The New York Times recently published findings from a Common Sense Media study where the watchdog group found the following:
“While 22 percent of teenagers check social networks more than 10 times a day, only 4 percent of parents believe their children do so. And while 51 percent check more than once daily, only 23 percent of parents acknowledge as much.”
What does this mean to you?
If you’re reading this blog, chances are that you’re a marketer, publisher, or have a job description that requires some involvement in a cyber space. There’s also a chance that you may side with the parents polled in Common Sense Media’s study.
While it’s a common fact that that children, even teenagers, forever live as children in the eyes of their parents, the truth is that they do grow up. They grow up, get their own ideas, and share them with everyone they know online, via text, or IM. Call them what you want, but these kids are part of the overshare generation and technology will only keep up with them as they seek out even faster ways to get their thoughts across. By the time they graduate into your target audience, they will have far more experience in social spaces than you. No longer can you (or should you) wait for them to come to you. You should be adjusting your game plan to harness the power of social media for your organization right now so that when these kids roll away from video games and high school gossip to become full-fledged consumers, you’ll be ready for them.
– Natasha Dorsainvil