Comments on: Social Media, Millennials and Obama…and FDR?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:37:00 +0000

Ari Herzog makes a good point. Being that one major aspect of Web 2.0 is that it fosters interacation (i.e., two-way versus one-way communication) I was surprised that the Obama address on YouTube, which is posted by ChangeDotGov, does not allow for comments, as indicated by the message “Adding comments has been disabled for this video.”

By: Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:33:00 +0000

I await the use of social media as the primary communication tool from an Obama White House. I don't see it yet. Even the YouTube broadcast yesterday was a secondary thought to a radio address, and did you notice how his head kept bobbing between the teleprompter and the video camera?

An integrated communication campaign will have to be used to reach all segments of the world, but time and geography, as you say, is catching up to Capitol Hill when they will have no choice but to use social media as the only communicative means.

The remaining question is whether the White House will "use" social media as a one-way communications medium, or as a give-and-take conversation?

By: Andrew Krzmarzick

Andrew Krzmarzick — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:18:00 +0000

Connectingthedots,

Thanks for your comments. You are absolutely right about Generation Jones. Most experts only cite four generations, but there is something unique about the birth cohort between Boomers and Gen X.

In addition, I am beginning to see a split among Millennials as well. Those born around 1985 are less into the array of Web 2.0/social media tools and more focused on MySpace/Facebook as the primary tool. Moreover, this group born after 1985 use cell phones for communication more than web-based tools.

Thus, the true "Web 2.0 generation" may be an entirely separate cohort that spans 30 years (1954 to 1984) with those born after 1984 being more akin to a Web 3.0 generation, who will access the web almost exclusively via mobile devices in the years to come.

Thanks again for your comments

By: ConnectingTheDots

ConnectingTheDots — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Thought-provoking post and blog. Relevant to your comments is the fact that many experts have argued these days that there are five, not four generations in the U.S., including Obama’s generation: Generation Jones…the heretofore lost generation between the Boomers and Gen X, now 42-54 years old.

I’ve noticed quite a bit of buzz about GenJones in the context of this election; I saw several discussions on national TV about Obama being a Joneser, as well as about GenJones voters being a key swing vote.

You may find this link interesting, my friends and I have been linking people to this page because we think it matters: it has a bunch of print excerpts and videos of big time publications (e.g. The New York Times, Newsweek, etc.) and pundits (e.g. David Brooks, Clarence Page, etc.) all talking about Obama’s identity as part of Generation Jones: http://www.generationjones.com/2008election.html