Ok, not an actual survey--my own bootleg analysis based on cross-referencing my favorite book of the moment, Stuff White People Like, and this article in Time magazine about Gen-X being aTwitter.
According to the author of the Time article, Bill Tancer (author of Click: What Millions do Online and Why it Matters), Twitter's largest age demographic is 35-to-44-year-olds. Of that demographic, the first group is, as Bill refers to it, "Stable Career" types: "a collection of young and ethnically diverse singles living in big-city metros like Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Miami.' The Stable Career tends to work in the arts and entertainment industry, drive small cars and espouse very liberal political views." Cross-reference that with Stuff White People Like and a case for a 100% match can be made: #47 Arts Degrees, #60 Toyota Prius, and #8 Barack Obama.
Bill calls the second largest group of the demographic "Young Cosmopolitan." "These are the 40-somethings. They're likely to drive a hybrid car such as the Toyota Prius, earn household incomes over $250,000 per year and also identify with very liberal politics." Again with the Toyota Prius and Barack Obama--and it's a given that white people have high household incomes so they can afford all the accoutrements of white life, of which there are too many to list here so you'll have to read the book.
Then the final slam dunk: the fact that both these groups "appear to be all-around Web 2.0 fans"--you'll need to check out #106 on the Stuff White People Like blog because it's not included in the book.
I rest my case.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Business Week’s Outlook for Twitter: Bleak
Lately it’s been relatively smooth sailing on Twitter—I haven’t seen the “fail whale” in a while, and, aside from the one time Twitter accidentally deleted everyone’s followers/followees, I can’t really think of any recent problems with the service (knock wood).
But just when the waters seem to be relatively calm, I read this article in Business Week that pointed out three recent shifts at Twitter that are making investors think twice about the service's ultimate worth.
The first seed of doubt was apparently sown back in April when Twitter launched in Japan. Suddenly the home page for every user included a big banner ad in the top of the screen--something that hasn't sullied us U.S. users' serene Twitter pages. Then on August 7, Twitter set a limit on the number of people each user can follow to 2,000—there went the "limitless" potential for marketers. Then last week Twitter killed SMS service to all countries except the U.S., Canada and India. Add all three together and it pretty much spells trouble in paradise.
The article quickly goes into complicated math-ish formulas that I won't even begin to try to understand, let alone summarize, but the ultimate conclusion seems to be that Twitter is not the gigantic communications network of 2.3million users squared (Business Week's figure) that it was first presumed to be, and because of this, there's a chance that the whale could ultimately fail due to lack of revenue.
I won't try to break it down any further--just read the article and draw your own conclusions. I will say that reading it did make me wonder what will happen if Twitter continues to become an integral part of organization's communications plans only to one day just close up shop. At first I--like everyone else--was extremely skeptical about Twitter in general, not to mention as a business tool. However, over the past few months it's begun to make more and more sense to me and it's definitely earned my respect. I use it both for fun and to promote my blog and it's proving to serve me well for both those purposes.
As much as I've disparaged it in the past, I would be disappointed (to say the least)if it went under, and not happy if suddenly every third tweet had an ad attached to it. I guess I'm being melodramatic and jumping to conclusions--the article seems to suggest that, rather than disappear entirely, Twitter will merely become more commercialized. Still--I like Twitter the way it is and don't love reading something that suggests that the happy bubble that is Twitter could burst at any minute.
But just when the waters seem to be relatively calm, I read this article in Business Week that pointed out three recent shifts at Twitter that are making investors think twice about the service's ultimate worth.
The first seed of doubt was apparently sown back in April when Twitter launched in Japan. Suddenly the home page for every user included a big banner ad in the top of the screen--something that hasn't sullied us U.S. users' serene Twitter pages. Then on August 7, Twitter set a limit on the number of people each user can follow to 2,000—there went the "limitless" potential for marketers. Then last week Twitter killed SMS service to all countries except the U.S., Canada and India. Add all three together and it pretty much spells trouble in paradise.
The article quickly goes into complicated math-ish formulas that I won't even begin to try to understand, let alone summarize, but the ultimate conclusion seems to be that Twitter is not the gigantic communications network of 2.3million users squared (Business Week's figure) that it was first presumed to be, and because of this, there's a chance that the whale could ultimately fail due to lack of revenue.
I won't try to break it down any further--just read the article and draw your own conclusions. I will say that reading it did make me wonder what will happen if Twitter continues to become an integral part of organization's communications plans only to one day just close up shop. At first I--like everyone else--was extremely skeptical about Twitter in general, not to mention as a business tool. However, over the past few months it's begun to make more and more sense to me and it's definitely earned my respect. I use it both for fun and to promote my blog and it's proving to serve me well for both those purposes.
As much as I've disparaged it in the past, I would be disappointed (to say the least)if it went under, and not happy if suddenly every third tweet had an ad attached to it. I guess I'm being melodramatic and jumping to conclusions--the article seems to suggest that, rather than disappear entirely, Twitter will merely become more commercialized. Still--I like Twitter the way it is and don't love reading something that suggests that the happy bubble that is Twitter could burst at any minute.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Is Chazz Reinhold an Entrepreneur?
Forget what I said about all Gen-Y posts about career advice being identical and useless—this one is like no other job advice blog post I’ve ever read before. Somehow this guy makes a case for the interrelationship between casual sex, video games and entrepreneurship. Here is my Cliff Notes version of his salient points:
Judging by these rules I should be a millionaire by now. Did I miss a step? Maybe because I never lost awareness of where I left my jeans, shoes or dick in college I missed out on that valuable career step? Maybe my video game play--while compulsive enough to render my hand numb for 3 months--just wasn't sufficient to build the skills necessary to become a successful entrepreneur? Maybe I'm having too much sex now--albeit in my perfect relationship--and it's preventing me from "striving for more" in terms of my career.
But here I am, 40 and still with the word “assistant” in my title; meanwhile, there he is, a year out of college and a (self professed) entrepreneur and management consultant.
My question is, when he and other the Gen-Yers' career advice bloggers say that they’re entrepreneurs and consultants, do they mean they’re actually supporting themselves in those capacities? Or are they "consultants" and "entrepreneurs" in the sense that I am a "consultant"; e.g. yes, I can write—here’s my email address if you’re ever interested in hiring me for a project…and now it's back to my cubicle where I sit for 8 hours a day so I can pay the bills and support my kids.
In theory I could brand myself as a thought leader, writer, life coach, marriage counselor, or social media expert…as in, I COULD call myself these things and, while it wouldn’t actually be lying because I could theoretically serve in any of these capacities, the reality is that I don’t currently earn a dime doing any of those things.
But that's a whole other post on personal branding, a mainstay of Gen-Y blog content.
**P.S.** Sorry but I just went to his blog and checked out his response to one reader's question "How does a student become an entrepreneur?" Hey--does step 2 sound familiar? "Move back home to save on cash."
Gee, another Gen-Y blogger endorsing that cornerstone of 20-something career advice: move back in with mom and dad!
Sorry but when I think of a guy who lives with mom and dad, the image that comes to mind isn't so much entrepreneur; it's more Will Ferrel's character in Wedding Crashers, Chazz Reinhold, screaming "MA! Meatloaf! Fuck!"
- Fun: "My third year at UCLA was one big blur where I would wake up half naked every other night not knowing where I had left my jeans, shoes, or dick.”
- Productivity: "What does it mean to be truly productive with your life? Hanging out with friends and drinking alcohol all night is fun for the moment, but I always wake up in the morning vowing to never drink again. Same with video games. You spend all of your time leveling-up your character and getting new features, only to have your hard work made completely insignificant once the new version of the game comes out.”
- How do you want to live your life? "The best way to reach the point of self-actualization is to play your life as if it were an RPG (Role Playing Game)"
- Never stop learning: "In a video game, you gain experience by slaying monsters and completing quests. Therefore in real life, you gain experience by reading, keeping up with the news, and gaining internships and a high GPA."
- Expand your network: "In a video game, the more people you talk to, the higher the chance you have of someone telling you a hint to complete a mission, giving you an item, or providing you with secret information."
- Find the perfect relationship: "A meaningful and loving relationship will make you much happier than any one-night stand. As an entrepreneur with my personality type, it is much more productive to be in a serious relationship than to be single, and here’s why: If I was single, I would be out there chasing girls left and right. I would not be able to focus on my company because all I would be thinking about is who my next piece would be."
Judging by these rules I should be a millionaire by now. Did I miss a step? Maybe because I never lost awareness of where I left my jeans, shoes or dick in college I missed out on that valuable career step? Maybe my video game play--while compulsive enough to render my hand numb for 3 months--just wasn't sufficient to build the skills necessary to become a successful entrepreneur? Maybe I'm having too much sex now--albeit in my perfect relationship--and it's preventing me from "striving for more" in terms of my career.
But here I am, 40 and still with the word “assistant” in my title; meanwhile, there he is, a year out of college and a (self professed) entrepreneur and management consultant.
My question is, when he and other the Gen-Yers' career advice bloggers say that they’re entrepreneurs and consultants, do they mean they’re actually supporting themselves in those capacities? Or are they "consultants" and "entrepreneurs" in the sense that I am a "consultant"; e.g. yes, I can write—here’s my email address if you’re ever interested in hiring me for a project…and now it's back to my cubicle where I sit for 8 hours a day so I can pay the bills and support my kids.
In theory I could brand myself as a thought leader, writer, life coach, marriage counselor, or social media expert…as in, I COULD call myself these things and, while it wouldn’t actually be lying because I could theoretically serve in any of these capacities, the reality is that I don’t currently earn a dime doing any of those things.
But that's a whole other post on personal branding, a mainstay of Gen-Y blog content.
**P.S.** Sorry but I just went to his blog and checked out his response to one reader's question "How does a student become an entrepreneur?" Hey--does step 2 sound familiar? "Move back home to save on cash."
Gee, another Gen-Y blogger endorsing that cornerstone of 20-something career advice: move back in with mom and dad!
Sorry but when I think of a guy who lives with mom and dad, the image that comes to mind isn't so much entrepreneur; it's more Will Ferrel's character in Wedding Crashers, Chazz Reinhold, screaming "MA! Meatloaf! Fuck!"
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