 | Ypulse Daily Update 05.27.09
Directory and more at Ypulse.com | |  | Quick Links Ypulse Essentials: NBA Stars Go Virtual, 'Buffy' Without Joss Whedon, DTXTR Posted by meredith Only 4 short days until the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event in San Francisco! Register today before it's too late! Enter the code READER for 30 percent off.  Tweet shot (how young NBA players are connecting with fans through social media including Twitter and virtual worlds. Plus, the Vatican adds a Facebook app to help young people connect with the Pope) (MediaPost, reg. required)
- Grads flock to Washington, D.C. (because of the high availability of jobs in the area.) (Washington Post, reg. required)
- American Girl vs. Disney (in the battle over ethnically sensitive characters for young girls, Slate spin-off XX rules in favor of the doll company. Plus, Marvel launches Models, Inc., a comic book series featuring "Project Runway" style guru Tim Gunn) (XX) (Today)
- 'Buffy' without Joss Whedon?! (talk of a reboot without the show's creator understandably shocks and appalls fans of the original TV series. Plus, skeptical reviews are posted on the Facebook page for ABC Family's reboot of "10 Things I Hate About You") (EW)
- The kids ARE alright (a Canadian sociologist espouses the virtues of a generation with good values, less risky tendencies and a solid relationship with their parents) (Globe and Mail)
- Post-recession outlooks abroad (in the UK, most 18 to 24 year olds believe their living standards will not return to pre-recession levels for more than a decade. Meanwhile, Gen Y workers in Australia have a slightly more, um, optimistic expectation that their their salaries will jump by more than 10 percent over the next year according to The Melbourne Institute Wage report) (ninemsn)
- Disney Channel goes global (as Disney rebrands its television stations in Central and Eastern Europe for 12 million households) (BizJournals)
- Axe sponsors Hampton night club (the club will feature Axe products in the restrooms, Axe themed drinks, and ahem "subtle branding" Plus, more details on Pepsi and MTV's Rock Band competition i) (PSFK) (DMM News)
- Teens' online risk status (linked to provocative profile pics and real-life abuse according to a recent study. Jezebel weighs in) (CNN)
- DTXTR (LG launches a slightly ridiculous application that enables parents to translate words teens tend to use when they're sending text messages into longhand) (TechCrunch)
Posted in: Ypulse Essentials If Too Much Texting Endangers Teens' Health, Aren't We All In Trouble? Posted by meredith  Yesterday, The New York Times ran a piece on texting in its Health section with physicians and psychologists expressing their concerns that excessive text messaging may lead to "anxiety, distraction in school, falling grades, repetitive stress injury and sleep deprivation" among teens.
Just among teens? A tech-driven need for constant availability and information updates has spread throughout our culture. In fact, as we get older and are expected to self-regulate (vs. accepting our parents' restrictions), these symptoms not only persist , but grow even more intense. Especially when the environment switches from the classroom to the office where we not only are attached to our phones, but our computers, perpetually on call for both social and professional purposes (and all of the blurry reasons that fall somewhere in between). Of course, upon reaching the latter phase, the expectation from those around you is that you will always make time to respond (regardless of sleep). Talk about anxiety-provoking.
So, yes, teens may be embracing these tools for the adolescent reasons of "knowing what's going on in the lives of their peers...coupled by, a terrific anxiety about being out of the loop," as pointed out by psychotherapist Michael Hausauer in the article, but aren't they also just mimicking and preparing themselves for the behavior they'll be expected to exhibit as a college student and later on as a professional? In any case, I believe the "cure" doesn't lie so much in hand-wringing or policing usage, as much as it does in having honest dialogues about the scientific and emotional side effects of tech dependence as experienced by both generations. After all, teens aren't blind to their parents' unhealthy practices (a 13-year old quoted in the article proves as much), and are probably pretty in touch with the physical and emotional stresses they're experiencing as a result of their own tech habits. Who knows? These talks may even inspire a lasting change in both generational camp's technology use.
Sorta Related
Gen Y Learns There's No Clocking Out When You're Always Plugged In
Social Media Ties, Technology Addiction Can Strain Interpersonal Relationships [Chicago Tribune]
Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Web Ypulse Interview: Lauren Puglia, Undercurrent Posted by meredith Today's Ypulse Interview is with Lauren Puglia, a strategist at the digital think tank Undercurrent. Lauren will be appearing on the panel "What's Cool in 2009 and Beyond" at the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup. To hear more on the rising trends and fading fads, save a last minute seat and register today!
Ypulse: Can you describe a little more about what Undercurrent does and their general philosophy towards connecting with youth?
Lauren Puglia: Undercurrent is a digital think tank that develops strategies for deeper and more lasting relationships in the digital space. We used to focus on helping brands connect with folks that were born digital, but now we help them connect with a much broader group, as we're all increasingly addicted to technology (social or otherwise). Our philosophy for engaging youth is to focus on passionate fans (finding them and/or making them) and to be as transparent and honest as possible. Be who you are, and if you don't like who you are, change it. We talk to people based on their passions, habits, and behaviors rather than demographics, which don't make sense on the Internet. In this way, we connect with youth in the same way that we connect with everyone else, by listening and talking back. Oh, and quite a few of us ARE youth.
YP: What recent trends have you fascinated by? Are there any that seem more like passing fads?
LP: Location tracking and digitally tagging the real world (for an example check out playfoursquare.com). Fads? How about celebrities on Twitter.
YP: How has social media changed for Gen Y in this past year with the rise of Twitter and their fatigue with Facebook and MySpace? How do you account for this change and what does it mean for brands?
LP: Born digitals aren't going to abandon Facebook any time soon. Facebook was a part of their upbringing, although it doesn't serve as distinct a purpose for them anymore. Facebook will continue to be a part of the daily online routine, but the excitement has worn off. It's going from being the digital place to express yourself within your small network to something more ubiquitous like email. (How can it be the street corner if all of your teachers and grandparents are signed in?). As people are more comfortable with their online identities, they are becoming more open to public networks like Twitter, where it's easy to meet like-minded people and expand the social graph. Twitter is also indicative of people wanting to consume media in a bit-size chunk rather than sitting down to read an entire magazine. As for brands, this is an opportunity to easily listen to what consumers are saying in public turf and to create direct channels for conversation, be it promotional or for customer service.
YP: Could you name one or two brands who recently did a successful job spotting and leveraging technology trends?
LP: We are fans of JetBlue, Starbucks and Whole Foods on Twitter and H&M and Dell Small Business on Facebook.
More on Lauren
 Lauren is a strategist at Undercurrent, a digital think tank based in New York City, where she works with Pepsi. She is a people person: she likes listening, observing and talking to them. She also is fascinated with the differences between subculture and pop culture and technology's role in speeding up the trend cycle. Prior to joining Undercurrent, Lauren worked at Deep Focus, where she led innovative digital strategies for entertainment, lifestyle and fashion brands including HBO, Dewar's, Havaianas and Vitaminwater. Lauren likes to split her time exploring the globe via her laptop screen and using her feet. She is very, very afraid to unplug. Her personal blog is fortheartofit.
For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection. Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Web | 2009 Mashup | Youth Marketing Don't Want To Miss A Minute Of Mashup? Follow Our Live Coverage! Posted by meredith With four short days to go until the Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event in San Francisco, we wanted to let those of you attending (both in person and virtually) know the best ways to keep tabs on all the Mashup happenings. As always, after the event we'll be posting pictures on Flickr (unfortunately no video this year. Sorry guys!) And now for the details on our on-site coverage...
Live-Blogging
Thanks to the services of our two generous volunteer bloggers, Valerie Kameya and Eric Martinez, attendees will be able to follow the event (including pre-conferences and breakout sessions) on the Cover It Live site on the Ypulse Live Blogs section as well as here on the Ypulse site or the Mashup event site.
Twitter
I (Meredith) will be tweeting occasional observations from the Ypulse Mashup Twitter account under the hashtag #ypulse09.
Other 2009 Ypulse National Marketing Mashup Tags to search under (Twitter hashtags, Upcoming, Flickr, Delicious, Digg, Twine, CiL)
ypulse
ypulsewest09
ymmw
youthmarketing
brandmarketing
youthstrategy
digitalyouth
digitalstrategy
wiredteacher09
Look forward to seeing you (and tweeting for you) next week! Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Web | 2009 Mashup | Youth Marketing | 2009 Mashup
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