What's in for 2015

Re-post from Digiday.com, a digital media website I follow!

Source: Romenesko blog
http://jimromenesko.com/2014/12/05/lists-for-2015-already/digiday/

While discussing Mizzou's bowl game in Orlando

Fear of missing out is a thing, even if Andrew doesn't know it:

Generation Like

Check out this Frontline documentary titled Generation Like.

It's definitely geared toward people who work in marketing and market research, particularly with brands focused on acquiring young adults and children. Despite the media jargon, it still teaches you a lot about our generation and motivations online. Enjoy!

Time to pause

One of the biggest complaints in modern society is being overscheduled, overcommitted and overextended. Ask people at a social gathering how they are and the stock answer is "super busy," "crazy busy" or "insanely busy." Nobody is just "fine" anymore. 

In a recent New York Times news analysis, No Time to Think, Kate Murphy comments on our lack of free moments to stop and think. She states that even when we do have a second that is not programmed, we revert to our phones to check social media & other ongoings.

The competitive aspect of it reminded me of another good article I read recently in Harvard Business Review, Why We Humblebrag About Being Busy. We're all guilty of it; I admit to regularly using "busy" as a way to describe my week. But sometimes it takes seeing others do this, especially at work, to comprehend how it comes off.

The best way I recharge in the middle of the day is taking five minutes to look away from my phone & inbox prioritize my to do list. There is nothing more valuable in the middle of a stressful day than a walk around the block. At Project Mexico, 20 minutes of quiet time kicked off the morning to make every day a peaceful day.

The power of pause is real and more relevant than ever!

Flower shops that get it

I'm sometimes embarrassed at how little I know about plants, gardening and keeping things alive. A few weeks ago, I came home with a flower pot from a bridal shower and ranted to my friend Meredith on the phone that flowers should come with an instructions tag so we can take care of them properly. "It's common sense," she said. "You water them everyday."

A few days later, my boss sent me flowers from ProFlowers.com at work. Aren't they lovely?!

While digging through the flower box, the first thing I found was this tag below. My dream had come true; someone knew I wouldn't know how to take care of the flowers. This instruction postcard was exactly what I needed: Directions on how to care for them, extra tips and a specific timeline with days and hours included. 

Instructions in the ProFlowers box

It's exciting to see that ProFlowers understands its audience and provides this information. If I have to order flowers in the future, it will definitely be from here!

Growing up in the information age

A few weeks ago, I wrote about social media anxiety and our need for instant gratification. Recently, I've downloaded Chicago's TransitStop app from the CTA, giving up-to-the-minute updates on when the next train or bus will arrive at your destination. Growing up in the age of constant, accessible information - we have grown to accept and expect these apps to be present, which I've learned is both a blessing and a curse. It's great to know when the next train is coming, but also upsetting to know if it will be a longer wait than was anticipated. 

Recently while headed back home, I was about three stops away from Howard- the station where I transfer to the Purple Line closest to the north suburbs. Out of curiosity, I checked when the next purple line train would arrive, hoping it would be a seamless transfer.

Needless to say, my heart started beating faster when I saw that not only was the train arriving in a minute, but the next one wasn't for 14 minutes. Parts of me felt like it was a race and the train had to make it in time for my transfer, and I actually started to get eager and anxious.

The TransitStop app while waiting for the Purple Line

A different part of me thought, "Would I really have known the wait time was 14 minutes if I just got outside and waited?" Probably not. We have plenty to entertain ourselves these days, with smartphones, reading material and music or audio books right in front of us - that it was going to move right along anyway. 

With the vast amount of data and information available at our fingertips, we can't let information that was once inaccessible stress us out as much as it does. 

Millennials in Adulthood

Wanted to share a link to a recent Pew Research Center study on Millennials in adulthood.

The facts and figures show that we are less trusting, more optimistic, get married later, and overall- less patriotic, religious and environmental. The one that shocks me the most is less trusting. Why is that?
 

Source: Pew Research Center

Voting - why we don't do it

Earlier last month, there was a local primary election. I would have had no idea, except for this piece of mail I received a few days beforehand.

Somehow, this direct mail was not enough to remind me to vote, nonetheless - where to go for the election. Our generation has grown up in a world with constant communication - emails, texts, push notifications and more. Anything we actually need to do is reinforced multiple times before it actually needs to get done, and most of the time that reinforcement is digital communication.

One example of this is applying for graduation. This is something important enough that we should be able to proactively seek out this task and ensure that it gets done, but we know the university will send us multiple reminder emails with step-by-step instructions on what to do. It's how we have grown up.

It's fascinating to me that we live in an age of information, but no one from the city, state or government has our email addresses. The NSA has our metadata, phone information, and companies like Facebook and Google have our contact information, but our cities do not. In order to remind me how to vote, I am mailed a postcard with three options- going to an election day polling location, an early voting location or voting absentee online- which becomes a nuisance once all registration is complete. So many corporations and retail stores have our email addresses to remind us to shop, go to the bank or take other actions, but our city or country can't simply remind us to vote on the communication vehicle where we are most attentive.

According to the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, of eligible voters, voter turnout was estimated at the following rates for presidential elections: 54.2% (2000), 60.4% (2004), 62.3% (2008) and 57.5% (2012). If this is for presidential elections, one can only estimate that local state or city elections have a lot lower numbers.

Some say Millennials were "coddled" by our parents, but we must acknowledge digital communication as a generational shift rather than Millennials' lack of interest in government matters or being proactive at all. In order to stay relevant, cities and politics must "catch up" on where and how to best communicate with their target audiences to send the proper calls-to-action.

More Snapchat secrets

I called out some Snapchat secrets back in October, but as the updates continue, there is always more to learn.

My general perspective on Snapchat stories is that they are not necessary. If I wanted you to see the Snapchat, I would send it to you directly. Since stories were rolled out later, most of my friends that post them downloaded the app after stories were released, so it's easy to tell who the "newbies" are. Plus, they just seem like a photo Facebook status.

While some friends were over for dinner the other night, we were group-Snapchatting some people that weren't there and complaining about stories. Much to my surprise (and scare), I learned that when you post a Snapchat story, you can see who looks at it! I thought this was creepy, because it's like getting a list of everyone who has "seen" your Facebook posts. In addition, I don't like push notifications and clutter, so I often clear out my Snapchat stories (regardless of who sent them) so they don't show up under recent updates. I'm not friends with anyone on Snapchat who I would actually be embarrassed in front of if they knew I watched their "stories," but still wasn't too keen on the concept.

I decided to "research" this firsthand by posting a story or two myself and see how exactly this works:

You click on your own name, see your score and 'best friends,' and then any stories you have posted with the number of eyeballs who have seen it. Then, click the story to see who has viewed.

Under the "story," which was about it being warm enough to bike outside, this is what appears when you click to see the list of everyone who saw it.

My original expectation was that maybe 10 people view these, but I quickly saw that many other people do what I do and clear them out. More than 60 people watched each Snap in 24 hours, which is the majority of my Snapchat contact list. It honestly was an irrational self-esteem boost to think that that many people cared about clicking on it, but placing myself in the situation...I don't always care about the ones I am passively 'watching.' I'm still curious behind the motivations to post a story, but now we all know about this list of those who viewed!

Ancient Internet stories

The other day in a training session at work, an executive at my company said, "And in 1996, clients would ask, 'What are we going to do on the Internet? There's nobody there.'" 

That sparked all of the stories from our youth of the Internet being new and exciting. Remember….

• In elementary/middle school when everyone had a dial-up connection? 
• How you could practically do a dance while the computer was connecting to the Internet? 
• When everyone was on AOL Instant Messenger until the wee hours of the night? 
• When your house could have a computer without Internet on it and it wouldn't be a big deal?

There are countless memories. What other ancient Internet stories come to mind? 

Social media flirting

Life growing up in your 20s as digital natives: where this is a normal conversation to have with friends.

Cross-posting

When an image from one of your blog posts gets posted on another website, and you don't know until your sister points it out here.

20-something problems.

#Millennialproblems: Tech overload

An incredibly pathetic "first world problem" photo live from my bedroom. 

Cultural shift in America

I was at a cross-platform advertising conference through work where a case study was presented for Taco Bell, as the campaign of the year. 

The presenters started by setting the scene and explaining how our generation is part of a cool, cultural shift in entertainment and influence. 

Here was some of the support: 

In the United States these days, guacamole is served at parties and sushi is sold at gas stations, not just ranch dressing with chips.

Hip-hop collaborations are more popular when someone of another culture is included. A Justin Bieber song alone is not popular, but when he partners with Ludacris or Big Sean, the song ratings skyrocket off the charts. Nelly and Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" was an example from last summer.

Our palettes are moving from American to ethnic. When you go out to dinner, you don't just go to a casual dining restaurant or chain- everyone asks what type of food you're in the mood for and skews toward that (Asian, Mexican, Thai, Lebanese, etc). 

This shift from general market to total market culture is only going to continue through 2014. It's an interesting thing to think about as we grow up! 

Lines of communication

Think about how many modes of communication we have today:

• Phone
• Text message
• Email (personal, work) 
• Facebook
• Twitter 
• Snapchat / picture messaging
• Social outlets 

Anyone who we grant access to can send us "push notifications," or permission to notify us when something happens. Rather than communicate more effectively, I've learned these multiple communication methods make things complicated and give us the MAYBE option.

Planning a career fair and other events at Mizzou, being in the corporate world and even making social plans, there is nothing more frustrating than the amount of communication methods we have. Ten years ago if you were planning an event or scheduling something, you would ask someone if they could come, they would look at their calendar while you had them in your office or on the phone and would answer "Yes, I'll be there." or "No, I can't." But with the respond-as-you-can method of email, and text messages for constant updates, people can wait until the last minute to make decisions.

We spend time contemplating how to best reach someone - which account they will check, or where your message will solicit the quickest or desired response. There is no societal hierarchy for which communication mode is prioritized. One person may see a Facebook message first, another might never check. One will see a work email, another sees a text. I'm interested to see how this plays out in our futures and what rises to the top.

The real you

"Let's make the real you also the best of you," Randi Zuckerberg writes in the last chapter of her recently released book, Dot Complicated.

The context of this passage is how social media profiles tend to portray the best of you, rather than the genuine you. In a world where people post a lot online, they tend to post more positive, brag-worthy traits than faults so they are seen in a good light.

Thinking about social sharing habits, this is for the most part true. Randi’s proposition is that we aim to change that, and I completely agree. If you look at my social media profiles, I confess that I post pretty positively, and definitely “brag-worthy” items, but I interpret the message in a different way.

Public or private, posts and messages of gratitude, congratulations, birthday wishes and checking in on friends are normal online, via Facebook, Twitter, instant messaging, etc. So why do we feel awkward wishing someone Happy Birthday around the office, when clearly we know it’s the case? Why do we hesitate to ask someone how they are doing, what’s going on or how they’re feeling sometimes, when we might speculate something is up? The best of you strives to do this, and might hold back from doing this online (or in-person) because of judgment or even feeling creepy. If it’s genuine, don’t avoid it – go for it. Flipping the situation to its opposite, if the real you would say it in-person, what restricts you from saying it online? We shouldn’t be afraid of these things, especially in a private message. 

Another social sharing habit is to rant or complain. Although our motivations differ for what we post online, that’s another realistic part of everyday conversation. So why do we roll our eyes at it online? When we think of the real you being the best of you, the best of you knows not to use tons of profanities to describe a situation. The best of you knows your friends might not want to hear every nuisance or minor detail, especially depending on relevance. So make that the real you, and if you’re going to complain online, keep it to the point.

I have a philosophy that once you can share a piece of news or an article (i.e. a research study, interesting fact or blog post) with someone, they are a true companion. We discuss current events in person, so I aim to bring “real me” to life online and don’t hesitate to share articles on Twitter or on my friends’ Facebook walls/“timelines.”

Next time you are posting on one of your social media profiles, think about your motivations. Is it the real you sharing the news, or are you hoping that someone will like or comment on it? Are you hoping to see a complaint gratified by others that feel the same way? Or, are you leveraging social media as an outlet to share since the people you want to see it are far away? Whatever it may be, consider the words from the beginning passage a springboard to your posting future – keeping your best judgment and real words aligned.