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Explore demographics, psychographics, and the shift from "Me" to "We" culture in today's youth. Gain insights on education, relationships, technology, and values.
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Youthography Youth 101 Culture in Transition
Introduction: me • I’ve got a 12 year background in strategic planning, often on big brands in the youth market • I’m one of North America’s leading youth culture experts (cough, cough) • I’ve hosted a youth issues talk show, been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and written a pop culture magazine column… • And I bring that knowledge of what matters in today’s culture to your business every day • I am also really immature
Contents Demographics and Psychographics The Collective, or Me to We Culture in Transition Thought Starters for Education
The 5 x 5 Factor • The 10 to 34 age group divides into five equal five-year cohorts:
Home Offers Less 80% come from families with only 1-2 children at home Families aren't traditional anymore 12% blended, 14% common-law, 16% single-parent 60% of women work out of home “3:30 to 5:30 is my chill time…it’s the time for me alone at home.” And yet, 44% of 20-29 year-olds still live in the family home
Getting into Adulthood Earlier Average age of educational enrollment: <4 Average age of 1st menstruation: 8-10 (vs. 12) Average age of 1st cigarette: 13 Average age of “school-type” decision: 14 Average age of 1st intercourse: 16 (vs. 18)
Precocious Puberty Precocious puberty—or early sexual development—is a phenomenon that is occurring in young girls and boys in North America, the UK and Australia: “While I always believed that little girls go through puberty at around eleven, twelve or thirteen years of age, something very strange was now happening to our daughters. I was now being told that little girls are considered 'normal' if they start menstruating at the delicate age of eight!” Nexus Magazine
Precocious Puberty 2 A study from the (US) National Research Center for Women and Families several years ago found that at the age of 7, 27% of African-American and 7% of Caucasian girls had the onset of secondary sexual characteristics While they are still eight years old, one in seven Caucasian girls and one out of two African-American girls start puberty Pediatricians are rethinking the very definition of early puberty – and taking action (or not!) around this
But Fully Entering Adulthood Much Later Median age at graduation: 23 (vs. 22) Average age at graduation: 25 (vs. 23) Average age of 1st marriage: 28 (vs. 25) Average age of 1st childbirth: 29 (vs. 26)
The Big Six: Youth Values Relationships Communication Information Diversity Empowerment And what sews it all together…Technology
It’s All Enabled By Technology “We already knew that kids learned computer technology more easily than adults. What we’re seeing now is that they don’t even need to be taught. It’s as if children were waiting all these centuries for someone to invent their native language.” Jaron Lanier (Computer Scientist / Techno-Cultural Theorist)
What is it? • “My friends are my family.” • “I can’t live without my cell phone.” • “Why do they spend so much time texting?” • “My daughter is on facebook all the time.” • “Don’t they care what’s out there about them?” • What’s the deal with the group experience? And how is this regular connection to a youthful network blurring the line between public and private?
What is it? (cont) • It’s no longer a world of Me… • Welcome to the world of We. • And It’s very much a youth-driven trend: • To paraphrase the New York Magazine,this trend is the “biggest generation gap since Rock ‘n’ Roll”
The Collective: Me to We • Is a culmination of trends looking at relationships, communication, information and technology that represents a natural evolution of group dynamics with young people. • It’s not just about being part of the hive… • …now, the hive is on steroids.
It Used to Be: The Age of “Me”(Boomers & Gen X) • One person walking through life with peaks and valleys • Major life events considered the highest points of their life and define “growing up” or transitioning to adulthood • Short period of time for this to happen • Difficulty connecting to a network of friends (or people your own age) means a default to adults
Characteristics • Strong focus on traditional achievements • Typically school, work, or family-related • Important achievements are socially-expected and determined by tradition and adults (or the passage to adulthood) • Value placed on authority figures like parents, teachers and employers • What are you going to be when you grow up?
How it is Now: From Me to We • No clearly defined life path; a distant, uncertain future • High moments are not the traditional milestone events • Instant ability to connect to your network, your own age • What do you want to be when you grow up has been replaced by “What are you doing right now?”
Me Characteristics • There is always a “solo” moment: in fact, some of the really important moments need removal from the group... • ...and connecting to the group all the time is impossible, anyway
We Characteristics • Moments and achievements are celebrated with the hive, not outside of it • The “We:” • Creates social support • Provides a sense of validation • Provides opportunity • Can be anyone who has come into their life at any point in time
But it’s not just about the network • It’s also about what we’re comfortable doing in, or in front of the network… • ….and what is going to get back to our network anyway, regardless of how we feel about it
Boomers • Think back to your first love… • If you grew up in the 60’s or 70’s you may have done something like this in a parking lot or at “make-out point.” • A separate moment only between two people.
Generation X • If you grew up in the 80’s or some of the 90’s you may have had the comfort of the “group date,” but still sought out private connections away from your friends. • And while PDA still is PDA no matter how you cut it, it only seems different…
Gen x • …because everyone can see you do it! • There is very little separation from the collective and private moments happen in public ways • We’re not just living in a looser society, rather, the looking glass is clearer thanks to technology • Instantaneous and easy ability to share things with large groups in the collective
The Big Change • Because young people have grown up with (and in) the public sphere their whole lives, the collective is a totally normalized experience for young people • The line between public and private lives just doesn’t exist
Why? • Because they’ve grown up with constant surveillance... • …constantly surveilling… • ...and it is a two-way relationship • The network is the message and you are the network
Recognize This! • So “private” (read: entirely internal) may have less value to this generation “it’s not really real until it’s in my facebook status.” • The break-up announcement that isn’t announced (but your facebook status changes) • The wall posting: “what are you doing tonight?” • “25 Things” • Tweeting and twittering: the rise of the microblog • And the way that all of this has an impact on the rest of their lives – including school and work
…because how you communicate to this generation – as family, students, as customers, as employees, as anyone or anything – is completely connected to they connect to each other, and their schools, and their brands, and workplaces, and their culture, and everything elsefor the first time ever
The Burning Question What everyone wants to know: “How do we engage young people?” Young people the world over are leading the charge in how we create, consume and manage culture, whether we—or they—realize it or not… …and this is having a massive impact on anyone trying to connect to them
Culture in Transition We need to look at media, culture, and communication in aggregate… …as there has never been such a huge shift in media and communication habits as over the past decade And culture and communications—the two most important things to young people—have been totally transformed
Culture: The 3 Cs Change: Constant pace of rampant technological change Charge: Young people are in charge of when and how they communicate and interact with culture Challenge: They challenge traditional models of the way culture and communication work
1. Change Then: The first few decades of youth culture were pretty consistent! Technology changed slowly, adults controlled youth culture (or at least youth culture distribution) and that wasn’t changing Then to Now: Technology changes quickly – more quickly with every change Prices drop quickly (which matters more to young people) Leads to a huge change in how youth culture is distributed Now: Huge speed of change is regular Big organizations find it hard to keep up with that change
And They Adopt it Quickly • Culture and Communications: • The $399 Desktop PC • The $49 DVD Player • Video on your cell phone • TV with a hard drive (DVR/PVR) • Video on your PC • Video on your iPod • Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PS3 • And more…
2. Charge Then: Culture and Communication involve little personal control or choice Someone else’s schedule, delivery devices, tech: You have to watch ads, be home, call the radio station, go to a store, etc. Then to Now: Internet and digital culture changes everything Culture-on-demand! Communication-on-demand! Now: “Infinite” choice of what to consume, how to connect Control shift: creators to consumers, adults to youth
2. Charge (cont) Culture & Communication control: • Napster to Kazaa to LimeWire to BitTorrent… • …to iTunes • MSN Messenger • The PVR • Pay-As-You Go / discount wireless • Downloading TV and Movies • DVDs of TV series • Facebook
3. Challenge Then: Everything is top-down Corporate machine creates culture; youth absorb it Then to Now: What’s happening at street level drives and dictate trends The Internet enables anyone to create culture Now: Young people either directly create culture… …or set trends that the corporate world replicates And even invent or distribute some of the most significant changes in youth culture—or all culture!
3. Challenge (cont) • Cultural creation: • Who invented Google, Napster, MySpace, and Facebook? • GarageBand • Indie movies • Homemade TV and movies • Blogging • Wikipedia
Control • Institutions of all sorts are all brands and haveto stop thinking that they control their “brands” • Good brands share themselves with their consumers—or control is taken away • If they don’t like your message they will invent their own
