Yoda and Steve: Millennial Jedi Ghosts

This morning, amid a frantic and dizzy haze left over from my first Agency party, I took a moment to chat with an old friend. He’s my age, 23, and an avid Apple user. Of course the one topic we get stuck on was Steve Jobs passing; I’ve heard it over and over from my young friends, “I never thought I would have such an emotional reaction to a stranger’s passing.” Yet many young people have been very emotional about it.

If you think about it, Steve really touched a lot of people, connected families, educated the masses, and expanded (for better or worse) media’s reach. He, and Steve Wozniak, saw a word full of technology—with computers tiny, in hand, in every home. I owe a large part of my education to these men. I’ll go one step further to say I wouldn’t be writing this blog without these men--Lord Zuckerberg probably wouldn't be the millennial god he is today, and our beloved Twitter Jack and Myspace Tom would be average Joe's. The Steves, and in particular Steve Jobs, somehow became this generation’s voice. He’s like our Lennon, our Yoda, our connective voice from which great timeless wisdom flows.  Young people were are incredibly attached to Steve, not because he created cool phones and computers. They see in him enabled inspiration, through inspiration. 


We dream to change the world, which is what he accomplished. We dream to understand how he understood.

Apple Store Memorial

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something.”

Thank you Steve. Thank you for everything, really.

OccupySTL Observations

Today I took some time and visited a group of protestors in the city. I’ve never really been to an official protest so I didn’t know what to expect, maybe a manic agenda and a guy in red and white striped pants shouting about ‘Viet-fuckin-nam’. For about two weeks Crystal and I had been following the Occupy Wallstreet protests in New York; it finally spread nationally, with a meeting place right here in St. Louis, MO.  Of course there are hundreds of social and political issues at hand here, I had a only few note-worthy observations.

Disclaimer: These are just some of the generational takeaways I had, great fodder for emerging ideas. It should also be noted that there was not a community manager on ‘staff’, so tweeting, hash-tagging, checking-in, all kinds of fun mobile social networking wasn’t on their radar. If you want more, check out Rodgers Townsend’s blog. If you want to join the protest, or help out stop by Kiener Plaza downtown…and for God’s sake bring them some food and water.   

Happy Fall-tastic Monday Everyone

Here’s something short and comical that a co-worker of mine sent me. It’s hilarious and so fitting for an upcoming blog post. Since I don’t have time for many details, I’m leaving you with this:

Via The Oatmeal.

Is EVERYONE Updating Their Features?

It sure seems so. I’m not sure which happened first (because my iPhone, Pickle, was having a teenaged meltdown last week during the stream of App updates) but all our favorite social networks made some serious updates and changes. Most notable among them, Facebook; I’m not going to go too deep into that one right now—Mashable has done an amazing job of keeping everyone in the loop with updates. As I hear it there is going to be a second wave of update in the next couple weeks.

The timeliness of all these changes really is astounding—On the 20^th, Instagram gave mobile photographers their new and improved, hi-res, user friendly Instagram 2.0. Reactions online seem to be positive, although some of the opinions of avid Instagrammers weren’t so great. My Foursquare told me there were some updates to the ‘lists’ section of the mobile app on the 20^th as well. Then the changes to Facebook hit, and all hell broke loose.

I’m just putting this out here to say, I’m watching how these social networks feed off each other. What does it mean for users? What does it mean for developers? I’m just saying, watch them, they kind of move together.

Check out this blogpost from  Sam Lessin at Facebook, it's a perfect post about profile timelines.
If you don't have Instagram (sorry Android users) here's a great Mashable 'Top Users' review.

The Growth of Social Media 2011 [Infographic] via DigitalBuzz

Check it out here.

Absurdity and Subtlety

I’ve been hovering over a theory for weeks: Millennials generally lack the ability to understand subtle cues and changes in inflection and tone.  Obviously the theory needs serious testing, though I have some anecdotal evidence to support the theory—ultimately it needs academic style testing, one with a ‘control’ and all that science-y good-stuff but here’s how I landed at my current conclusion:

For years I’ve had friends who would rather text, IM, or Facebook me when they have a problem. Very rarely do I get a confrontational phone call; I can count on two hand the number of negative conversations I’ve had in person. An uncomfortable conversation normally manifests via text or Facebook message. A week ago I noticed two Facebook friends stirring up an online feud, escalating into a ridiculous Twitter battle, which finally ended with a phone call, I’m told, and ‘unfollowing’. Now, there are three things at work here:

1.     Communication is lost, or misinterpreted via online medium; in other words the lack of subtle tone, inflection, and physical cues is leading young people to hyper-react.

2.     The inability to communicate one-on-one about sensitive subjects, i.e. rent, cleaning the dishes, passing notes in class, anything that potentially causes an argument, big or small, in person. In essence, avoiding confrontation until it erupts.

3.     The socio-cultural weight of ‘unfriending’ or ‘unfollowing’ among young people. (Which is a larger post coming soon)

"Why not?"

It seems absurdist executions are “working” well with Millennials; why else would this DQ spot keep happening? I’m circling on a hypothesis driving this phenomenon: Millennials generally lack the ability to understand subtlety. More to come. 

The Science of Social Timing [Infographic] via David Larson

Formerly @Tweet_Tips, currently @TweetSmarter. This infographic breaks down when to tweet and (generally) who is tweeting. Please note this is very general and can potentially be demographic specific.

Study finds:

"Nearly half of all social-media users check Twitter or Facebook on their smart phone after going to bed and/or before getting out of bed in the morning. The proportion increases to 76% for [millennials], 19% of whom check their phones when they wake up during the night."

Check it out...

PEW Research has a section ALL about Millennials. There is plenty of further research, some applicable to this blog and some that's just fun and interesting.

http://pewresearch.org/millennials/

Enjoy nerds.  

I'm Late to the Game

I know it has been a topic for quite some time, and it just keeps coming up, but social check-ins still seem to be all the rage. I will be the absolute first to admit that for years I’ve thought “Why does anyone need to know where I am?” I am a fairly private person and a fairly cautious person at times, so I just couldn’t see why a service like FourSquare would be useful.

I will also be the first to say, “don’t knock it till you try it.” As a hyper-rational super nerd I feel it is my duty to experience the ‘full effect’ of every social phenomenon—okay, maybe not every social phenomenon, but for this blog’s sake just go with it—I’ve been conducting a little experiment for the past month with social check-ins to see what weight they actually hold and go figure, they’re actually more than just a silly game you play with your ‘friends’.

[Infographic] via SingleGrain

Interesting insights via Scribble and SingleGrain. It’s almost exactly as I imagine it, in a heavyweight battle who will win, Google+ or Facebook?

Verdict's still out.

Google+ Invite

As I'm sure everyone's aware Google launched Google+ about a week ago. Though I have 3 gmail accounts (yes, three) I didn't initially get in invite when I asked for one. No matter, there are great positives to being well connected with social, digital nerds. Within hours I was online.

The network is relatively small right now, so figuring things out is really just trial and error. Thank goodness Mark Zuckerberg and Mashable have Google+ pages or I would be absolutely lost. Well, not completely. Look to my Twitter for a Facebook vs. Google+ play-by-play.

If you need an invite, or just want one I'll think about sharing. Happy Google+ing y'all!

Museum of Me via Intel

This has been around for some time but every time I see it, it gives me chills. 

Simply amazing:  Museum of Me

Technology + Life

Friends in Real Life

Is it possible to recognize someone you’ve never actually met? Sure, there’s a romantic notion that all people are connected to each other. Of course there are people who say souls can be connected—everyone’s looking for a familiar face in a crowd. I’m not talking about that. I’m asking: Is it possible to recognize a person whom you’re “friends” with online in real life?

I would say it is one of my primary inquiries, what weight can I put on online relationships. Are they real relationships, real friendships; can you break that digital barrier that blocks one-on-one interaction? Is it possible?

Really?

"A March 2010 Retrevo Gadgetology Report found that 49% of under-25's said they would answer a text message while eating; 24% while they were going to the bathroom; 22% during a meeting; 10% during sex" (Mintel, 2010). REALLY!? So disturbing. Put the phone down. PUT IT DOWN.

Adapting Marketing to a Nomadic Generation

This is a paper I recently wrote for a marketing class I took; thought it was fitting for the blog. 

Comm Theory meets Marketing. Enjoy nerds!

Adapting Marketing to a Nomadic Generation

Mobile technology has changed the way humans interact; cellular devices have literally become the extension of man’s hand. Instantaneous information and constant media attainability has created an everything anywhere generation. Marketers have long struggled with exactly how to attain and maintain a nomadic generation’s attention. New technologies are adapting older forms of medium, i.e. print to web and notebook to webpage. Technology has created a constant stream of multimedia advertisements to keep young customers engaged through nomadic intractability, mobile sales promotions, and personalized encyclopedic data. 

Culture of Creators

A lot of people, particularly Boomers—which is, a lot of people—view younger generations as overly entitled, loose cannons with no experience. I’m not saying that’s untrue, however, as a general observation, more and more millennials seem to be creating things, or doing things.

Perhaps it’s because many of them are so hyper stimulated that they’re overly inspired, those answers I’m still on the hunt for, but one thing is for certain: This generation doesn’t believe in no. They constantly live in the ‘why not’.

Pinny-Pintrest

Younger people today, especially those under 25, are extremely mobile because they can be. To borrow a philosophy from Marshall McLuhan (whom I've been reading a lot for class lately) "media is the extension of man’s arm,” and in young people's case the translation is quite literal. My aunt recently said, "I like going out to lunch with you, you let me check my iPhone at the table." It was an interesting statement because I know no different, whereas my father tends to get a little frustrated if I set my phone on the dinner table. Young people live with mobile devices strapped to their hands; it only makes sense that advertisers use that to their advantage.

Don't Call Us...We'll Call You

In 1996 Wired Magazine named Dr. Marshall McLuhan, a technological prophet and master of one-liner philosophies, their patron Saint: 

The next medium, whatever it is—it may be the extension of consciousness—will include television as its content, not as its environment, and will transform television into an art form. A computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library organization, retrieve individual encyclopedic functions and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of the sellable kind. (McLuhan, 1962)

Just some tiny food for thought while I work on new blog posts. Sorry I left y'all hanging... Stay tuned.

Something Quick and Silly

Yesterday was a dark day in my world nerds, Eugene (my Mac), had a little hiccup and I had to take him to the Genius Bar. I always dread going to the Mac doctor; I think they're going to take him and delete my settings, documents and 10 solid days of music...I just can't deal with that. I got up extremely early and finished the assignments that were due last night, turned Eugene off and drove to the hospital. I'm not kidding when I say I was having mild panic attacks. I even called my parents okay? It was serious. I get to the store and my Genius, Kevin, just created a new location with my airport. (Don't you feel stupid when they fix it in 2 seconds?) Anyway, the file was corrupt and just needed to be deleted, who knew? 

Here's the kicker, I walked into my class and started talking about it with my classmates. The group is mixed but I'm the youngest person in there...everyone is about 27-40, there's only 4 people under 27, myself included. Everyone over 27 was upset that I would have to buy a new computer; everyone under 27 was upset that I couldn't check my Facebook/e-mail/Twitter. Then they realized I have an iPhone and all was well in the universe. (Yes, I love Mac's...I'm 23...I'm supposed to dur. I'm their target and I love it) The younger people were up in arms about checking Facebook during breaks, the older ones were upset about the financial cost. Who knew 4 years could make such a difference.

Errybody

Japan, 2011

**This is less a post about observations and more a call to attention. 

Friday, March 11, 2011 at 2:46PM (10:46PM in Seattle) Japan was rocked by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake (According to Canadian Press a 9.0 magnitude). A massive tsunami followed; a tsunami that washed nearly 10,000 people out to sea (Hawaiian News CNN). In the hours following people scrambled to make calls, to check if family members were accounted for. Phone lines were split and reporters urged us, those not involved in the earthquake, to take to social media for help. 

Trouble Keeping Up?

I would say, generally speaking, I’m quick to find things on the internet. I would also say when I find something that I like I’m fairly quick to share.

Do you ever feel three steps behind? Get used to it.

Breaking Down a Generation into Individuals

In general the Internet is a means of communication. We spread ideas, art, music, stories, passions, desires, dreams--we share everything publicly. I have been noticing a miscommunication between older generations and younger generations. Well, as part of my research into Millennial culture here are something I have noticed:

We have all read that Millennial’s feel a sense of entitlement, and they do.

 I’m not disputing that, I merely want to alter the way we look at it. 
If a group of individuals has a foundational value of entitlement why disregard that thinking process. 

This generation is exactly a group of individuals, and lumping a 30 year age rage together alienates them. 

I propose “Micro-Generations.” 

Selective Public Anonymity

“I don’t use AIM [.] Who does that still [laughter] you do, don’t you? Awe [.] you’re so old!”

For the record I am 23, and apparently that is old to a 17 year old. I'm 23 and outdated, what does that say about kids and technology today? 

1994: The Stone Age

"Internet is that [.] massive computer network. ...The one that's becoming so big now."

How long have you been on the Internet?

I got my first AIM screen name (surfergirlie212) in 1997 and I was not alone. My friends all used AIM or AOL Instant Messenger to communicate. It was always easier than tying up my parent’s phone lines with my fourth grade gossip. Nearly 13 years later my addiction to virtual networks is not much better: I woke up this morning and checked my Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, PerezHilton.com and CNN before getting out of bed. I poured a cup of coffee and looked at Superbowl teams...then Tweeted about it. I know this is not uncommon, in fact many of my friends and interviewees do this daily. I have a friend who keeps her smartphone in her hands while she sleeps so she can answer texts, get notifications and reply to e-mails in her sleep. 

In the sixteen years since this video aired the Internet has become socially, linguistically and historically integrated into modern life. I know for a fact that peoples in my age bubble, 18-25, cannot imagine life without the internet. While the great Snowmagedon of 2011 raged across the Midwest my one concern was: “Oh my God, if the power goes out I have to go to Grandma’s. What am I going to do without Wifi?!” Then I remembered I have 3G and all was right with the world. Let me make that more clear, in a blizzard my single concern was my internet access. 

It seems unfathomable that three very intelligent adults did not:

I.               Know what the internet is.

II.             Correctly communicate (what I assume is) an e-mail address

III.           Properly identify the @ symbol, which, in the video, is simply an “A” with a circle around it.

Only three years later I was introduced to chat rooms. One year later, in 1998, You've Got Mail was released, then came MySpace, Friendster (which I was never in to, and honestly don’t know much about) and LiveJournal. Nearly 10 years later Facebook revolutionized the internet and with that came the Social Networking buzz of Twitter, blogging, tagging and all the chaos erupted. All controversy aside this video sums up what a revolution the Internet is, in sixteen years the Internet became tied to a generation; we cannot live without it. 

FeedBack:

I am currently researching new pop-up ads. Is anyone (else) getting spam, or various messages, via Skype/AIM/iChat/BonJour? Here's why:

I'm wondering if these are a new form of ad because so many of us have pop-up blockers. I've gotten these little messages from spammers before but now I'm getting ones for clothing, food, and other services. Is this common? Is this an attempt at advertising, or is it just spam? 

Online Relationship Starting...and Ending

“Last night, I got bored and wondered onto Match.com. Just to check out the profiles, I promise.” My closest friend had dropped a social bomb; a 23 year old...peeking...at a dating website. Sure, we’ve all thought about it but we don’t talk about it. In a world where ‘everyone who’s anyone’s’ social life is splattered across the Internet the one thing that isn’t, is our love life. Okay, truth be told, dating online is becoming more widely accepted by younger people but there are a few reasons why we don’t really want to talk about it:

I.               There is a social stigma with our parents because: “There are thousands of online predators who, ‘only want one thing’”.

II.             There’s a social stigma with our generation that: “People who meet people online are only doing it to hook-up, or are completely socially awkward and undateable.”

III.           No one wants to admit they paid to meet a boyfriend/girlfriend, and paying for a sex-friend is well...you get the picture.

So why are 23 year old’s on dating websites? Our problem isn’t that we aren’t meeting people, because we are right and left; the problem so many young people run in to is their inability to be vulnerable in person. 

A friend recently said, “Social Networking has taken the first date out of the relationship.” What is a first date really? About the same as a profile page: Name, photo, relationship status, looking for, blurbed ‘about me’. In a matter of five minutes we know whether or not we want to see this person again but online dating websites take some of the awkward get-to-know-ya babble out of the equation. There’s little courtship involved, “Simply fill out this survey and we will send your true love to you.” In fact, sites like eHarmony will not let you freely communicate (that is, communicate without some kind of guideline) until you’ve jumped through hoop after hoop.  

“I can do whatever I want on the Internet. I can say whatever I want on the internet. I can be whoever I want on the internet,” another friend of mine exclaimed. He explained that it’s almost like being on the phone, but without tonality. “If I post something vulgar on the  Internet it doesn’t matter; I guess I feel brave because people can’t see me.” It’s that anonymity that this generation craves because we do not under any circumstances want to seem vulnerable to the opposite sex, to employers, friends, teachers; we cannot be vulnerable to anyone but our online subscribers.  

Social networking has also found its way to end relationships as well. Say you meet someone on eHarmony or OKCupid, things are going well and you get to a point where you become Facebook friends. This is a huge step because, “Facebook is private.” You have your little relationship status as “In a Relationship” then you see the little red text box over notifications, “_______ has ended their relationship and is single.” You were just broken up with by Facebook. Ridiculous? Yes. Cold-blooded? Totally. Happens often? Abso-fuckin-lutely. We meet online, we break-up online. Nearly everyone I know has had some cataclysmic news sent to them via text message or Facebook. Peoples in their late teens, and their twenties are looking for two things: Love and recognition, but it seems we cannot openly communicate face-to-face anymore. 

Are We Too Addicted to Facebook? [Infographic] via Mashable

Since one in every thirteen humans has a Facebook page, some are even pets, it’s only fitting that some of us are a little dependent and obsessive about the site. Here are a few statistics to grasp the vast population living on Facebook.

Enjoy.
Infographic via Mashable

JBieb's got a Girlfriend, and Beliebers are Pissed.

There is a war raging in paradise--Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber are supposedly an item. I like to put things in terms I can identify with so if you travel way back to 1997...Two young pop artists rekindle a romance and break my little 13 year old heart...yes...I’m talking about Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Perhaps now the over 16 set can understand the seriousness of the situation. The Twitter-verse (Twitter + Universe) has been a flutter with some pretty horrifying sentiments. Just a few days ago Taylor, showed me some of the Tweets her followers posted about the situation, she herself posted, “@SelenaGomez you better be careful with him we’re going to get you.”  

 Maybe I’m a little old-school but threats over the internet about a boy? Really?

In many social groups, mine not included, online personas stay online. (I know it is much different for people over thirty--and people not in school for that matter...) Though Taylor’s ‘real’ friends may follow her on Twitter they generally do not talk about ‘real life’ on Twitter. Taylor is a 16-year-old girl, standing about 5 foot 2 weighing 100 pounds dripping wet. She is tiny and sweet; in the...10 years I’ve known her I have never once heard her say a single negative thing about anyone. Not even when her parents we going through a rough divorce; why is she so intense on the internet? It is all a matter of how her online followers see her: Online, Taylor has a boyfriend and an identical twin. She does not have these things in real life. She is creating an online personality to fit the content of her tweet--in essence she is living two lives, one in reality and one online. 

I have a theory that children use the internet for a variety of thing but children like Taylor may use the internet to escape social perimeters laid in place by their surroundings and social circumstances. In real life Taylor is a darling, sweet, smart young lady but online she can shed that porcelain exterior and become someone she cannot in her daily life. It is with a hint of anonymity that online personalities survive.

I cannot say how many times I have read an offensive status, or ranting post on someone’s Twitter, LiveJournal, or...and this is pretty old school...Myspace. It seems that this generation feels the right to post their inner-most thoughts but, and this is key, they need to be indirect. Example: 

We cannot post: “@FriendJonDoe, you were a real ass for staying home last night.” 

We can post: “I hate when people are lame.”

Now, there are some social rules and exceptions about this that I have noticed:

I.               If the person you are “tagging” or directing the post to is famous all bets are off. Just Google Kanye West if you think I’m kidding. 

II.             The post must be as indirect as possible, this will ensure that IF ‘drama’ were to arise you can quickly make up an excuse and get out of it. 

III.           If the post is funny you are automatically off the hook. People will think you’re hilarious and witty, when really you’re just mad. 

Anonymity is key here because when addressing real life situation, like the example above, it is very important to avoid confrontation (which is why the post is on Facebook or Twitter rather than said in a private conversation).  

What is Social Networking, clarity please...

I have been working on an idea for about two weeks--okay, about 4 ideas for 2 weeks. They are coming, I assure you but the more I hear the more I want to write. I'm going to throw these ideas at you and PLEASE feel free to comment: 

I.               Is a dating website (eHarmony, Plenty-of-Fish, Match.com, etc.) a Social Networking site?

         Are there still social taboo's formed around online relationships vs. 'real' ones?

II.            What is the function of AIM, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger, MSNMessenger? 
         (does anyone still use MSN?)   

Are these small communities of individuals/a 'digital community'? 

I am running into a wall with these two subjects and desperately need a massive opinion--are we considering the previously mentioned methods of communication Social Networking sites?

Please comment/e-mail me/skype me, whatever. 

Taylor, 16

“I’m a BELIBER…you don’t know what that is do you? Oh my gosh!”

        Taylor, age 16, spends 70 percent of her day online tweeting her ‘friends’ about Justin Bieber. For those of us unaware, Justin Bieber is a 16 year-old phenomenon much like Usher, Justin Timberlake, Joey McIntyre, or Donnie Walberg; he is the object of nearly 6.5 million peoples obsession. His followers call themselves “Beliebers” I’ve been told, the word “Belieber” is, in the true fashion of this generation, a mash-up of “Believe + Bieber.” I currently follow Taylor and can safely say she is absolutely one of the biggest Justin Bieber fanatics I have ever encountered.

Taylor’s “twesties,” her Twitter best friends, do not know her in her everyday life, they only know her as an online body that tweets nearly 300 times a day about Justin Bieber. She stays connected from her iPod Touch using wi-fi at school and friends house to tweet and trend topics—during our interview she explained that a “trended topic” connects her fellow “Beliebers” to each other. She spends hours “Favorite-ing” people, accessing the latest videos, downloads and communicating; she is completely unaware that her tweets are absolutely public, and absolutely being watched (and rightfully so) by record labels. During our interview she boasted that, “Island Records follows me!” When I asked her who Island Records is, knowing full well that it is an enormous record label responsible for Justin Bieber, Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge and other huge artists, she looked puzzled. “I don’t know, but they follow me,” she gushed. I showed her the link to their website, their featured artists, and even other artists she may not know about but all she could connect was that “Justin Bieber’s boss knows her.”

I find her choice of phrase interesting, “Justin Bieber’s boss knows her.” It is my experience that relationships formed online are better left online, so I probed, “Who are the people you tweet to?” Her answer was somewhat surprising, “My friends, my best friends, my twesties,” which she clarified are different from her real life best friends. It seems that this online community has spawned a new form of friendship in which peoples with mutual interest share their admiration for that interest using a maximum 140 characters. Her life online is simply another connection to similar people.