Twitter and Gen Y

Social media is often seen as a tool for the younger generation and yet the research shows that all ages are using the tools.There is a difference in how the generations engage with different social media tools.

Interesting that the Participatory Marketing Network released results of a new study showing that only 22% of Generation Y consumers are using Twitter and yet  99% of this same group has a profile on at least one social networking site.

Other results show the potential for marketing as only 29% of Gen Y Twitter users follow companies, illustrating how companies are failing to connect on an emotive level to the younger users. Maybe companies need to think about how to make their twitter account more interactive rather than conversational to attract Gen Y.

In terms of social networking sites, it is impressive that 99% of people surveyed have a profile on a social networking site and more than that – 89% of those users have downloaded an application. Applications include photos (89 percent), games (53 percent), entertainment (51 percent), news (32 percent) and weather (29 percent)

Lessons from this research for me are

1. To engage Gen Y a company needs to think engagement, needs to think less about conversation and more about personal entertainment.
2. Gen Y is a social demographic. Is Twitter a social tool or a connection tool?
3. The web is an interaction tool to engage – you need to be interactive for Gen Y.