Read all about it… just not in a newspaper… or twitter… or…
by: Ty Jennings
Social Media Specialist @ The Halo Group
www.thehalogroup.net
www.twitter.com/TylerHalo
www.SoMeTy.com

*Originally published on 15 July 09 @ www.SoMeTy.com – Ty Jennings’ Social Media Blog.

On Monday, Morgan Stanley caused some great ruckus when it published a research note written by 15-year-old Matthew Robson, who is currently interning at their London office.

Why the ruckus? Well, according to Matthew, teens don’t use Twitter! This, among many other findings in his 2,275-word report, which can be found here. 

Among the epiphanies:

Teens don’t listen to the radio Teens are watching significantly less TV due to on-demand services (television and mobile device-based) Teens do not read newspapers (except for freebies like “The Metro”) The Wii gaming console is surely helping to balance out the gender gap in girls vs. boys gaming, and is involving a younger crowd (age 6 & up) Teens like viral marketing with a sense of humour (I love the British spelling!) Teens see a lot of movies, not just the ones they “intend” to see Teens tend to ignore outdoor advertising; but react more negatively if they are to respond to it at all

 

And the tech world stopped.  Twitter has thousands of mentions, forwards, retweets and responses in at least a few languages that I noticed on the first few pages. Responses are varied from supportive, to appalled to hysterical. My faves are: (Full disclosure: I know none of these people, in any way, though I have now started following them – these results came from a “Matthew Robson” search on Twitter)

@elliottgalloway Matthew Robson’s comments-only relevant to the type of teenager that gets an internship at an IB instead of trying to buy beer & shag birds

@adlandsuit I think I might have to post about young Matthew Robson and the world’s LUDICROUS reaction. People should be embarrassed.

@meggo10 If this Matthew Robson kid gets to be the voice of teens, I want to be the voice of white women everywhere.

 

Having pointed out the more ‘humourous’ responses, it’s time to break down the report. First the BIG statement: Teens don’t Twitter. Wow, that made me nervous. “Oh no,” I thought to myself, “every CEO & CMO in the world, who is nervously dipping his and her toe into the social media pool for the first time, just recoiled, breathed a sigh of relief and ran for cover.” Uh-Oh.  Please, say it ain’t so! Tell me that Morgan Stanley didn’t publish some kid’s unqualified, unsubstantiated rants! Tell me that every tech outlet in the western hemisphere hasn’t picked it up and run with it as today’s paraphrased tech gospel. But alas, it was true. Everyone ran with the teaser: “Teens Don’t Use Twitter” and unfortunately, not everyone bothered to explain the rest… This is my nightmare.

Before anyone says, “I told you so” to anyone else, defending their lack of willingness to tweet, let’s dig deeper: Matthew’s report says teens don’t twitter because it costs money on his or her mobile devices. The exact quote is: “…teenagers do not use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they realise that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless.”

We, in the US, need to remember that, for better or worse, European mobile systems, plans and pricing are quite different than ours. Most teens that have mobile devices (99%of which do, according to Matthew) have limited text/data plans.

As for the point that “no one is viewing their profile” –well, that’s better left to the trend experts. However, if I were to take a stab at this, I’d say two things: it’s been reported that Matthew Robson’s polling demographic was aged 13-16, therefore: it would probably only take a few trendsetters within a clique to start a group using Twitter (at least from a computer, which would require no “mobile credits”). From that it would spread like wildfire. Especially when, (point #2) they realize how many free services there are (on mobile devices, as well as computers) that send a single status update to several sources (twitter, facebook, etc) and would only use one “mobile credit” and allow them to check status at the same time. If I may indulge myself one more follow-up point: when these 13-16 year-olds find themselves with more responsibility and less time and attention, they’ll find that killing two (or 5) birds with one stone is the way to go to maximize their voice. (No further harm meant to the poor old Twitter Bird logo in that reference?)

My thought: it takes a trendsetter/teacher to start the group going, just like adults. Not to take credit, but many of my friends (aged 27-50) are asking whether they should be on twitter now, simply because I added my address (@TylerHalo) to my signature line on emails. Besides, now that my retired parents are on Facebook, connecting to their grandchildren and extended family and former classmates, where are the cool kids gonna’ hang out? (I’m just joking, Mom! Sort of.)

Wrapping up, I think that the coverage of Iran’s election and breaking news of Michael Jackson’s demise has proven Twitter’s worth and people’s thirst for the micro-blogging site in the last few weeks. It may take a while for London’s elite 13-16 year olds to develop interest though, but that may be more of an issue of lifestyle, mobile plans and maturity…

As far as today’s CEO’s & CMO’s are concerned, here’s the message: twitter is valid. Twitter is necessary.  Twitter is not going anywhere.  As more and more people discover the language and the feel of microblogging, quick status updates and aggregators – they’re jumping on board. (And PS – this is only the beginning as Google is set to release “Wave” later this year which combines a micro-blogging feel, with IM & chat activities to completely redesign the email system.  And this is an understatement of it’s potential!)

Until then, I propose we all sit back & wait to see what Matthew Robson will do next. 

(PS, don’t even get me started on why a 15 year old is interning at Morgan Stanley!)

 

Stay Tuned…

 Tyler “Ty” Jennings has served as Social Media Strategy Consultant for varying businesses and individuals and is the Social Media Specialist for The Halo Group, an award-winning New York City-based marketing and brand communication agency. His articles and posts can be found on their blog at www.thehalogroup.net/blog/ and on his own blog at www.somety.com as well as at www.twitter.com/TylerHalo