Graham Brown of mobileYouth http://www.mobileYouth.org With Facebook’s impending IPO, there is a lot of talk in the blogosphere about whether the phenomenal rise to prominence can continue ad infinitum? Teens, we are warned may be the first group of users to jump ship. If this is the case, then investors are worried that all the growth is priced into the share offer and we’ll end up with a company that has peaked by the time it goes public. Before we start the hand-wringing for Facebook’s demise we need to first understand what’s going on. Read more about The 3 Stages of Youth Social Media and what you need to know.

1. !
!
Facebook:))
Are)Teens)Fleeing)Social)Media?)
)
)
)
The)3)Stages)of)Youth)Social)Media)and)what)you)need)to)know:)
)
With! Facebook’s! impending! IPO! there! is! a! lot! of! talk! in! the! blogosphere! about!
whether! the! phenomenal! rise! to! prominence! can! continue! ad! infinitum.! Teens,!
we!are!warned,!may!be!the!first!group!of!users!to!jump!ship.!If!this!is!the!case,!
then!investors!are!worried!that!growth!is!already!priced!into!the!share!offer!and!
we’ll!end!up!with!a!company!that!has!peaked!by!the!time!it!goes!public.!
!
Before! we! start! the! handHwringing! for! Facebook’s! demise! we! need! to! first!
understand! what’s! going! on.! Because! Teens! are! becoming! less! prominent! on!
Facebook! doesn’t! mean! they’re! not! there.! What’s! happening! is! that! media! is!
entering! its! 3rd! stage! of! development:! from! Closed! to! Open! to! the! equilibrium!
position! of! “Discrete”.! In! this! model,! marketers! are! being! shut! out! of! open! real!
world!interactions.!The!traditional!broadcast!model!that!leveraged!Social!Media!
as!a!platform!for!greater!scale!is!now!hitting!a!brick!wall!of!silence.!That’s!why,!
most!mainstream!media!pundits!that!don’t!get!it,!take!the!silence!as!a!sign!that!
youth!have!fled!to!“the!next!big!thing”.!
!
Winning! youth! attention! in! the! 3rd! stage! of! media! requires! earning! rather! than!
buying! media! space.! In! this! instance,! mobile! brands! need! to! build! Permission!
Assets! to! house! youth! conversation.! This! means! building! the! tools! and!
supporting!not!interrupting!youth!social!interaction.!!
mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
!
!

2. !
!
Has) Marketer’s) Social) Media) Window) on) Youth) now)
Closed?)
!
Article!from!Forbes!
!
It! was! reported! earlier! this! week! that! for! a! second! month! in! a! row!
Facebook! is! losing! users! in! the! U.S.,! Britain! and! Canada.! ! The! news! has!
investors,! advertisers! and! media! companies! all! scratching! their! heads!
simply!because!it’s!so!unusual.!We’ve!all!been!following!the!meteoric!rise!
of!Facebook!for!just!over!seven!years!now,!and!the!thought!of!it!slowing!
down!is!a!very!difficult!idea!to!digest.!
!
A! closer! look! at! Facebook’s! global! usage! shows! that! it’s! actually! still!
growing! quite! quickly! in! other! countries! (Mexico! and! Brazil! continue! to!
add! a! few! million! new! users! per! month);! and! the! fact! that! it! has! yet! to!
enter! China,! the! country! with! the! largest! population! of! all,! should! be! an!
indication! that! it! ise! nowhere! near! the! end! of! its! reign.! ! It! is! very! likely!
that!sometime!shortly!after!its!rumored!hundred!billion!dollar!IPO!in!the!
first!quarter!of!next!year!it!will!find!its!billionth!user.!
!
That! said,! there! is! one! simple! rule! that! we! all! need! to! remember! as!
Facebook! navigates! beyond! the! plateau! in! growth! in! the! U.S.:! Kids! don’t!
want!to!be!friends!with!their!parents.!!It’s!a!sad!thought!certainly,!and!it!
looks! worse! in! print! than! in! reality.! ! Many! kids! have! great,! honest,!
trusting! relationships! with! their! parents.! ! But! when! it! comes! to! your!
personal!social!graph,!at!some!point!during!the!teen!years!you!realize!that!
you! need! your! space—and! Facebook! is! taking! that! space! away! from!
American!kids!by!serving!up!access!to!their!thoughts,!comments,!photos!
and!friends!.!.!.!to!their!parents.!
!
Early! adoption! of! free! technology! is! almost! always! driven! by! young!
people.! ! Whether! it’s! peerHtoHpeer! file! sharing,! textHmessaging,! instantH
messaging! or! even! Tweeting,! the! young! grasp! these! technologies! more!
quickly! and! more! willingly! than! adults! do.! ! And! that! technology! gap!
between! kids! and! parents! is! a! big! reason! for! the! rapid! adoption.!!
Teenagers! and! young! adults! love! it! when! they! find! a! new! way! to!
communicate! that! their! parents! don’t! get! and! don’t! want.! ! Hence! the!
myriad!translators!online!that!help!parents!better!understand!what!their!
kids!are!typing!into!their!mobile!phones.!
!
!
!
!
mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
!
!

3. !
!
Closed,)Open)and)Discrete:)The)3)Stages)of)Media!
Have!Teens!really!fleed%Facebook!or!are!they!simply!fleeing!the!marketers?!
!
Before! Social! Media,! communication! with! youth! was! a! controlled! environment!
based!on!ownership!and!access!to!closed!media!–!TV,!radio,!print,!broadcast.!The!
advent!of!Social!Media!created!an!Open!landscape;!everyone!friended!everyone.!
Youth!friended!brands!on!Facebook.!Youth!followed!everyone!on!Twitter.!While!
the! zeitgeist! of! “anything! goes”! opened! a! window! for! marketers,! the! cost! of!
managing!noise!and!irrelevance!eventually!forced!youth!to!turn!to!Discrete!social!
media.!Increasingly,!we!are!entering!stage!3!of!Media!growth!–!social!networks!
based! on! formats! that! mirror! the! real! world.! People! interact! with! realHworld!
friends!more,!strangers!less.!These!Discrete!networks!may!appear!to!marketers!
as!invisible!because!they!are!not!party!to!real!world!interactions.!In!that!respect,!
it! may! appear! that! “teens! are! fleeing! Facebook”.! They’re! not,! they’re! simply!
fleeing!marketers.!
!
!
)
) )
mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
!
!

4. !
!
Permission)Assets)key)to)participation)in)Discrete)Social)
Media)
)
Taking! part! means! providing! a! home! for! the! conversation.! You! can’t! buy! your!
place! in! their! conversations! anymore,! you! have! to! earn! it! and! providing! a!
platform!is!key!to!acceptance.!A!“home”!can!be!an!online!community,!a!project,!a!
cause! or! an! event.! We! call! these! Permission! Assets! because,! like! assets,! they!
grow!in!value!–!they!don’t!disappear!as!soon!as!the!campaign!runs!out.!
!
How)Boost)and)Orange)used)Permission)Assets)to)Engage)Youth!
Boost! Mobile! Orange! successfully! employed! Permission! Assets! to! earn! their!
place! in! youth’s! Discrete! Social! Media.! By! engaging! youth! in! meaningful! social!
programs! Orange! and! Boost! Mobile! were! able! to! create! a! home! for! youth! to!
interact!with!each!other!–!a!Social!Space.!Orange!and!Boost!weren’t!focused!on!
trying!to!manage!the!Shared!Experience!themselves,!they!understood!that!youth!
were!better!at!doing!this.!The!operator’s!role!is!to!provide!the!platform!and!the!
tools,!let!youth!do!what!they!do!naturally!–!tell!their!story!and!spread!the!word.!!
!
)
)
)
mobileYouth!–!youth!mobile!culture!since!2001!!
!
!

5. THE MOBILEYOUTH 2013 REPORT
youth marketing insights for handset brands,
content providers and operators
features:
29 reports
400+ pages
data, charts, cases
mobileYouth:
tracking youth & mobile culture since 2001
MOBILEYOUTH
youth marketing mobile culture since 2001

6. THE MOBILEYOUTH 2013 REPORT
http://www.mobileyouth.org
MOBILEYOUTH
youth marketing mobile culture since 2001