Twitter? As If!

Sorry Twitter. Teens just aren’t that into you. And Facebook – you’re next.

I just read this article in the Financial Times about how Social Media sites are losing popularity with the young. I’m really not surprised.

I find it weird that anyone ever assumed that teenagers (sometimes called Millennials by marketers) used Twitter. I haven’t seen many teens at all ever on or talking about the service. Twitter is definitely for us old guys. It seems to have a magical appeal for the Gen X-ers (Possibly Gen Y too) and older. Definitely for geeks and for techies. As a matter of fact, my teen (I asked him) says he and his friends don’t use Facebook much at all either and rarely utilize Social Networks, except for MySpace perhaps.

Teens are more about texting, photo sharing (my son claims Photobucket is very popular with his peers) they use and IM (still). Again, except for MySpace, teens seem to want super-fast communication that is limited to access between their friends only (sometimes exclusive of other peers entirely – cliques) and not public (parents or others can’t just search out them and find them there.) MySpace was popular, I think, with teens because it didn’t catch on very much with older people like Facebook did. Also, MySpace was much more customizable than any other Social Newtorking website, which for teens was a bonus letting them express their individuality through colors, backgrounds and pictures but was more of a turn-off to anyone older, seeming a little schlocky.

Twitter is actually too much work for teens, believe it or not and Facebook is too open and static looking. It’s also too popular, especially now and their parents, family, etc. are always requesting to friend them there. I think teens keep Facebook profiles for the family interaction but it’s more of a big Gen X site (and Baby Boomers more and more too.)

Teens like their privacy and individuality at least as it pertains to their social group. They also want to have the perception at least thet they live in their own world. They make up fashions and styles, adopt musical tastes that never fail to offend their parents and speak in an ever more colorful series of slang language. (i.e. Valley Girl talk in the 1980s, Hippie slang from the 1960s or the Beat language of the 1950s?)

Don’t you remember when you were a teenager? Did you go in for anything that you even remotely thought your parents were involved in? Didn’t you actually go out of your way to reject things as passe as soon as the parents got hip to it? Did you want to fly under the radar? Twitter is too popular for them, believe it or not, as is Facebook. IM is quick, private and personal. It can be turned off and hidden from parent as can texting (for the most part).

So I am not surprised to learn that kids aren’t taking to social networks (at least the popular ones) in record numbers as they were before. If I were a youth marketer, I’d be concentrating on iPods, mobile phones, text and IM. That’s where you’ll find the kids – on ever smaller and smaller screens.