Social media and brand impact

Never underestimate the impact of social media on brands - particularly among Generation Y - our most voracious social media-jockeys.

I was recently sent this from a social media ezine - it's worth checking out:

More than 80 million YouTube videos are watched every day. In fact you could argue that YouTube is the single most influential form of media available today. Which makes the corporate world's mostly blinkered attitude to its value and sometimes its potential threat to a company's reputation all the more surprising.. .http://www.socialme diainfluence. com/2008/ 04/the-youtube- top.html

Don't panic.....they're not so different after all

Last night I had the pleasure of facilitating part of a BBC 'Yoof' event in Southampton. A group of 16-21 year olds came together and, as well as touring the Corporation's HQ in the South and having a play on a BBC Technology Bus, fed back their views on TV, radio and the internet, sharing their feelings about everything from sport and drama to whether Radio 1 is getting better or worse.

We were all geared up for a generation stating they never watch TV; that they get their news via the internet and spend all their time on Facebook and YouTube. While a couple had uploaded content to YouTube, and most had profiles on the Facebook or Bebo (or both!), the way they accessed their media was reassuringly familiar to those of us aged 40+ in the room.

Most loved the BBC's dramas and used BBC for their news. Very many still watched TV with their parents and nearly all woke up to the dulcet(?!) tones of Chris Moyles. They still watched TV according to the published schedules. Almost none had downloaded podcasts and not a single one had downloaded content to a mobile phone.

No doubt they'll all be adopting new ways of accessing and interacting with the media in the future, but for now, Generation Y is nothing like as geeky as the magicians of social media would have us believe.

Small boy, big blazer

Something of a rite of passage in the Shanahan household this week as Rory moved up to senior school. Money's now being bet on whether he'll grow into his new blazer before he wears it out - and the tie has already slipped down the shirt front, with the top button open after just two days as an upper school boy.

Sophie moved into the juniors at PRPS, meaning my Generation Ys are now at three different schools, providing the usual logistical nightmares when it comes to mornings, school events and non-overlapping-holidays. Of course, L_B didn't make the pre-school photo shoot. She's a teenager and had an extra day's holiday. So at 8am was still fast asleep. All credit to her though, she's first out most mornings and moved yesterday from six weeks of total laziness to being first up and dressed in the house.

So, with the most tenuous of links, my task today is to write about Generation Ys going into the workforce - those Millennials, born after 1980 who have graduated in the 21st century.

Quite different from my generation, they've grown up without first hand knowledge of the Cold War, Vietnam, the Falklands - and have virtually no knowledge of life before the Internet.

Few have ever known failure - though many have collected certificates for lower attainment success. Umbillically joined to their phones and lap tops they're truly the first electronic generation - networked to hundreds and used to living life vicariously.

Pampered by parents, protected from criticism by an education system built on praise, and most likely to have seen death and destruction only on PS2, the world of work can come as a rude awakening to a generation who've had to make few decisions for themselves. But they're our future - no, they're now.........and make a fun subject to write about on a Friday.