Home » Headline, Opinion

Web 2.0 & Gen Y: The Other Side of the Story

24 May 2009 4 Comments


Frankly, I’m fatigued by all this hype about Web2.0, and how it is being touted as being the ‘cure’ to everything except cancer. Coupled together with its initial links with the irreverence of Gen Y, I believe we are seeing trends of a different sort right now.

In a couple of weeks, I will be speaking at youth panel at Ad:Tech, moderated by the very awesome Graham Perkins. We talked about how it would be interesting if we could carry on a conversation without using some words like Facebook, Gen Y, Social Media, and how everyone and their pet cat is on Twitter. Would this little alternative game of Taboo be even possible, the way people are throwing these terms around lately?

Seriously, at the heart of it all, is communication, good old word of mouth, but through a new medium – the digital channel. It is less about trying to pigeon hole all this as merely a fad or something for “youths”, which is the natural inclination.

I am partially convinced that ironically, most of what we believe we perceive of this digital movement is shaped by the traditional media, dying or not.

A couple of ‘myths’ that are becoming old…

#1. “No one watches TV, anymore.”

But what would you define as TV? The last I checked, a little site called YouTube was garnering a healthy number of hits (though not making much money), as so was Hulu.com (last year they were touted to surpass Youtube in profits in 2009). I wish I wouldn’t encounter so much of the US copyright restrictions where TV viewing oneline is concerned. Nevertheless, looks like the lucky folks over in the UK will get some of the action from Hulu and UK TV shows on Youtube soon.

What they really mean is the weakening popularity of sitting in front of the classical definition of a TV then …and the old channels, but most of us are watching shows and content off our mobile devices, off our laptop and computer screens, and then some. In other words, people are still watching, just on alternative screens, and in fact, for longer hours since mobile allows considerable freedom.

Nielsen Wire reports that Americans Watching More TV Than Ever; Web and Mobile Video Up too.


#2. No one reads the newspapers anymore.
Again, I have my doubts. I’d like to rephrase that to no one buys the newspapers anymore. But they are still looking for news. I feel that the What’s going on? instinct is alive and strong. In a knowledge driven economy, how is it possible that news would lose its relevance? Again, it’s the physical form that is being affected, and perhaps the core of what was previously supporting the newspapers – advertising. The content is still valuable, and if advertising can no longer fund this content production, something else must come in. It’s unlikely that people are willing to pay in light of the other free versions available.
Here’s Google’s take:

“Clever ideas” about sheltering newspapers in non-profit structures had been suggested to the Google.org foundation but “they are unlikely to happen without some massive, massive set of corporate bankruptcies”, Mr Schmidt said.

On that note, I still read physical newspapers, when I have the time to plonk them on the floor and go through them. If not, I still take news from great publications like the Financial Times and the New York Times as being one up in credibility, while they may not be a “truthful” and “unbiased” as blogs, I believe that there are still some great lessons in analysis to be learnt from the seasoned journalists.

#3. This Web2.0 thing is so Gen Y, and ONLY about Gen Y.

I think this again, was a stereotype created entirely by the media. What probably happened was Gen Y was the first to jump on the bandwagon, being the digital natives they are. It is always then, easy to link the youth of that period to any new movement that arises because they are the natural adopters of anything that seems new and exciting. Right now, that story is getting old. Again, the media is beginning to spin another angle on what is happening, with articles like – “Mainstream Gen Y isn’t Buying Into Web 2.0” <!>.

Ending thoughts…
One of the great things about the internet is that it effectively erodes any barriers of age, gender, race and so on. As such, if you look hard enough, you’re likely to be able to connect with just about anyone.
People who love deep sea diving. Check.
Grandmothers into floral arrangement. Check.
Teenagers that love rave music. Check.
Babies who Tweet before they are even born. Check.

The web no longer belongs to a single group of people. It should not either. Would love to hear your thoughts on this! :)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Related Posts with Thumbnails

4 Comments »

  • Jared O'Toole said:

    Nice post! I like the take on tv and newspapers. There are just new medians for delivering the content but it is all still wanted. The idea of news and tv shows will never go away or not be wanted. But marketers just have to shift the thinking of where to reach the people looking for that stuff.

    # 25 May 2009 at 1:00 am
  • Dorothy (author) said:

    Hi Jared! Thanks. I totally agree that the media still remains very relevant, just that the way and channels of communications for marketers will have to shift to accommodate the newer forms. TV itself was initially a disruptive technology, and it has done pretty well for itself since then for a period of time.

    # 25 May 2009 at 10:05 am
  • Michael said:

    Well done, Dorothy. On a side note, you make me feel old (in a good way). I do love heading to Holland V late on Saturday morning, buying my FT weekend, maybe The Economist, and heading over to get my coffee and have a good, old-fashioned mainstream media moment. :-)

    You will be great at the panel.

    # 25 May 2009 at 11:01 am
  • Dorothy (author) said:

    Thanks Prof! I do enjoy reading the physical papers too (though it’s definitely not a habit) and I think the experience also largely hinges on the quality of the writing, of which publications such as the FT are definitely still ahead of their local counterparts. The panel should be fun! ;)

    # 26 May 2009 at 10:22 am

Leave your response!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.