Is Facebook losing its attraction to younger users?

With more than 900 million users, Facebook remains the most popular online hangout. But some younger people are turning their attention elsewhere. They are checking out new mobile apps, hanging out on Tumblr and Twitter, and sending text messages from their phones.  The table on the right is conducted by a market research company, Survata.  It shows that newer social networks are having an increasing market share among younger users.  Tumblr, which allows users to post multimedia short blogs, has been gaining a large number of younger users in recent years. 

Sociology Graduate Assistant Nathan Jurgenson says people actually choose the social networking sites that their friends are already on.  Therefore, peer influence encourages more and more youth to make similar choices.  

From Jurgenson's point, popularity creates a huge impact on people's choice.  Younger teens are more likely to be affected by their peers because they have a smaller social circle.  Teens have to follow their peers' activity in order to get involved in their social circle. This is why the population of teens switching to other social network sites is tremendous and has caused a movement toward newer social network sites such as Twitter and Tumblr.

Three reasons can explain the new trend in teens' social network choice.

Specialization develops a simpler and more direct interface. 
New social networking sites that are specialized in either text-status or visual elements have generated big differences from Facebook's traditional interface that combines articles, photos, videos, as well as plenty of ads.  Young people are increasingly favoring specialized social networking sites, typically those with a visual twist, which can get more teens hooked to them in 2013.  Snapchat, a photo messaging service that destroys sent images moments after they are received, is shuttling about 60 million pictures between phones per day, mostly from teenagers. Pheed, a Twitter-meets-Instagram-meets-YouTube hybrid social network that originally attracted creative types when it launched last fall, added a million new users in February, partially because teenagers started tweeting about the great visual experience it offers to them.  In addition, there is a growing number of teens who are interested in building up their own blogs.  Many teens state that a well-built blog could be a creative and natural representation of themselves and impress friends with their unique design and content.  In a word, teens are seeking some specialized words out of social media, such as photo, hash tag, and blog.  Thus, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Snapchat are becoming more attractive to young users because they are simple and convey information directly.

Young users tend to hide themselves from parents in order to protect their privacy.

College students are more used to having older people including family members, professors, and recruiters on their friend list because it is necessary to network with other parts of society for their future career.  However, it is not necessary for  younger teens.  As for the concern of privacy, part of Tumblr's success is no doubt due to the fact that it's a place where you can cultivate two or more identities, whereas on Facebook you're stuck with just one: the real you.  Since the population on Facebook is so big, people can easily develop hundreds of friends, including their teachers and parents.  According to the recent survey done by TopTenReviews, 43% of teens say they would change their online behavior if they knew that their parents were watching them; 39% think their online activity is private from everyone, including parents; 38% would feel offended if they found out their parents were spying on them with Facebook.  Teens feel that their parents are stalking them by checking their Facebook and commenting on most of their news feed, which limits their freedom of posting new content.  As parents seek newer methods of monitoring their children on Facebook, younger users are switching to newer social network sites that their parents have not joined yet.  

Teens are building up relationships with close friends rather than oversharing on Facebook.
Hundreds of photos from a recent vacation and status updates about an acquaintance amounted to bragging — force-feeding Facebook friends information they did not ask for.  Hence, they would like to filter out their close friends from their acquaintances to avoid receiving unnecessary news feed. Twitter, teens say, just feels more private and intimate. They can use pseudonyms or private locked accounts so their tweets stay between friends. Twitter also enables teens to have fun as a group, jumping on trending topics by means of using hash tags.  It seems they become more aware of whom they share life with and what they want to share.  Therefore, unlike older social network users who keep an eye on recruiters, professors and acquaintances in their friend list, teenagers spend less time on Facebook but browse Tumblr and Twitter more frequently to develop a closer relationship within small groups of friends.

Next wave of younger users might prefer a "ephemeral" experience in social networks.
Jurgenson states an idea about Snapchat regarding the creativity and variability of younger generation.  Snapchat allows online contents to be fleeting and temporary.  In other words, teens might feel that using Snapchat is more like a game since the content would not stay there for long and does not bring future effects. 

Jurgenson makes an interesting prediction regarding a trend in social networking innovation.  Since younger users are focused on specialization, controlled privacy, and closer relationships, Snapchat actually meets these needs.  On the mobile devices that have become so central to our lives, "ephemeral" apps like Snapchat have emerged as a private way for friends to share photos.  In the age where a sense of online privacy is very sacred, being able to communicate without leaving a permanent record is empowering.  Facebook might keep losing its attraction to younger users because they are seeking for a new way to communicate more than solely focusing on social networks.    

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Media in persuasion: marketing goods and instilling values

We live in an environment dense with temptations. A large portion of the population makes a living by simply getting others to comply with their requests. Conservative estimates suggest that "a person will receive up to 400 persuasive appeals from marketers alone in the course of a single day." Each year, the average American spends 1550 hours of TV, listens to 1160 hours of radio, and spends 290 hours reading newspapers and magazines. 

The impact of persuasion is distinguished from different age groups.

In this case, while ads can be faked and cause excessive spending, the government sponsors positive media to persuade children to view these ads wisely.  The Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission sponsored a website called Admongo which urges youngsters to always ask three questions: “Who is responsible for the ad? What is the ad actually saying? What does the ad want me to do?”  Since the youth have less experience in media persuasion and the largest curiosity in new goods, such as toys, video games, and digital devices, they are most likely to be convinced to buy goods while their parents pay for their bills.  Admongo, an online source, is playing a positive role teaching the youth about a rational way to view the advertisings on TV, radio, and printed media.    

Persuasive media includes not only ads, but also celebrities who might implant arguable value to the audience.   For instance, younger adults may be familiar with a famous reality show called “Jersey Shore” on the MTV channel.  This TV program plays a controversial role among the pubic because it discloses a wild life and exaggerates the relationship between men and women.  Although most young people just watch it for fun, a lot of fans find the celebrity life style appealing.  There is no doubt the TV show is designed to entertain the audience, yet we should also think about how it might bring the wrong values to young people in terms of inappropriate sexual behaviors and friendship management.

Persuasion in the media brings tremendous benefits for brand marketing.  

A classical example is Nike’s marketing technique.  The market of sports products is one of the most competitive markets in the world.  Thus, having a strong product development team is not enough to gain more market share.  More importantly, an experienced and creative marketing team is the key to success.  There was a time in our history when Reebok sold more shoes than Nike.  But to succeed, Nike relied on the "Just Do It" campaign.  "Just Do It" is short and sweet, yet encapsulated everything people felt when they were exercising -- and that feeling remains the same today. Don’t want to run 5 miles? Just Do It. Don’t want walk up stairs to the 10th floor? Just Do It.  It is universally true that you can always push yourself to go further.  So Nike exposes itself to a variety of customers, such as the young, the elderly, business people, and athletes by providing more choices to satisfy their needs and preferences.  Nike is not just selling their products by means of relying on its athletic functions.  What is more, it is inculcating their customers with an active life style, which implies what makes you healthy and fashionable is wearing Nike. By hitting on that core issue in its marketing, Nike connects with consumers on an emotional level that is hard to ignore. 

The Nike+ Running App is keeping up with the digital era.

Although we see a large amount of TV commercials, outdoor ads and celebrities promoting Nike effectively, Nike is also moving forward to adapt to fit the most popular devices, such as smart phones and Apple products.  If you have an iPod or an iPhone, you can get a paid app called Nike + iPod  sensor which calculates your running results and wirelessly sends your workout data to nikeplus.com from wherever you are on the road.  With iPod nano, your data is sent to nikeplus.com when you connect it to your Mac or PC.  In light of multiple wireless connections, people around the world are able to interact with each other’s workout experience and track self-performance in consistency.  Most importantly, this app optimally functions with a pair of Nike+ running shoes.  Also, as I know, some celebrities in Hong Kong are regularly posting their workout results on microblogs to show how the app works.

The role of media in persuasion is getting more diverse.  While TV commercials, printed media, apps and online ads are all considered “traditional” in this era, in order to seek more exposure, marketers tends to incorporate their strategies into fashion shows, social networks and public events to attract more awareness.  

3D is involved in Entertainment, Medicine, and Manufacturing industry.

                           Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

According to Wikipedia, 3D is defined as a "three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer."  Having mastered 3D technology, we can apply it to modeling, scanning, printing, etc.  However, 3D technology is also popular in the field of entertainment.  The use of 3D technology in TVs, laptops and other products is growing because motion and visual effects are required to be more vivid and attractive in sports and movies. Lately, instead of going to a movie theater to watch a 3D movie, we can actually gain the same experience at home by watching TVs that feature 3D displays. 

Now the 3D technology has been applied to multiple fields, including artifacts management, industrial production, medical treatment.
For example, “Replicator 2” made by MakerBot, as you see in the picture above, enables 3D printing to be reachable for household.  As 3D printing desktop models become less expensive, it will be a tool of high efficiency, which releases most labor needed on repair and eliminates the possibility of work injury.  Bre Pettis, the chief executive officer of MakerBot, proudly claimed, “We have stories of people who have fixed their blenders, fixed their espresso machine.”

The latest development introduced in the Wall Street Journal is the 3D printing of human organs. 
Rather than simply getting entertained by 3D technology, this is a life-saving improvement in 3D history.  In the real case stated in the article, in order to "print" a new ear for a 5-year-old child, doctors borrowed the cartilage from a cow, and modeled his sibling's ear.  

Last week, President Obama pushed manufacturers to utilize 3D printing as a more efficient way in terms of raising productivity and reducing manufacturing waste.
3D technology has been widely spreading in the field of visual effects. In addition to its entertainment usage, 3D printing seems to come up as a more eye-catching topic these days.  Last week, President Obama cited this fascinating technology during his State of the Union address.  He pushed manufacturers to utilize 3D printing as a more efficient way in terms of raising productivity and reducing manufacturing waste. President Obama said, “A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.”  His words ensure that 3D technology will play an important role in the manufacturing industry in the near future.  Other than government facilitation, a famous TV drama, Big Bang Theory, has a recent episode including the topic of 3D printing.  Raj, a main character in this episode said that 3D printing would help the U.S. to shift back its manufacturing from the sweatshops in China.  The propaganda via media is visible evidence of the embrace of 3D technology today.

However, the opposite opinions indicate that problems remain in the field of 3D development.  
First, 3D videos could cause potential hurt on eye and brain if watching 3D content for too long due to failure to adjust to both the distance of the physical screen and 3D content.  Hence, we need to be extremely careful about duration of children watching 3D TV or playing 3D game, because watching 3D content for too long will cause bad impact on eyes.  Second, based on CitronResearch, which is run by California-based investor and notable short-seller Andrew Left, although 3D printing was promoted by President Obama, the fact is 3D printing has been overvalued and has made limited advances.  The 3D stocks rallied after President Obama’s statement implies a high expectation from the public.  We cannot deny that 3D printing might be an important element to help with manufacturing innovation, but the 3D printing products still require further work or material improvement before they become a reliable and durable commodity.

Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP5d138684a2eb48aba8affade5e0d52aa.html?KEYWORDS=3D+printing

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/disruptions-3-d-printing-is-on-the-fast-track/?hpw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_computer_graphics

My very first blog

Hello everyone, this is Lilly.  I am a sophomore major in Marketing.  Glad we had a super beautiful weather today!  Most people were thinking about that the bad weather was about to be wrapped up.  However, my science teacher reminded us of the outcome of Global warming.  Hmmmm..maybe.  It was abnormal to have such a warm day in the middle of winter.

I will keep you guys updated!