12 Mar SXSW Panel Recap: Coming of Age – Opportunity of Teens Online
Day 2 of SXSW Interactive has begun and people are moving much slower than they were yesterday but this particular session is packed. Even started early because the room was ready to go. It seems that everyone has the same question: How do we reach teens online? From a marketer’s perspective, I was particularly interested in this panel because teens are often thought of as the untouchable market given the sensitivity of running promotions and interacting with the “under 18” crowd. While this panel didn’t address that particular issue directly, I did find it to provide great insight into understanding how to reach a teen audience in a meaningful way. Specifically, remembering that teens are just people like all the rest of us who just happen to be dealing with issues that us “big kids” have all experienced and somehow overcome.
So, who’s here?
- Anne Collier – Our moderator who described herself as an “activist against techno panic”
- Nina Khosla – Co-founder of Teethie
- Matt Britton – Founder & CEO of Mr. Youth
- Sarahjane Sacchetti – Head of communications at Formspring (30% of their 22 million members are teens)
- Jason Rzepka – VP of Public Affairs at MTV who’s role it is to “use MTV super-powers for good”
But more importantly, what did they say?
Social Media Give Teens Power
The conversation began with a discussion about who teens are and what they are doing online. The panel reminded us that, while the world is changing, teens’ wants and needs really haven’t changed, and we should remember that we were all teens at one point in our lives.
What hasn’t changed since we were young:
- Teens are looking to find themselves.
- Teens want to talk to their friends.
- Teens are looking to find others with their similar interests.
- And most importantly, teens still don’t have control over most everything they do.
Social media serves as an outlet for teens today. It has given them a power they didn’t have before.
Remember pen pals? You wrote a letter, with a real pen and paper, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it, stuck it in the mailbox and waited… Now teens have the ability to connect to anybody and ask anybody anything, nearly instantaneously.
Digital Overload?
The conversation then shifted to a question around whether technology, and specifically social media tools, are having a negative impact on teens who seem to be going 100% digital. The panel’s general consensus was that technology evolves out of consumer demand. A few examples provided by the panel:
- Matt: It comes across as brands are becoming people and “toothpaste wants to be friends with you” but in reality, it’s the world who wants to be friends with toothpaste.
- Of course, Facebook & privacy came up but the panel pointed out that this generation cares less about privacy. On the flip side, they noted teens can also explore anonymously. Sarahjane shared an example of a conversation she had with a teen last week who said “I can be my better self” online and forcing teens to connect to a real identity inhibits exploration of self. Generally speaking though, whether teens are comfortable sharing as themselves or anonymously depends on the context and as marketers, we need to keep in mind what do you want them to do and would they be comfortable sharing publicly on the topic?
- Panel members also shared a concern that teens can’t get away from the drama. “Mean girls” used to end when you came home from school to the privacy of your own home. Today, the drama continues on Facebook and via text message. MTV’s A Thin Line was created to prevent digital abuse, but includes a quiz the reveals some interesting insights into how teens feel about their online social life. According to Jason, 14% of teens quiz say social networking makes them feel more isolated. (Counter-intuitive, I know.) Interestingly, 24% said removing tech would make it more stressful but 25% said it would be more peaceful.
Teenage Bloggers?
This was an interesting discussion, as we’ve had many clients come to us looking for a blogger outreach campaign that targets teens. The panel shared that the number of teen bloggers has dropped by more than half, which they attributed to the following:
- Nina: Blogging hasn’t updated for new social situations.
- Matt expanded on this, hypothesizing that people today (and especially teens) want to hear things from multiple people, quickly. While the need for self-expression is still there (evidenced by the amount of UGC both created and consumed by teens), the way UGC is consumed has become bite-sized, like due to people’s days move more quickly.
- Sarahjane: Teens want something EASY. “While blogging is easy, blogging on Tumblr is REALLY easy!”
What’s leading – technology or culture?
This discussion began as the classic chicken or the egg question applied to the evolving digital world, but the panelists quickly agreed that culture is driving technological shifts. As Matt pointed out, you can’t force anything on consumers anymore, and especially not teens. The internet has allowed for a culture where the people have control. Advertisers no longer control (at least not 100%) the people’s perceptions of a brand, because people talk.
Sarahjane shared an example from her work at Formspring, where colleges are using the platform for recruiting and communicating with new students. Questions like “where do I get toilet paper on campus” are surfacing and the platform has provided a way for students to find the answers they’re too embarrassed to ask. Sarah explained that rather than going to a website where the school dictates conversation based on what they think students need to know, Formspring lets teens find answer to what they actually want to know, and colleges have started responding back.
So, how do you reach teens online?
- Remember teens are just like any other target audience — people with wants and needs. Give them what they want and you’ll be successful, but understand that they don’t want something they already have. So, if you’re trying to build a new Facebook, stop.
- Teens want to be heard and now that social media has provided an outlet for that, they expect you to listen. You need to not only tell them you’re listening, but show it in the product you provide.
- Teens have grown up in fast moving culture and social media has made it so teens are no longer willing to wait weeks for a handwritten response from their pen pal to turn up in the mailbox. They expect instantaneous responses to their needs.
