Generation Y: We're just not that into Twitter
Given that Generation Y is often pegged as narcissistic, lazy, having high expectations, craving the limelight, and other such flattering characterizations, one might expect we'd be Twittering as if it were breathing. After all, Twitter is known as a place where people expose the most minute details of their lives--missing the bus, stubbing a toe, toasting an English muffin.
But a recent survey from Pace University and the Participatory Media Network shows that only 22 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use Twitter, while 99 percent have profiles on social networks.
This may seem surprising on the face of it, but as a member of the Millennial Generation myself, I have some theories as to why it might be true. To see why we're not into Twitter, I'll have to revisit the start of the social-networking timeline: MySpace.
We Gen Yers spent hours on MySpace customizing our profiles and making them perfect representations of us (or rather, who we wanted to be). We couldn't wait for our friends to comment a new photo: "New pic, please comment!" MySpace made many of us feel popular, or even famous. I remember posting a new profile picture and refreshing the page in anticipation of responses.
Jean Twenge, psychologist and author of "The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement," calls this phenomenon "self-branding." People use MySpace as a portal for creating their own personal brand, Twenge says, complete with photos, custom banners, gossip, and fans (friends). One of the most successful self-branders is Tila Tequila, who tactfully used MySpace to achieve status as one of the users with the most friends on the site, and later parlayed that fame into a career as an MTV reality star.
My status is better than yours. Neener!
(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)Though we weren't international superstars, my friends and I were content on MySpace. But fast-forward a couple years to Facebook. It proved to be a difficult transition: where were all the flashing graphics, purple fonts, and exhaustive, multimedia-laden About Me sections? Why weren't the number of photo comments shown? Every user's profile looks the same, and at a glance, it seems self-branding is not easily attained.
The clean design of Facebook deemed decked-out profiles and artsy photos passe, but the site provided us with a new form of self-expression--"What are you doing?" status updates, which became the new platform for what Twenge describes as my generation's narcissistic need for attention.
What Facebook intends as a forum for sharing, Gen Yers see as a game of show-off. A quick look at my news feed and I see "Melissa" (name changed to protect the innocent) is having "one of the funnest nights of her life," and "beer and vodka make a interesting combination oww." 'Nuff said.
Brendon Nemeth, a 22-year-old San Franciscan whom I met this spring, says he updates his status to "keep family and friends informed on what's going on that's interesting in my life."
We no longer impress our friends with profiles that represent us through our creative flourishes, but rather with profiles that spell out what we're doing. (Out of fairness, our status updates don't always revolve around happenings at the local bar; plenty of us want to share our work promotions or volunteer activities, too.)
When Facebook implemented its news feed, users formed groups to oppose the feature. Now our status updates are lost in a flood of information, including quiz results, wall posts (not our own), and links. An update is posted, two minutes pass, and it's nowhere to be seen. Some of us even resort to reposting our updates just so they grab the attention they deserve.
On her blog, Twenge suggests that the kids of Gen Y aren't interested in their community, they are interested in themselves: "Younger generations are more individualistic and are higher in self-esteem and narcissism. There have been no changes in 'communal' traits."
I'd have to agree. We do anticipate seeing our friends' activities, but what we really look forward to is what they think of our activities--we want to be "cyberstalked," preferably in the form of replies to our self-published content. Nemeth says that "there are times when I update my status to induce a reaction." Reactions are what drive us to add photos, update our status, and write on our friends' walls.
So where does Twitter fit in?
Twitter's microblogging platform is what many Gen Y's may describe as "like Facebook, but just the status update." What is the point of that? We like to consolidate, so Nemeth explains that he doesn't "want to join another community, just tell people what (he's) doing." We have everything we need on Facebook.
Based on Twenge's theory, a good explanation of my generation's lag in joining the Twitter mania is that there isn't an obvious way to achieve a self-brand on Twitter.
My last update was seven days ago. Whoops.
(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)Participating on Twitter requires a fan base that knows why you are unique, special, and deserve attention. Fan base aside, the Web site's interface paves a short path for cyberstalking--there is nothing to find past a user's status.
For example, Sally went to a great party last weekend, but where are the photos? Who went with her? These features, which Gen Y's value so much, are missing.
As much as I like to know what my friends are doing, updates on Twitter happen so fast there really isn't time to react. More importantly, my friends don't have time to react to my activities.
Largely as a result of the digital communication tools on which we were raised, a big part of my generation wants to know what the cyberworld thinks of us, and we want its inhabitants to pay attention to us. How can they do this if they're following 300 other people?
For the Millennials to make the move, Twitter will have to find a way to integrate the self-branding features MySpace gave birth to and Facebook nurtured. Even if they're packaged in 140 characters or less.
Sharon Vaknin is the CNET Labs' go-to intern. When she's not testing MP3 players, blogging, or making the lab look presentable, she can be found playing computer games. Sharon formerly worked for Best Buy and is currently studying journalism at San Francisco State University. E-mail Sharon. 
The only thing it contributes to is a falling GDP. Now there's a great illusion of work, sit on your behind and watch what others are "doing" (sweet F.A.) Twitter is as useful as a TV left switched on while you're out. Or a brand new car smashed into a tree. Or a coffee spilled over a laptop. What a waste of everyone's time.
When describing Twitter, I never show people the website first. I show them Tweetie running on my iPhone; Tweetdeck (if they're a power-user person) running on a desktop; and I show them updates streaming into my website, blog, or other social media stream. The simplicity of it is appealing, frankly; none of the crap that streams through FB (all the pokes, superpokes, flair, and dumb game requests; the "25 Reasons I Hate FB" nailed it. Just... pure thought! And links to all that other stuff, of course.
Twitter is far from perfect, but it's simple and very flexible. It's great for building a personal brand in that space (in spite of the author's comments that it's not), but it does take more time. Important features like groups are missing, and the API seems fragile. There's a wealth of tools out there that give it a lot of value. It's decentralized vs. FB being centralized (both a pro and con).
Used poorly, I can see how it could drop our GDP! Used well, it helps biz users spot opportunities and build brand loyalty (c.f. Comcast, Zappos, et. al.).
I only graduated about a month ago, and because of twitter I've been able to connect with entire networks of professionals that, because they know me at least a little bit through communicating on twitter, are willing to help me as I get started in my career. I now have a job (started a week after school), am living in a new city and am planning projects with other professionals for the future. Without twitter, I wouldn't have any of these things.
This is the direction that the world is moving in. The face of news, business, and communities have completely changed (for the better IMO) as a result of twitter and the form of communication it has instilled in our society.
Gen-Y may not have been the early adopters, or even later adopters for twitter. To brush it aside as a menial and useless tool is foolish though. If you give it an honest shot, you'll learn to love it the same way you loved myspace and facebook.
Do we really not only have a generation of narcissists, but a generation of SELF DESCRIBED narcissists? Has an entire generation embraced a personality flaw as their identifying factor?
No thanks.
The scary thing, though, is that if you actually DID walk around some city with a whiteboard strapped to your back, it probably would make a fabulous viral video, and possibly even bring you trad-media attention... which you might be able to parlay into a career move... and then you'd get written up on c|net... and then thousands of Gen Ys would be walking around cities with whiteboards strapped to their backs...
As far as Twitter goes - it SUCKS. GEN X, GEN Y, GEN Z whoever... it's the media darling and giving updates on your thoughts so all can see all the time just sucks. Following peoples lives around and hearing abou ttheir every babbling sucks as well.
As for Generation Y, youth has always been wasted on the young. Each new generation of young people have their own unique set of character flaws.
Twitter is a superb social network system for pornstars.
This is college freshman writing at best and the author and her "friend" would do well to get over themselves, stop looking in the mirrors that they've created for themselves on the Internet and do something worthwhile.
I don't watch much in the way of current TV, mainly older stuff as current content just isn't worth ****. I only watch the occasional new movie. I don't listen to any of the music anyone else listens to (the popular stuff is rubbish. I prefer The Beatles, some small folk groups, or movie soundtracks like Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, or The Phantom of the Opera).
In short, I'd rather read or talk to people online than talk to people my age most of the time...
Rarely have I seen the fundamental requirements for an entire demographic so precisely cross-sectioned.
It may not be flattering, but it certainly rings true.
Thanks
Twitter to me seems to be better suited to making definitive statements while FB is better suited to opening up a dialogue and community stuff. However, Twitter is nice because you don't have to worry about filtering who you connect with vs FB where they see inside your world much more deeply.
Anyway, great work Sharon.
You've just discovered warm water!
Which is essentially my problem with the service - it simply seems to do stuff that I was already doing with other products.
Pathetic, lazy attempt...you missed the whole essence of Twitter. Fail.
And you might be surprised at how many people display it, along with useful information, in 140 characters.
Get off the damn Internet and either study for for exams, or if you already graduated, then get a frigging job. I am talking about a real job, not some dead end job as a bartender, coffee shop server, or retail store flunky. Put that college degree to work for crying out out.
Also, lay off the tattoos, because if you show up to my work for an interview covered in body art, then we will use your resume to line the bottom of a bird cage.
I grew up with computers. I spent highschool hanging out at coffee shops and instant messaging. I spent college at parties, and remember facebook when it was college-only. I don't have any tattoos, but I think I probably fit your description for most of "us".
I ALSO graduated with a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems last year, and have a decent paying (45-55k range) professional starting position based on the studying I did for exams, internships I participated in, certifications I achieved, and hard work I've done every summer since being 13 years old.
Thanks for making such an incredibly rude, immature generalization. Peppering it with explatives also helped prove your point. I agree there are many of "us" who aren't using a degree well, as well as many who didn't even bother finishing college. However, there are plenty of "us" like me who grew out of that "phase" and are contributing members of society, while still maintaining a facebook profile and making silly status updates about what we did at 1am on Friday night.
I think you make a VERY important point. Though many of "us" possess at least a small dose of these negative qualities, we are by far one of the most challenged and successful generations. Take one look at how competitive college and grad schools are, and it's easy to see that we're hard-working people.
Previous generations could get away without earning a college degree, and say, go into construction or other technical work. Fortunately for us, we are pushed to learn, grow, and expand our knowledge.
Like you said, we can make positive differences in society while still maintaining a fun cyber-life.
I grew up on computers too. I spent high school going to parties, playing sports, and getting straight A's. I didn't hang out in coffee shops, but as I got older, I worked those "dead-end" jobs as a waiter, bartender, groundskeeper and served as one of the millions of people who keep the economy running.
I went to college and I partied. I worked as a bartender to help pay my own way, and these days I'm making my own payments for my student loans. I got my degree, just like you Gen-Xers said I should - and then I watched as a bunch of Gen-Xer and "Greatest Generation" policies allowed an global recession ruin millions of lives.
Nevertheless, I persevered and got a professional career started. There are many "narcissistic Gen-Yers" like myself and jchanski21 who are making a successful life out of the mess that the uber-wise Gen-Xers created.
We pay our taxes...some of us go to college...others enter the workforce and (try to) keep the economy flowing while the obviously important ewsachse goes about their life.
So what if I maintain a Facebook page and a Twitter profile? I use them as sources for information, to connect with others and share ideas, and also to further my career. Your short-sidedness is very apparent is your post ewsachse - if you can't embrace the current/future relevance of sites like Facebook and Twitter, at the very least leave your bitter and misguided comments to yourself.
Thank you to the author Sharon Vaknin for the article. I actually use Twitter quite a bit, but I'm also in the communications industry, and so it's a must. But you're right about Facebook still being the preferred social site amongst us Gen-Yers. I check my profile daily!
It's an accurate generalization. Generalizations are not disproven because you got a job. However if all of you did what you did, the generlaization would be different. Boomers don't have a hard time with the facts of life. They are "street" smart in customer service and the right thing to do. Xer's aren't quite as bright as Boomers in these things. Y'ers by and large amost all need to be led by the bit to the right answer. Good customer servcie is alien to them. The loss though applies to all aspecsts of life. They all have in common they think they have it right.
@ sharonvak
Wrong. The Y generation will be the first with a standard of living worse than their parents. Your generation will be challenged but your success as a whole is limited by the larger culture of your generation which as it happens you inherit from the X'ers. Any one of you can do well. But generations are "everone" from the era.
Right after joining - even though I'm set to private, I started getting "I'm following you" notices by spambots. I would get two or three of these a day. My new networking favorite is Facebook - awesome site!
- by hexjones June 23, 2009 11:17 AM PDT
- I think twitter is awesome, you can say everything you need to in 140. I prefer to write all tweets as haiku.
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