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Trends with Traction: Is Twitter the new cigarette?
Posted by Adam Kleinberg on November 16, 2009 at 06:24 PM PDT
I recently wrote a cover story on iMedia on Marketing Megatrends that was very popular and I've been asked to speak on a panel about trends at the upcoming iMedia Agency Summit in Scottsdale in a few weeks, so I thought it would be fun to start a little semi-regular blog post called Trends with Traction. Rather than a weekly post, this one will be published whenever I feel like it. And all trends featured in this column will be empirically proven to be substantiated as irrefutably and factually accurate on the basis of... my opinion.
So, without further ado...
Today's Trend with Traction is the convergence of social media and... love. Not just any love, mind you, but the very act of making love.
Yes, this is actually happening. Apparently.
Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle reported on a new study showing that 35% of people under 35 report that they check Facebook or Twitter after sex (compared with 8% of those 36 and over). The Millennials are the first generation to grow up with ubiquitous technology in their lives. They are incessantly connected and being online to them is as natural as breathing. But what ever happened to cuddling? Is Twitter the new cigarette?
"Sexting" is huge these days too. Twenty percent of teenagers say they're sending one another nudie pictures. Check out the top free apps in the iTunes Store and you'll find Truth or Dare is more popular than Google Earth. The study in the Chronicle showed that 34% of the group check their Facebook or twitter on a date, 65% while on a vacation. And twenty percent have ended a relationship because a partner spent too much time on a mobile device.
This is all really indicative of a deeper integration of technology into emerging consumers' lives and relationships than most of us might have guessed. As a marketing strategist, it strikes me that there are a number of implications to this:
- Brand strategists on the hunt for insights will be very busy in the coming years.
- While driving, while working, on dates, after sex... these are all new moments of attention that people are interacting with digital technology. These represent new spaces where brands can (maybe not should, but can) engage audiences.
- Maybe this really is the year of mobile
- Somebody needs to put some Marvin Gaye up on YouTube or something to give these kids a better sense of romance.
That's all for this edition of Trends with
Traction. If you have any opinions about implications I've missed, I'd love to hear about them in comments!
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