News Flash: Gen Y Uses Social Media

Chances are that if you’re reading this post, you are not a stranger to blogging. Blogging, chatting, downloading videos, podcasting -- these are all normal online activities for you, right? If you are a Gen Yer this is probably very true, but if you fall into the Gen X or Baby Boomer categories you may not be as familiar with online social media.

Forrester Research recently released their study entitled “The State of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2006” which notes the similarities and differences between Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomer social media habits. The results are a little less than surprising.

According to the sample surveyed, the average Gen Yer spends 12.2 hours online every week and is more likely to spend time in front of the computer than watching TV. With the advent of the iTunes video store, trying to race home from work in time to catch a 6PM sitcom is no longer an issue because TV shows can be downloaded (for a small fee) and watched at the viewer’s convenience. Because of this, the 12.2 hours spent online every week by Gen Yers may encompass hours shifted from watching TV to hours spent downloading shows from iTunes.

The study says that Gen Y is more likely than Gen X and Baby Boomers to research products online, and then purchase them in stores. Gen Y is typically a community of informed shoppers who will expend the extra effort searching for the best deal and the best product to fit their needs.

The study also reveals that seniors over 62 years old are more likely to receive photos in email than Gen Yers and Gen Xers. With a growing number of seniors learning how to use email and living far away from their children and grandchildren, emails with photo attachments are an easy and convenient way to keep in touch. It would seem like Gen Y would dominate sharing photos online, which may be the case, but since Gen Y is more in tune with current social media, Gen Yers may substitute email for other photo-sharing mediums like Facebook, MySpace, and PhotoBucket.

In general, Gen Yers have considerable knowledge about online social media and access it in larger quantities and in additional forms because they were born into the craze, unlike older generations.

Click here to read more from Erik Sass at MediaPost Publications.