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TrendReport: Millennial Usage of Mobile & Digital Technology
NOVEMBER 12, 2012 Kate Pawlicki, Pulp Lab @pulplab #TMRE
Three Macro Trends
TrendReportMillennial Usage of Mobile & Digital Technology
Alone Together Isolation, Sharing, New “Hangouts”
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Options (not “obligations”) Micro-coordination, Anonymity
Confidence and ControlConsumption, Connection, Creation
Key Theme
“Use what is dominant in a culture to change it quickly”
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“When the power goes out it's now normal to reach first for a cell phone, not a candle, both for the light and for the comfort of knowing
you're not alone.”
— Joe Coscarell, New York Magazine, “Hurricane Sandy: A Perfect Social Media Storm”
Source:: Image: BuzzFeed; Headline quote: Jenny Holzer, American Neo-Conceptualist artist; New York Magazine, 10/30/12
USE WHAT IS DOMINANT IN A CULTURE TO CHANGE IT QUICKLY
ALONE TOGETHER: ISOLATION“It was very
‘Downton Abbey’”
“We were kind of sad when the lights went on. It was really nice
to be here talking with people.”
Source:: Facebook; New York Times,; NYMag.com, 10/30/12
“My battery is dying and I have no electricity. I guess this is my last post. Over
and out." — Facebook friend
The virtual campfire of social media counters the isolation of being evacuated, quarantined, and cut off from all transit by hosting a congregation of common experience.
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“You had to make plans and stick with them… it felt so old-school, like we were
back in 1998.”
ALONE TOGETHER: ISOLATION
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Social media sites themselves may be the biggest cause of loneliness among young people today.
These kids have grown up barely experiencing friendship without an online component, and that element actually detracts from rather than supplements their real human interaction.
“It’s hard to know how to act around people now because the
only thing kids know is how to act on Facebook.”
— Phil Gibson, a sophomore at University of San Francisco
The average teen has never met a quarter of their Facebook friends.
Source:: Image: PulpLab.com; Guardian.co.uk, 10/23/12; Stephen Marche, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely”; Andy Braner. “Alone: Finding Connection in a Lonely World”
ALONE TOGETHER: SHARING
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47% of 18-32 year olds tweet or text during a meal
Social Media has changed the way people communicate – and eat.
Source:: Twitter.com; Gurumagazine.org, 8/3/12; Pew Research Center 2012
ALONE TOGETHER: SHARING
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The simultaneous rise and ubiquity of Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, along with the endless churn of the 24-hour news cycle — combined to create another hybrid vortex in which the virtual community experienced the storm both in seclusion and all together.
We all watched through our screens first, interacting all the while, and out the window second. “Instacane.com”
follows hashtags from Instagram users experiencing Hurricane Sandy.
The YouTube account Citizen Tube has a playlist of videos aggregated from an array of sources that track the destruction in Sandy's path.
Mega-disaster of Hurricane Sandy = Mega-success for Social Media
ALONE TOGETHER: INSTAGRAM’S “COMING OF AGE"
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Instagram recently set a record for most-photographed event with Hurricane Sandy with 1.3 million pictures posted. The mix of mobile entertainment and utility makes Instagram such a social force for major events–both celebrations and emergencies. It’s a visual Twitter.
Source:: Mashaable,11/5/2012; Forbes,, “Why Time Magazine Used Instagram to Cover Hurricane Sandy” 11/01/2012
Time Magazine used Instagram as the primary outlet for breaking news coverage on Sandy, stating “It was about how quickly can we get pictures to our readers.”
#Frankenstorm #Sandy
Instagram's chief executive officer Kevin Systrom told the Associated Press that about 10 pictures per second were being uploaded to Instagram with the hashtag #sandy.
ALONE TOGETHER: DIGITAL SLANG
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Popularized on Twitter as a way for users to organize and search messages. But has become a new cultural shorthand.
The hashtag can be a joke about itself, as when the HBO’s Lena Dunham tweets, “What’s my place in it all? #questionsevenmymomcantanswer” It’s a metajoke about metadata.
“Hashtag rap” appears in many incarnations, but there are three main ingredients: a metaphor, a pause, and a one-word punch line, often placed at the end of a rhyme. “ “Swimming in the money, come and find me - Nemo" Twitter username or a hashtag version of names for
easy searching on Twitter.
The Hashtag is the new URL.
DOOM album
Source:: “A Brief History of Hashtag Rap”. Houston Press, 2011; Julia Turner, NYT Magazine, November 2, 2012
You’re just as likely to see a hashtag as a URL on screen at the end of a movie trailer.
ALONE TOGETHER: DIGITAL SLANG
10 Source:: noslang.com; Wired.com ; Bravo
“Sup” “HMU LTR” “Whr R U @? ”
LOLwork on Bravo goes deep into the headquarters of I Can Has Cheezburger? and tracks the lives of the people behind the site, which aims to make the “world laugh for five minutes a day.”
Internet culture is currently a subset, but as it grows it will be indistinguishable from popular culture.
“KK”
ALONE TOGETHER: NEW “HANGOUTS”
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Based on what is displayed, the panel can vote from three choices -- "He's Into You," "He's Not Into You," "Verdict is Still Out" -- thus making a quick diagnosis on the state of The Confused's relationship. Additionally, the panel can post comments below the uploaded text messages, and you can ask the site's Bros -- Mason, Ben, Tim, Chris, Brian -- for advice.
HeTexted.com, a free insta-therapy website, where users upload their misunderstood text conversations and receive immediate feedback and critique of their relationships and/or hookups.
Source:: hextexted.com; HoustonPress
ALONE TOGETHER: NEW “HANGOUTS”
12 Source:: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fncll/6847365223/
Social Media Explained (with Donuts)
OPTIONS (NOT OBLIGATIONS): ANONYMITY
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The beauty of Facebook, the source of its power, is that it enables us to be social while sparing us the embarrassing
reality of society. . .”
— Stephen Marche, The Atlantic, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”
Millennials trust anonymous consumers.44% of Millennials are more likely to trust experienced consumers (who happen to be strangers).
51% of Millennials say consumer opinions found on a company’s website have a greater impact on purchase decisions than recommendations from family and friends.
Millennials are 3x as likely to turn to social to get opinions on products to buy. They’re on the hunt for feedback from experts and people with common interests – not just personal connections.
For a brand, that means creating engaging content for Millennials to consume and share with friends; offering ways for them to share their opinions on your brand; and making it easy for them to find "expert" opinions on your products.
Millennials are healthily blasé and selective about tech, and hyper-aware about their online activities and privacy.
Source:: The Atlantic; Kelton Research 2011
Facebook backlash
OPTIONS (NOT OBLIGATIONS): MICRO-COORDINATION
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75% of Millennials have their mobile device glued to their hand as a personal assistant
Ability to change plans or fluidly manage plans
Don’t have to pick a place or time in advance – it all happens in real-time.o For brands: Geo-targeting your
mobile message is an imperative.
60% of Millennial women now spend more than an hour of their leisure time on their mobile device daily.
Source:: http://www.mediapost.com June 2012; Caroline Tell, The New York Times, 10/26/12
The nuance of social etiquette has been influenced by mobile phones – it is now easier to make and break plans.
“sry gotta bail mayb nxt tme”
CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL: CONSUMPTION
Shoppers between 18 to 29 years old are the fastest-growing luxury consumer segment. In 2011, they spent 31% more on luxury purchases than they did the year before, and they did it at full price.
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Millennials scrutinize brands and offer allegiance only to those whose premium price-points are justified.
They see luxury value as a derivative of how many people want something, whether they can afford it or not. (i.e. “inclusive exclusivity”)
They demand to know the origin of luxury products — where was it made, how, and by whom? Superior quality, craftsmanship, and design are the top three attributes that define luxury to Millennials.
Despite the fact that those ages 18 to 29 have a high unemployment rate, at 12.4%, and those with college degrees are the most indebted graduates in history, Millennials are positive about the economy and their futures. 88% of those ages 18 to 34 say they either earn enough money now or expect they will in the future.
Source:: Mashable.com “How Luxury Brands Can Prepare for Affluent Millennials” April 2012; Pew Research Center "Young, Underemployed and Optimistic“ February 2012
CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL: CONNECTION
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More likely to have friends, colleagues and connections around the world.
Less likely to be defined by their ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status.
Less likely to blindly accept the information provided by any single source.
More likely to consult multiple sources of information when making decisions.o Switch media 27 times/HOUR o Take devices room to room at home o Can pick up a story at various points,
with different mediao Prefer texting to talking
Use media to regulate mood
Source:: Image: Pulplab.om; Digital Natives: , Time, Inc. 2012 http://www.timeinc.com/pressroom/detail.php?id=releases/time_inc_study_digital_natives.php
More than any previous generation, Millennials are:
CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL: CREATION
17 Source:: Under the Radar, Oct 8, 2012; Hypebeast 10/12
Taken By Trees - “Large” Video Filmed Entirely on an iPad
Taken By Trees recently premiered a music video for her track "Large."
Directed by Ariel Rechtshaid, the clip was shot entirely on an iPad in Los
Angeles (even going to far as to use an app called "Action Movie FX" to blow
up Bergsman in an explosion.
Micro-Video production // Instagram-like Mobile App “Viddy”
Mobile apps and content creation
CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL: CREATION
Masters of customization and self-expression, this generation has taken the indie and do-it-yourself (DIY) movements and run with them.
“I Still Love New York” Sandy Relief T-shirt are being sold for $40 each with all of the profit from sales going to Sandy relief programs. And hundreds are still scooping them up like auctioned art in a social-media-fueled frenzy.
18 Source:: New York Times, November 5, 2012; https://www.shopgreyarea.com/products/406-i-still-love-ny-hurricane-sandy-relief-t-shirt
“In this very retail-driven city, shopping reinforces a sense
of community. It puts people in very good spirits because they’ve got some sensory
contact again.”
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Thank you!
