Here we go again....

In case you haven't noticed, I'm on blog hiatus. What that means is that I'm on summer break and I'm really taking a break.

However...I was moved to post an observation based on an article from THE TIMES entitled, "Twitter is for old people, work experience whiz-kid tells bankers". In short, a young man (around 15) has told his internship site (a bank) how "Teens Use Tech".

According to this young man, games consoles are for communicating with friends, computers are for listening to music and Twitter is for old people.

Hmmm...

In particular what I found interesting was this quote from the article, "His supervisors thought the report “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen” and published it. "

Um...back the truck up people.

While this young man may have one particular experience with technology communication tools -- his lifestyle does not mean that ALL TEENS have the same experience. It took him one day to write his "report" and he reached out to his circle of friends to do it. So here we have a group of business people who are now talking about how teens communicate based on this one individuals experience.

Getting caught up in things like "Twitter is for old people" and "All teens use Facebook" and "they don't listen to radio". Love this comment from the young man, "“Most teens would say the same things,” he said. “We talk about this kind of thing at school quite a lot. Though the way we talk about it you probably wouldn’t understand it.” "

So Wall Streeters and Business-types take a minute and before you decide that this young man's experience is TEEN GOSPEL, and you begin to make business decisions based on it, what facts do we know?

Facebook Use: A recent study on Facebook demographics from iStrategy Labs highlights the shifting user base of Facebook: more growth in FB use among 35 - 55+ than in younger users. Teens may be using FB, but so are a whole lot more -- and it is interesting to note that more females than males use FB.

Twitter Use: According to QuantCast, Twitter users skew female, with highest use amont 18 -39 (although there is use among 12 - 17).

Radio Use: Taking a look at arbitron ratings (only available through Sp07) we find that the group least likely to listen to radio are young men ages 12 - 17. That's been the case according to this listing since FA 98. The same goes for females in that age range. Overall radio listenership is declining.

Newspaper Use: According to the Newspaper Association of America, in a readership report with 2008 numbers, they don't even show teens as part of their research. The 18 - 24 age range reads the least and individuals within the 35-44 age bracket are the largest reading demographic.

What I see here is that what this young man has "revealed" is not a secret nor is it a surprise. The data from numerous sources show the overall trends with these different communication choices. So much depends on factors that include gender, background, socio-economic status, parental influences and education.

I hope that most business people keep that in mind when they read articles like this. My own daughter uses Twitter and she's 12. Does that mean that all tween girls use Twitter? Nope. It just means that a young girl whose Mom uses Twitter, uses Twitter as well.

Qualitative data that focuses in on individual experience is very helpful to gain insight into other data and facts, but when one person's experience is taken to be the "truth" and therefore applied to EVERYBODY...that is a big mistake.

Now...back to vacation.

See you in August!