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Four Generations and Social Networking, Part 2

By Jack McDaniel The results of my generational survey are in, and they’re… interesting. (You can find a recap of the survey’s explanation and description here.) The survey population consisted of 27 people:

• 4 members of the Silent Generation (Born 1925–1942)
• 8 members of the Boomer Generation (Born 1943–1960)
• 5 members of the Generation X (Born 1961–1981)
• 10 members of the Millennials (Born 1982–2002)

Again, this is a highly unscientific, totally unvalidated and thoroughly wacky survey. Kids, don’t try this at home without the recommended protective gear. For an actual, well-researched study on generational differences in the workplace, check out this press release. I’ve seen different cut-off points for each generation. These are defined by Neil Howe and William Strauss. Here are a few of my impressions. Most Favorite: Millennials and Gen X’ers Win All Thumb Wars Text messaging (texting) is the clear favorite of the younger generations. When asked why, a common theme was the immediacy and convenience it provided. Interestingly, several millennials mentioned that it was “less awkward than a phone call.” Are our oral discursive skills atrophying as our written skills strengthen? (Oh, wait; have you seen how people spell when texting?)





  MySpace and Facebook: Use with Caution Hot opinions from all age groups came in about MySpace and Facebook. Millennials were worried about “giving away personal stuff,” while several Boomers and Gen X’ers warned of sexual predators using the tool. One younger participant noted that “It’s more about making your profile look cool and how many friends you have than actually communicating with anyone.” Yet these were also in the “favorites” category for many.         Despite the Hype, These People Aren’t Twittering Only one person in the survey group actually twitters – tweets? – whatever – on a regular basis. I’m dubious that this will have any staying power. To me, it’s redundant to texting. Perhaps some Future Shock use will emerge, but right now, how many times can you post “Going to the store; gonna get gas first” and not bore people to death?     Email Isn’t Going Away No matter what generation you belong to, email is still an extremely popular option for staying in touch with friends and loved ones. More than once it was touted as the “traditional” social networking tool. As a matter of fact, didn’t Jefferson and Adams correspond by email?                       I noted a few differences between the generations, the most striking being what attributes each generation valued in a social networking tool. The more tenured among us prefer tools that allow us to take time to compose our thoughts, while the youngsters look for connectedness and immediacy with our peers. Of course, this is only one point of view, and I could be completely batty. If so, here’s an invitation to set me straight. What differences have you experienced between the generations, and what’s important to you in a socialization tool?

Four Generations and Social Networking, Part 1

By Jack McDaniel I’ve been fascinated with generational studies for several years since picking up the excellent book Millennials Rising by Neil Howe and William Strauss. (You might recall their ground-breaking book on generational theory, the pithily named Generations.) At an AchieveGlobal event for trainers last year, we covered topics from training ROI to the latest trends. While everyone was engaged throughout, the energy spiked when we discussed options for engaging four generations of learners now in the workplace. That day sent the hamster into overdrive running the wheel inside my head. Anecdotal evidence implies a wide disparity among how different generation use social-networking tools. My father-in-law, who once watched the New York Giants play football at the Polo Grounds, has one favorite social-networking tool ... the telephone (and I don’t mean a 3G touch-screen texting machine). On the other hand, my teenage daughters give new meaning to the word connected. Some days I feel like a befuddled Arthur Dent in their hip new Ford Prefect world. So I suspected a connection, like peanut butter and chocolate, between each generation and its social-networking tools. In the spirit of crackpot science, I slapped together a totally invalidated, extemporaneous survey and forced my friends, family, co-workers, and all their friends to complete it. The survey contained very few questions, with a 1 – 5 scale for the first two (What tools do you use? And how often?). I asked participants to identify their most and least favorites, and tell me why. And, of course, I asked them to identify their generation. My arbitrary list of tools covers the most popular – at least in North America:

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Skype
• LinkedIn
• Blogs
• Discussion forums
• Email
• Text messaging
• Internet messaging

Next week I’ll reveal and analyze my survey results. In the meantime, I would love to hear from anyone with an interest in this confluence of generations working and learning together. Are their differences real, or overblown? Are younger generations wired differently, or are any “delta factors” due solely to behavioral and environmental differences? Tell me what you think.