I Would Like to Buy Some Internets

I have recently been fascinated by the culture of the internet, cable TV, millennials, and how different generations consume media. I have been soaking up every article I see about the millennial generation, talking to my peers, talking to those a few years older than myself, and people many years older than myself. I have come to learn 3 things I’d like to share, in 3 separate posts.

1) How Different Generations Talk about Media

2) How Different Generations Consume Media

3) Multi-Screen Consumption of Media

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#1 The Meaning of the Term “Cable”

I recently decided that before my 1-year “deal” from Comcast goes into it’s second year and I start getting charged out the you-know-what for my Cable TV and Internet, that I would cut the Cable TV because, let’s face it, I rarely watch it. I spend most of my time on the internet, watching Netflix, Hulu, or just browsing the web. As I was discussing this with my dad (a baby boomer) he said “Well how will you get Internet access if you get rid of Cable?”

…What? What is he talking about? “I’m not getting rid of the Internet–just cable”

His response “but cable is the internet!”

…What? No it’s not. Fool.

Millennials have grown up in a world where you flip open your laptop and connect to the strongest Wifi signal. We don’t use a hard-wire, we don’t even really think about what it takes for the router to be plugged into a cable connection to give us the magic of Wifi. It’s just there, and we love it.

Don’t get me wrong, I remember the days when you had to hang up the phone to get online, the days where my computer was enormous and only had 3MB of storage on the hard-drive. But once something becomes convenient, there’s no turning back. My dad recalled a story in which my sister (an engineer) was moving into a new condo and, her first day there, opened up her laptop and wondered “Which network do I connect to?”

Dad’s response: “Did you buy Internet?”

“Oh.”

Believe me, ask any millennial, “What is cable?”

Not a single one will give you an answer that has to do with the internet. They will all say “Cable is TV. It gives you channels like ESPN and Nickelodeon.” We don’t think about the technical aspects of it anymore because it’s just always there for us.

What do you think of when you hear the term “cable”? And what generation are you from?

Check Out Definition 6′s Blog on the ExactTarget Conference Connections 2012!

http://blog.definition6.com/blog/jenny-reinecks-blog/connections-2012-exacttarget-conference-underway-in-indianapolis-in-slideshow

Definition 6 Acquired Synaptic Digital

I can finally talk about it! The agency I work for, Definition 6, has acquired Synaptic Digital. I could provide my own commentary, but there’s plenty of reading material on our blog!

9/11: My Memories, Where Would the News Break First Now, and How it Would Change the Event’s Impact

11 years ago I was in the sixth grade. My homeroom teacher was the school Spanish teacher, but I chose to take French so I only saw her in homeroom, which in the sixth grade was at the beginning of the day, before and after lunch, and at the end of the day. The private school I attended housed toddlers all the way up to eighth graders, and the administration had specifically instructed the teachers not to tell any of the students about what had happened. Some of us were very young, and perhaps they thought it best if our parents explained it to us. Besides, we were kids stuck at school. How else were we going to find out? It’s not as though we had internet phones, Twitter, or some other secret underground child news network. 

Well, my homeroom teacher knew all of us 11 and 12 year olds well, and she felt we had a right to know what was going on (especially given that many students’ parents were coming and picking up their children from school–we were already confused and suspicious). We were seated in homeroom, hungry bellies ready for lunch, and she told us to push all of the desks against the wall and sit in the front of the room. When we sat in perfect formation, facing the front of the room like we would formally face a teacher, she shook her head and told us to gather in closer to each other–that’s when the room got eerily quiet. We all knew something was wrong. I remember her words exactly…mostly because of how much they confused me. “This morning, two jumbo jet planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City.” 

I had never been to New York City. I didn’t know what the World Trade Center was or how many people it housed. I had flown a commercial airline once in my life from Atlanta to Miami, and I didn’t know that they were called ‘Jumbo Jets.’ So, after hearing this sentence, I looked at my classmates and saw by the looks on their faces that they clearly understood more about the world than I did. I imagined the World Trade Center to be this big, open, flea-market esque place where people actually traded goods, and two big planes just falling onto them in some kind of horrible accident. 

We hadn’t said much yet, so my teacher asked us if we had any questions. Once we all understood that it wasn’t an accident, we began to better understand the gravity of the situation. All kinds of things were racing through our minds. …World War 3!?….Bombs?!….Would these terrible people consider attacking an elementary school in Atlanta?!….Who knows?!….My teacher assured us that we’d be fine, but that we may see our friends’ parents coming to take them from school for the day, and all of the after school sports would most likely be cancelled. [I remember hearing them announce all of the sports cancellations over the PA later that afternoon, blaming "inclement weather"...]

So off we went to lunch. Dead silent. We were standing in the cafeteria line, looking at all of the happy-go-lucky kids who didn’t know yet. My friend turned to me and said, “Look at them. So innocent. They don’t know that we’re under attack.” Her words snapped everything into perspective for me for the first time. We were under attack. My country was under attack.

Some people may question the ethical validity of my homeroom teacher’s actions–but when I got home later that night I knew she did the right thing. Because after I left school I was surrounded by people who were acting like nothing was happening. I was part of a tennis league separate from the school and I still had to play a match that afternoon. I was shocked at the denial around me because I knew it was serious. 

So how would this incident have been different if it occured in 2012 instead? You can’t hide a huge newsbreak from a kid with an internet phone. Twitter or Google News would most likely be the first place people would’ve heard about the tragedy. Major news sites might have stronger capabilities to beef up their servers [I went online that night in 2001 to try to read more about what happened, but every major news site was basically not working there was so much traffic]. 

We all know that’s true. But think about how a child (and yes I mean even 11 or 12) might view news like this if they read it first on Twitter. Sure, they’d know it’s serious, but it will always be something that they ‘read on Twitter.’ It strips away the heaviness of the situation right down to the bare bones…the facts only. By the time most news coverage in 2001 had scrambled together, most of it had a reaction coating the facts. It was a news story, not a news statement. I guess my point is, this real-time news on Twitter, fast-paced world we live in now might not have given this situation the gravity it deserved. Hearing my homeroom teacher practically whisper it to us in a small community circle may have just been exactly how we were supposed to hear this news. 

My Response to Inc. Magazine’s Article

Inc. Magazine recently posted an article about why you shouldn’t let a recent college grad manage your social media. Below is my response. Notice I am not calling it a rebuttal, because I don’t disagree with everything the article says, but I do have some insights I’d love to tack onto the end of some of these topics.

The Article: Don’t Let a 23-Year-Old Run Your Social

1) I may be more mature than the average 22-year old, but older people have a jaded view of the maturity levels of Generation Y. I’d say it depends highly on parenting, education, and socio-economic status. The article mentions that we don’t feel we’ve reached adulthood until late 20s. I’ve been preaching that I’m an adult since the day I turned 18. Sure, I’ve made young people mistakes, but I’ve handled them with maturity and independence. I never once came crying to mommy and daddy for help after I went away to college. 

 

2) Sure, I look at my own Facebook while managing other accounts. That’s part of the job. It’s important that I see updates from Mashable, Google, etc. and stay up to date with tech and social world news. It doesn’t take away from the work I do, it adds to it. I don’t look at my friend’s new photo album while at work. There’s nothing to gain from that.

 

3) Did I post inappropriate things to my Facebook when I was 17? Yes. When I got timeline did I go back and delete those posts? Yes. I am more than happy to be Facebook friends with my boss, and my boss’s boss, because I have nothing to hide. My Facebook offers a glimpse into my personal life, but my personal life isn’t inappropriate. Many young people my age would consider a friend request from their boss a nightmare. 

 

4) True, you can’t control what my Facebook friends will do or say online. But as I said before, my Facebook isn’t inappropriate. I was Facebook friends with someone for a while before I realized I couldn’t afford to be associated with someone who posts racist, sexist, and otherwise inappropriate content online. I unfriended him and didn’t look back. He understands.

 

5) “No class can replace on the job training” I think it’s safe to say I have significantly more experience in the ad business than a normal college grad, but, even given all of my experience, I don’t let it get to my head, as in I certainly don’t walk into a new job thinking I know more than the people who are already there and, more importantly, who have been in the business for many years.

 

6) I grew up learning about ad agencies from my Dad. I understand quite a bit about the overall mission and day-to-day business of an ad agency. I’m not saying I know everything, I’m just saying that in using social media for marketing I haven’t lost sight of what a business needs to accomplish. I was, after all, a business major in college, not a creative writing major. I also spent many years in high-school working for a small business, and learning about the struggles of owning a small business from my boss. That experience alone probably taught me more about business than I ever learned in college.

 

7) “Take stock of his or her writing skills” There is no doubt that writing is and has always been my strongest area of academia. If anything, Generation Y lacks verbal communication skills due to less face-to-face communication growing up.

 

8) After spending 6 years at my strict high-school having my sense of humor beaten out of me, the answer is yes, I understand the boundaries of humor and the importance of understanding the limits of my audience. 

 

9) Very true. Many people think that if they know how to use Facebook, they are “tech-savvy” which just isn’t true. Could I be an impromptu IT specialist for a company? Absolutely not. Can I very easily adapt to using new software, a new device, or a new interface? Absolutely yes. All of the software, devices, and interfaces that I have ever learned to use over the years I received zero training. Trial and error.

 

10) This part of the article doesn’t really stand on any solid ground. It’s very disjointed. Is it saying that young people cannot manage crisis? It states that the person in charge needs to be “thinking ahead.” It’s safe to say that Generation Y grew up in a much more fast-paced environment than previous generations. Living in a fast-paced world requires thinking a few steps ahead.

 

11) This goes without saying. It doesn’t matter how old your social media person is. Obviously your social media setup shouldn’t be access-only. Is your dog the only one with a key to your house? 

NBC’s Coverage of the Olympics and Social Media – How Social Media has changed the Olympics Forever

Many Americans were disappointed Friday at the Olympics Opening Ceremonies when NBC decided to air the beginning of the games on a tape delay. With so much information floating around these days on the Internet, and with most of it being seen first on Twitter, all of the events occurring in London are being tweeted about in real-time–and NBC airs their coverage several hours later during America’s primetime. Now, that being said, NBC does offer a live stream of most events that can be seen online, so really what it comes down to is, do you want your Olympic coverage online or on your television?

This problem was not nearly as pervasive in the 2004 Olympics, as Twitter would still need another 2 years to be created. With 13% of Americans using Twitter, they are probably reading Tweets about the Olympics. Many users have expressed frustration on Twitter at certain events being ruined based on the real-time updates. While many retort that it can’t be ‘ruined’ if it already happened, many Olympics fans look forward to watching the programming as NBC meant for it to be watched–during primetime.

Maybe NBC should air the Olympic events before they happen, and then Twitter will be the one who’s behind. Thoughts?

Engaging with your Fans Through Social Media: Why Staying Relevant Matters

Sure, the title seems obvious. If you want to engage your fans on social media channels, you have to make updates that aren’t just interesting, but also relevant to the fans. But it’s also important to keep KPI’s and brand-specific goals in mind. Are the goals you set just by the numbers? Are you aiming for higher numbers overall (more likes, more comments, more engaged fans)? If that’s the case, staying relevant becomes even more difficult. How do you relate to hundreds or thousands of fans all at once?

Before developing content for your brand’s profile, it’s important to ask yourself what your goals are. If your client wants more engaged users, how will you successfully relate to higher numbers of people with different tastes and preferences? The truth is, you can do it as long as you generalize your prompt to the audience. Even if the content of the post itself is extremely specific, your prompt to the audience can become more generalized in an attempt to generate a response from everyone. 

Example: I don’t like steak, but I could still technically engage with this post below.

1. What are my goals?

2. Do I want responses from the maximum amount of fans?

3. How can I word a prompt that includes everyone.