on Facebook to participate. (Talk about media coming 'full circle'!) Where did I read about it first? A blog of course!

The NASA Brand and Millennials: It IS Rocket Science

Here's an obvious idea anyone concerned about getting Millennials to engage with their brand should check out: Let them tell you how! Apparently, that's what NASA did, and the result is well worth reading. This 90-page PowerPoint slide show (don't let it scare you, lots of pictures) was created by Kristen, Aaron, Garrett and Nick, NASA employees, to tell NASA management who they are and how to make NASA relevant to them. Entitled "Gen Y Perspectives", it is full of insights about their generation and how they recommend going about connecting what should be an inherently cool brand to their generation. What makes this especially cool is that it is in the voice of the Millennials themselves, so it provides some great direction on how Millennials like to communicate about themselves. Some highlights:

• Gen Y is a completely NEW generation of over 70 million people.
• Gen Y will be 47% of the workforce by 2014, although only 25 % now (and less at NASA)
• Gen Y is defined as "mobile, interdependent, quickly bored, instant information, instant gratification, likes mentors, global, empowered, wired, multi-tasking, impatient if delayed, expecting NOW, (not 5 minutes from now), but highly adaptable."
• Gen Y were shaped by different experiences which makes them "extremely independent,empowered and optimistic, with no clear boundary between work and life, and a willingness to sacrifice economic rewards for worklife balance".
• Gen Y is not engaged with NASA because we "don't see the point, don't understand the facts and can't participate".
• NASA needs to facilitate a discussion with Gen Y that allows them to participate in the mission.

They go on to explain just how to do it. In fact, they do more than that, they talk about what they have already done! Who knew that you could follow NASA on Twitter? Cool stuff.

Obama & Facebook - What's the Buzz?

As a general marketer, I have the sense we will be learning a lot from political marketers this year about how to use social media to influence brands. Social media played a key role in several of the 2006 midterm elections. (See Millennial Makeover for an interesting description of the early use of newsfeeds and groups in campaigning). Social networks are expected to play an even bigger role in the 2008 Presidential campaign, especially given the importance of the Millennial vote to the election outcome. Will social media be just another channel, like radio or TV? Or will its interactivity transform the dialog into something never seen before?

As a first step to nabbing an invitation to the 'netroots' marketing party, I set out to see what Obama is doing with Facebook. I checked out his profile, joined a group and downloaded the Barack Obama Facebook app.

Obama's profile shows 992,564 'supporters'. Reading the profile and seeing photos of his 'supporters' isn't that involving, as I am sure he doesn't update it himself.

There are many Obama specialty groups, such as 'Notre Dame Students for Barack Obama'. The biggest group, 'Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Obama)', has 564M members. This seems like a lot of members, as the largest corporate sponsored group,'Apple Students' has just 432M members, more than even the PINK Victoria's Secret group's 348M members. However, it pales when compared to the group, '1,000,000 Strong for Stephen Colbert', which really is one million strong with 1,249M members.

The Obama group site at first glance is more like a portal than an interactive experience, displaying links to events, videos, t-shirts, the official donation site, sites explaining Obama's stand on issues, etc. While useful to have aggregated in one place, they aren't anything I couldn't have found with a Google search. More interesting were the 32,322 discussion threads. Tonight's rally in Detroit appears to have many posts, the excitement the difficulty of getting tickets, the prospects of actually posting a video. Before we leave the group, I should note that there seem to be nearly as many anti-Obama groups as there are pro-Obama groups. Stop Barack Obama (One million strong and growing), has 65M members.

Meanwhile, the Obama Facebook app makes content more accessible than the group. Recent videos, news articles, speeches are rated in terms of number of member reader 'thumbs ups'. There are also links to other users’ via the Facebook network and the ability to leave a comment, blogger-style. The content can all be sorted by recency, popularity, and friend's favorites. There are clear links for donating, volunteering and getting involved. This feels more user friendly than the groups.

How these applications, groups and profiles influence the campaign remains to be seen. I plan to keep an eye on things.