Peter Sheahan - Generation Y Blog

Do Australians watch too much TV

The latest survey on Media habits from the US says that in 2005 the average American will watch 1760 hours or more of Television. That is more than 5 hours a day. I don't know where they get these figures, but say they are accurate. That is 2.5 months a year. GET A LIFE! The question is are Australians the same? Some of the research I collated for my soon-to-be released book on Generation Y suggests that the average Gen Y'er has 5 hours of screen time a day, shared between TV, Computer and Games.

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y want CONTROL!

Have you heard of Podcasting? Well it is like the Ipod users way of replacing radio. Whilst still very much in its infancy it is just a nother example of users (mainly young users) wanting to have control over their experiences. Imagine a radio station that only played what you wanted.

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y need to express themselves

Check out the teen movie festival. It is phenomenal the number of young Gen Y'ers making their own movies. We have seen the same in recent times with young Aussie films makers doing very well with their creative pieces.

http://reveries.com/cool_news/2005/march/mar_2a.html

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y want to make a difference

I am hearing stories from all around the world of Generation Y'ers putting their hands up and also sticking them in their rpockets to help with the Tsunami relief. It is not surprising when you consider that volunteerism for the older Gen Y'ers is at 27% compared to just 17% for Gen X when they were the same age. Generation Y want to make a difference, believe deeply in acause, and thankfully are alos willing to do something about it.

Gen Y Tribes

I was surfing SpinSweeneyReport site today and did their "What tribe are you" online quiz. I found out that I was a Life Mapper. This got me thinking of Tribes. I dug a little deeper and found that according to Gen Y there are a few more tribes than those I read on the site. According to Gen Y's surveyed in the DNA Ignite Youth report they listed the following:

annoying smart kids
blacks bloodz
brown nosers
cheerleaders
cryptz
dipsetz (huh?)
dorks
drama kids
football team
freshman punks
funny kids
gangstas
gays
ghetto
goths
hardcore
hispans
honorz
japs
jocks
latin kings
music kids
musicians
nerdy kids
normals
outkasts
popular
potheads
preps
punks
rappers
retards
skaters
smart kids
socks (huh?)
spanyards
stoners
strate-edge
thespians
thugs
underground
varsity
white boiz
whites

Generation Y power

Omigosh, have Apple forgotten why they are so cool, and who it is that actually helpde re build their rapidly dieing brand. They are trying to sue the publisher of a tech/computer news Website, who turns out to be only 19 years old. They are trying to sue Nicholas Ciarelli for a drop in their share price as a result of "leaked" information he released on his site (which he started when he was 13). How cool is that? A lone Gen Y'er can damage the stock price of one of the America's fortune 500 companies. The power of Gen Y, and their willingness to communicate to the WORLD! Admittedly is is pretty bright. He is currently a Freshman at Harvard.

Check out his site http://www.thinksecret.com/

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y are Multi-Taskers

Generation Y can certainly do more than one thing at a time. According to a recent Bolt Quarterly Tracking Study in the US 66% of teens report being online while watching television at least some of the time, while a remarkable 16% reporting they are online while watching TV almost all the time.

A talented generation wouldn't you say?

http://www.bolt.com/

www.petersheahan.com

Who says Generation Y have short attention spans?

I tend to agree with this blog post below that shows there has been no empirical evidence that youth have a shorter attention span then adults. I know in my experience I find it just as easy to keep the attention of 200 16 year olds, providing I am speaking their language in a way they want to receive it, as I do 200 adults.

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2004/11/12/youth_exotification_and_hysteria.html

www.petersheahan.com

Generation Y are Entrepreneurial

The ABS estimates that 1 in 5 Gen Y'ers will start their own business. This 23 year old in the US has just started a great one. She burns your CD's to your computer so you can upload them to your Ipod. I am literally sitting on my desk right now, with about 80 CD's I put onto my PC over Christmas which is less than 10% of my collection. Where am I going to find the time to do the rest. I am tempted to find someone in Australia to do the same for me.

http://www.hungrypod.com/

www.petersheahan.com

Teen Movies Illustrate the Genuinine Diversity of Generation Y

Imagine it: A teen movie where the two cool lead characters are an Asian and an Indian student. Actually don't imagine it. Watch it. It is called Harold & Kumar go to White Castle. It is your typical teen boys flick talking about women, their anantomy and smoking pot. Not original by any stretch except for the fact that the lead characters are an Asian and an Indian. Gen Y are a culturally diverse, and more importantly accepting generation.

www.petersheahan.com