Generation X, Y, and Z… Or V

by Livingston Communications©2008

The Digerati: Statistics and Studies

• 1.2 billion people expected to be online by 2011, Gartner • 93% of teens are online regularly, Pew Internet (2007)• 80-90% of boys and girls have social network sites,

Kansas City Star (2008)• More ambitious, brand conscious and tend to move jobs

more often than previous generations, FreshMinds Talent & Management Today (2008)

• 20% of teens regularly have sleep problems due to night time text messaging exchanges, Jan Van den Bulck of the Catholic University of Leuven

Game Changing Devices

The Digerati: Me, Myself and I

• 500 photos on Flickr• 100 self made videos of… me!• A Facebook profile feature 150 tagged photos of me, w/

maybe you• A blog about me!• I talk, visualize, show people things like:

– My school life (later it will be work)– The causes I care about– My girl/boyfriend– And just about anything else!

Voyeurism or Reality?

• Community peering means more to digital native

• Being online is simply their reality

• Personal brand management happens

• Reality Check: Brick and mortar version of everything online

Generation V

• The new online content creating, IMing, voyeuristic generations (Y/Millenial, part X, and now Z) defies common concepts

• Gartner dubs this new always on generation – V for virtual• Two-way conversation has become the norm • Online access occurs via many media

– PC/Laptop– Mobile– Game Consoles– TV

Three Aspects of Generation V

① They don’t necessarily get the underpinnings of technology, it’s just what they use

② Overwhelming desire to participate in online communities, more importantly, global communities• Occurs through user generated personae• New media content creation enabled interaction, avatars

③ Meritocratic environment: collaboration, "we" is more powerful and valuable than "me,” yet me seems to be pretty important to recognize

Source: Adam Sarner is a principal analyst at Gartner

What Is This New Media Anyway?

The Old Way

The Old Way

Social Results Using the Old Way

Social Results Using the Old Way

Examples

• Wal-Mart Astroturf• Home Depot • Chevy Tahoe CGM• Coke Mentos• JetBlue• Whole Foods’ Mackey• Sony's ThreeSpeech

Heart of the Matter

Chemistry: Inherently Organic, Social

The Bad, The Ugly and The Good

Two Way Changes Everything!

• Bye-Bye Control!• Ethics and Transparency• Attitude: Community versus Audience • Mandatory Participation: Engage!• Attitude: Build Value for the Community• Inspiring Content Wins

Examples: Facebook

Examples: Twitter

Examples: Change.org

Examples: Nokia Mosh

Examples: QuickSilver and Dell

Examples: Goodwill and ED

Bored? Get Ready for Part II!

It’s A Virtual Party!

Image Credits from Flickr Creative Commons

• Game Changing Devices – by Edanhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/edans/1526393678/

• The Old Way - Spin: Beepola, http://www.flickr.com/photos/beepola/2232129317/

• The Old Way – Control: Maddie Digital http://www.flickr.com/photos/maddiedigital/449791642/

• Social Results – The Old Way : Troy http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatbettertime/30677693/

• Social Results – The Old Way: Malingering http://www.flickr.com/photos/malingering/85869598/

• Heart of the Matter – Central Park Sheep Meadow by New York808 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyork808/181896227/

• Two Way Conversation – Chemistry by GioJL http://www.flickr.com/photos/giovannijl-s_photohut/848407532/

• Bored by Wajakamek http://www.flickr.com/photos/rashdan/632754258/

• Creative Commons by Laughing Squid http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/398474727_3131fcf847.jpg?v=0