Horoscopes, Palm Reading, and Generational Puff PiecesJen Doak-Mathewson

#CASESMC

Hey, I’m Jen.

• I manage social, web, and email strategy for alumni and development efforts at UConn. (Go Huskies!)

• Used to do social/web for CASE (you may have seen me around the #casesmc Twitter chats)

• Researched young voting trends as part of my M.A. at Georgetown University

• Bona-fide Millennial (on the older end)

1980 2000

Me Younger Brother & Sister Youngest Sister

Why do we care?

1. Common stereotypes

2. What we actually know about Millennials

3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people use social media

4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people use social media.

1. Common stereotypes

2. What we actually know about Millennials

3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people use social media

4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people use social media.

Assumption: Millennials are easy to categorize.

“You have waited in line for cupcakes.”

“You have taken a selfie while waiting in line for cupcakes.”

“You don’t know what gluten is, but it’s definitely bad.”

…I got 20%, which translated to #EpicFail.

Monty Python for Millennials (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

1. Common stereotypes

2. What we actually know about Millennials

3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people use social media

4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people use social media.

What We Actually Know (U.S.-centric)

• It’s a big group of people.

• Americans born between 1980 and 2000ish are fairly diverse. (57% white vs. 66% for Gen X and 77% white for Boomers)

• More likely (50%) to be politically independent, religiously unaffiliated (30%, still a minority), and college educated (27% have a bachelor’s degree) than other generations.

• As far as we can tell, they’re humans.

(Data from Pew Research, 2014)

Millennials are big and diverse, so they can’t be monolithic.

(You could say that about other generations, too.)

–Tom DiPrete, Columbia University

"I think the boundaries end up getting drawn to some extent by the media and the extent to

which people accept them or not varies by the generation."

1. You love generic blast marketing. Being treated like a number is your jam.

2. You hate authentic communication. Especially from the place from which you graduated.

3. Unlike Millennials, you don’t consider yourself a smart or savvy shopper.

1. Common stereotypes

2. What we actually know about Millennials

3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people use social media

4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people use social media.

• Facebook is “dead to us” (but necessary) • “A lot of us simply don’t understand the point of

Twitter.”

• Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat = Use Frequently

Medium, January 2015

“What he’s sharing is not indicative of all teens.”

“His story is incomplete and the incompleteness is important.”

Medium post by Danah Boyd, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and the founder of Data & Society Research Institute.

“His coverage of Twitter should raise a big red flag to anyone who has spent an iota of time paying attention to the news.”

#BlackLivesMatter

#MuslimLivesMatter

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown

“Teens’ use of social media is shaped by race and class, geography and culture.”

Socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic factors, in addition to age, play a part in how

different generations use social media.

Changes in technology affect how we market and communicateto all people (not just Millennials).

The death of many social networks is greatly exaggerated.

As networks evolve, people figure out the best way to play to their strengths.

Momentous changes in society affect everyone(even if some disproportionately affect Millennials).

Example: “Alumni used to give back because it was the right thing to do.”

Is that true? Are older generations more moral? Or is it because of…

Generational stereotypes are a crutch to lean on when organizations talk about why their communications tactics need to change.

Marketing & communications grow more sophisticated with better data and tools.

“Kids these days” is a trope used to create a sense of urgency and FOMO.

1. Common stereotypes

2. What we actually know about Millennials

3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people use social media

4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people use social media.

So how do Millennials your people communicate?

Got a smartphone in high school Got a dumb phone in college

Doesn’t remember life before computers or Internet

Didn’t use a computer at school until 5th grade

(What up, Oregon Trail!)

Has never gone to an airport without security lines Flew security-line free until college

Weird cultural touchstones & celebrities

Awesome cultural touchstones & celebrities

Vocabulary: “Turnt,” “On Fleek,” “Mupload,” “Bae” [frantically searches Urban Dictionary]

18-year-old sister Me

But we both…

• Felt nervous about leaving home after high school.

• Consulted our friends to determine where we’d apply.

• Weren’t completely sure what we wanted to do after college.

• Wanted to go to a place where we felt like we belonged to part of a community.

Classic literature endures for a reason.

Tools change, people

don’t.

Want to know where your people are hanging out online? Ask them.

Create an “Is This Stupid?” Committee

Pay attention to adoption of new networks by your community–but first determine if you as an institution would be a friend…

or a school-dance chaperone.

Resist the generational clickbait puff pieces! Remember: If Time magazine is writing about a generational

trend, it’s probably no longer a thing.

And really, don’t you already have enough industry publications to sift through every day?

Questions? Comments?