Matthew Robson, in presenting a well-written report, sent waves through SM-ville yesterday. I’ve mentioned my own experience as a digital native. My gut-wrenching analysis didn’t garner as much popularity but reads awful similar.
I didn’t have co-writers or fill three pages and wasn’t published by the Morgan Stanley. It wasn’t covered by Bloomberg or The Telegraph or Mashable. Still, I have just as many facts in mine and it’s presented the same way.
Twitter went nuts and people were holding it as evidence the youngest of the online population are ignoring… well… Twitter. Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the report saying anything of the sort.
It’s a smartly transcribed bit of news from a teenager about his friends and their friends and their friends. It’s interesting and thoughtful, especially for someone only aged 15, but what’s the big deal?
Teens (in the First World) more than anyone were raised with immediate and easy access to billions of bytes of anything they liked. They’ve similarly been bombarded with advertisements and promotions from all angles since their retinas started to distinguish shapes and colors.
Free music for those older meant radio, now MP3 is shorthand for the same thing. No one’s watching as much television, able to avoid the bombardment of inane commercials on sites like Hulu. Who really likes billboards or obtrusive advertising?
Many are entirely clueless about Twitter and its ilk. Others fear a new bust around the corner. Still others see the future as glittering and shorter than 140 characters.
Robson makes interesting points but the massive discussion surrounding them is just a symptom of all the confusion.
UPDATE: Robson was covered by The Times this morning. It’s full of more obvious but emphasizes his being young. Heart-stopping and revolutionary stuff.
Photo courtesy BeliefNet.com
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