Tag Archives: teens

Advertising, communication, connection

Teens are Not Driving Twitter Growth

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Thank goodness someone is finally debunking the myth that children and teens drive all technology movements!  Forgive me, but teens are NOT all that tech savvy.  Here’s an interesting article about how adults are driving Twitter adoption while teens stick to texting over mobiles.

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It is interesting that the teens interviewed for this article said that Twitter is for professionals and that Twitter is redundant with texting.  I think the important thing, and this sorta gets glossed over in the article, is the one-to-many nature of Twitter.  Teenagers’ lives revolve around their friends.  I recall, as a teenager, people outside of my immediate clique were non-existent.  So it makes sense to me that teens would want to stick to ways that maximize connections within their clique and texting over a mobile is probably the best way to do that now.

I also think it’s a good thing kids and teens are not adopting Twitter en masse.  About 90% of the folks that try to follow me are either people peddling porn or people peddling some sort of get-rich-quick scheme.  For me, the number of people I have to kick off my Twitter almost makes it not worth doing.  I think most kids are smart enough to stay away from unsavory people, but at the same time, people can disguise themselves as normal and “Twitter Stalk.”  Thinking about children’s safety, I wouldn’t want some unsavory people stalking kids over the Internet.  (I think, though, that starts with teaching kids about the dangers of the Internet and technology, rather than banning or limiting use.)

As for the “professional” aspect, I can sorta see that.  I mainly use Twitter to “advertise” my manga activities and the people I follow are mainly “advertising” too.  I could see teens following a string of “advertisements” they want to know about, but I don’t see them actively Tweeting into the vast ether.

Anyhow, it is an interesting article and one that I will probably mentally chew on for the next few days.

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communication, connection

Article: Teens Lead in Web Content Creation

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Here is an article with some interesting statistics about teen web content creation habits.  I’m not at all surprised that a greater percentage of girls than boys blog.  What does surprise me is that teens restrict access to their content and personal information more than I thought they would and more than older people.  With all the media chatter about teens online, you’d think the teens out there are all posting every bit of their lives for everyone to see.

Teens Rule the Web

Anime/Manga

Kids at the Bookstore Talking About Anime

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I was at the bookstore the other night looking for something new to read when I heard a pack of teenagers talking about the anime shows they watch and the fact that they watch them on YouTube.  Huh?  My first thought was why are they doing this.  YouTube is very low quality and you can’t archive the episodes.  My husband who looks down upon on everyone under the age of 24, theorizes that it’s what they know — in other words, “Net Effects.”  He said because they use YouTube, all of their friends use YouTube and they don’t venture to find another solution.  I wonder if this is true.  Anyhow, they were complaining about how difficult it is to find episodes because they are removed very quickly due to copyright enforcement.  I thought this was the generation that was all into the internet and trying new things out.  Wouldn’t some of them have done a search and found other sources than YouTube as well as a bunch of shows other than “Naruto” and “Eureka Seven.”  Personally, I think it has something to do with the transient mindset of the younger set (I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this concept) in that they want instant gratification and once satisfied they throw it away and then move onto the next thing.  They are always in “the now” and they do their best stay in the now with all of their associates.  I remember being very much this way in high school and college.  At one point I decided to discard my teenage years entirely and burned all my letters and photographs.  Now that I’m older, I wish I hadn’t done that, but at the time, “now” seemed very important and the past was holding me back.  Perhaps it’s the same mentality.  You know, teenagers remaking themselves daily or maybe even by the minute, leaving no record until they settle on a “self.”  It’s very 15-mins-of-fame and in that respect very “YouTube.”

I’m not sold into the idea, yet, that vast majority of millenials are very net-savvy.  My brother, who is 23, was blown away by the vast treasure trove of anime I had carefully archived and when he comes over to my house he basically raids my collection and binges on anime for the entirety of his vacations.  I was surprised that he had seen less anime than I had … Sigh … Anyhow, I’m constantly on the prowl for new anime and manga and I will consume the media in any media I can be it analog, digital, electronic, or printed.  I wonder whether it is age or depth of interest that makes the difference with regard to this.