Some time ago One Degree had a Mini Book Expo for Business Books, and I managed to get a copy of Grown Up Digital by Don Tapscott. When I signed up the baby was still sleeping 22 hours a day, and by the time the book arrived he was catnapping during the day, so needless to say I haven’t read much of the book. I figure by the time I actually get to the last chapter I will have forgotten what I enjoyed about the first. Which would make a review difficult.
Grown Up Digital
So here is my brief notes on what I learned From chapter one of Grown Up Digital:
Tapscott Defines the Generations:
Boom (1946-1964): Families postponed children until after WWII, but when the men came back…babies were born in droves. Thus, the Boom. While the Baby Boom has also been called the “Cold War Generation”, Tapscott prefers to define them by the impact of television, which he says shaped this generation more than anything else. Television recorded and broadcasted this generation, connecting them through shared memories and programs.
Bust/Gen-X (1965-67): Birth rates declined during this time, with 15% fewer babies being born. Gen-X is named after the novel of the same name by Canadian author Douglas Coupland. According to Tapscott, this group is the best-educated generation, yet also the generation to see the lowest relative starting salaries since the Depression. They are media centered of course - viewing media available for everyone to”package information and put forth their perspective.”
Net Generation (1977-1997): Boomers started having more kids by 1978, most putting off having children until their 30s and 40s. The most significant change for this generation, Tapscott says is the Internet. This is the first generation to be “bathed in bits.” [Since I am a November '76 baby, and relate most to this generation...I would say I am a Net Gen]
Neat facts about growing up during the Net Generation:
1983 - 7 % of households owned computers (I believe it was around this time my family purchased a very very expensive IBM)
1994 - 35% of schools had Internet access
1996 - 15% had access to the Internet
2004 - 44% of households owned computers, 37% using a form of broadband
2008 - 100% of schools provide Internet access
2008 - 75% of teenagers have mobile phones
2008 - Have access to 200 cable networks, 5,500 magazines, 10,500 radio stations, 22,000 books published every year, and 40 billion web pages. (no wonder my brain hurts!)
The Net Generation and Media:
While their parents passively watched 22.4 hours of TV each week, the Net Gen spend that time online. They still watch TV, but they watch it differently. A Net Gen is more likely to skip a commercial, surf the net simultaneously, do homework (it is possible!) or read (I do this all the time, my husband can’t figure out how….or why!).
This generation isn’t passive, they don’t just watch - they want to be active participants, collaborators and in control. Best said by Tapscott:
The Net Generation is in many ways the antithesis of the TV generation. This shift from one-way broadcast media to interactive media has had a profound effect on the Net Gen.
The impact of this interactive media over the passive use of TV has been shown to affect brain development. Tapscott refers to a study that shows that the use of the interactive media affects the way the brain develops, and shapes the different ways the Net Gen inputs data, learns, thinks and of course communicates.
Tapscott’s Characteristics of the Net Generation:
1) Fredom
Choice is key. They want choice and empowerment, and they use technology to cut through the clutter to get what they want. [PVRs might be a good example, or creating your own music playlist on an iPod..]
2) Customize/Personalize
They have come to expect to be able to modify the media around them: their desktop, Web Sites, news sources, and ring tones. They don’t access the web - they change it. Beyond the digital realm they want (and will) customize products and their job too! [Have you seen the new Dell computers, while not quite customized - they certainly allow you to be unique!]
3) Scrutinizers
Net Generation knows that their market power allows them to demand more of companies; for products and services and as employers. They want access to information about companies and their offerings. And, companies are responding with sites that allow consumers to submit ideas, essentially using “crowdsourcing” to develop future products. [Dell IdeaStorm, My Starbucks Idea]
4) Want Corporate Openness and Integrity (ah…transparency…)
Barriers between consumers and companies are quickly coming down, thanks to the Internet. This generation will “make sure company values align with their own”. Boy-oh-Boy watch out if they don’t, because the ‘net is a powerful watch-dog and this generation will not hesitate to expose a flawed marketing campaign [see Web Strategy by Jermiah's Punk'd List].
5) Entertainment and play in work, education and life
This generation “brings a playful mentality to work…they know there is more than one way to achieve a goal.” This generation was brought up on video games and interactivity and due to this they think “outside the box”, finding variety in work and life.
6) Collaboration & Relationships
They collaborate and share relentlessly! Flickr, Facebook, YouTube are just a few examples. of collaboration. Not only do they share and engage relationships in this way with their friends; they discuss brands, companies, products and services in these online networks. More and more we are moving our lives online: phots (flickr), documents (Google Docs), Software use (Wakoopa), Videos (YouTube), the things we love (Living Social) and our thoughts and online actions (Friendfeed and Twitter. How the Net Gen views privacy is obviously very different from their parents!
7) Speed
Rapid communication is normal communication. Information is quick, and responses should be quicker - no matter who they are from! [Companies beware the Net Generation expects quick responses from you. And, in the future they may even expect you to respond when they aren't even talking to you - but discussing you online]
Innovators
They are on the look out for ways to collaborate - and want the latest and greatest: iPhone, Blackberry, computer, television…
Favourite Quote from Chapter One:
Only 2 percent of our sample indicated high trust in the ad campaigns of marketers. The old saw, “Half my ads are effective, I just don’t know which half,” isn’t real any more, as a majority of ads on television are deleted and never appear to growing millions of young people around the world. Instead of consumers, they want to be prosumers — co-innovating products and services with producers. The concept of brand is forever changing because of them [Net Generation]
I wonder what my son’s generation will be like…at three he is a whiz at the Wii, he can manoever a mouse to play a game or “read” a book on Tumblebooks, and his understanding of distance will be far different from mine with IM and Skype. He will NEVER know life without the Internet, computers, mobile phones and WiFi. And, we can’t even imagine what might come next.
Chris Brogan suggests an interesting perspective on resolutions. He says “I always felt that resolutions were a little too push and not enough pull, and I wanted something a bit more compelling to pull me towards the future” - so instead of specific resolutions he comes up with three words that reflect his objectives for the year. These words are broader, and therefore can give you meaning even when you have achieved the goals you have set out. He says that these words instead help “frame your challenges and opportunities for 2009″. I looked at this task as though I was creating my “Vision” for the next year - three words that can drive my actions, and I will recall and focus on when I make decisions this year.
After reviewing my resolutions I came up with these three words that will define 2009 for me:
UNAFRAID
BUILD
SPARK
Be unafraid.
Be the best me there is. Set my ideas free - they are good. Be unafraid of what others might think, be courageous and even welcome risks. Answer questions, raise my hand and volunteer, look for challenges. Meet new people and face fears head on.
Build on my successes in 2008.
Continue to build my online presence, personal brand and my blog community. Take further steps in learning, experiencing, and using my digital marketing skills. Always be learning. Always be doing. Execution- not just planning. Enhance my my social network, by building on existing relationships and engaging with new members of my communities. Build on past accomplishments, and build towards the future by creating new opportunities.
Cause a spark.
Through my words, actions and my passion and focus I will help to draw out excitement in others. Ignite interest, be an evangelist for digital marketing, and social media. Help others to find their niche, discover an idea or a product. Love the “a-ha” moment. Find the sparkle: the passion and enthusiasm in others. Collaborate, share, and engage with passionate, kickass people. Inspire and be inspired.
What trip home would be complete without some travel mishap, or adventure. Too often the trip from Ontario back East has had its problems. In University, I can recall a long 24-hour train rides, with no berth (sleeping space) and an annoying TA from my Philosophy class sitting next to me talking incessantly about social ethics and Anthony Giddens. Then there have been flight delays, rough landings due to fog, and long drives half way across the country. The joy of living so far from family and friends
We took a flight “stand-by” yesterday (husband works for an airline) and sadly got bumped from our flight.
After a sleepless night due to:
1) Baby’s stuffed up nose
2) Staying up late to participate in Twitter’s #GNO
3) And, lying in bed thinking “I must remember to pack this, and that, and this and that”
I would have turned us around and gone home when the flight attendant said it was unlikely to get on the next flight, or the next one. But, my three year old had been telling anyone who would listen that he was going to see Theodore Tugboat; and an Uncle and Aunt were waiting at the other end to meet their new nephew; and of course I miss the East Coast when I am away for too long - so instead I decided to do a semi-milk run. Flying to Ottawa and then on to our destination. So instead of a four hour trip (airport to airport) we were on the go for over 8 hours door to door.
Fun for who I don’t know.
Maybe this guy:
(Yes, that is chocolate and pizza on his face)
When we arrived I received a text from a friend “Are you here yet? Storm-a-coming!”
We just made it in time. Because by the time we had sat down to our New Year’s Eve Lobster:
lobster training
The snow had started. Today it looked like this:
Snow, snow
and this:
and more snow
But, it made it feel like Christmas again. So, we decided to do it again.
Bear and Gifts
Even the dog got in on the action.
Bear with Dog
Well, obviously it was planned. My sons were both spoiled (again), this time by grandparents and Aunt & Uncle. Of course, it was a “Cars” Christmas this year.
Cars hat
Even Monkey baby made a new friend.
seal
It is likely that the weather will change. It always does here. By next week, it could be mild and rainy.
I usually don’t bother with New Year’s Resolutions. Sure, I have goals in life and in my career but for the most part they exist only in my head and I congratulate myself if I manage to reach them. Usually they don’t start on January 1, and end on December 31. That said - it can’t hurt to put some positive vibes out into the world (or so says The Secret) Perhaps if I share them I will accomplish them. And, like a true marketer; perhaps if I make them “measurable” I can reach my goal by then end of 2009.
Here are my Objectives (ahem…Resolutions) for 2009.
Personal Life
I will drink 6-8 glasses of water a day
Tactics:
Carry a bottle wherever I go…
Just a thought is there such a thing as a Pedometer for Water? Something to stick on your glass, and when you drink a full glass you can move the dial to “One Down 6 To Go”? That would really help, since by the time I get to glass three I have forgotten if it is glass 4 or 6.
I will lose the final 10 lbs to get to my pre-baby 2 weight
Tactics:
Drink lots of water
Go to Gym at least 2 times per week (sadly, even this is difficult with two little ones, especially the one who refuses to drink out of a bottle!)
Eat less ice cream
I will read one book a month (Seems reasonable since I used to read 2-3 books a month pre-baby!)
Tactics:
Like the water, carry the book wherever I go
Read a book before bed instead of blogs (leave the blogs for the daytime!)
Get my son to give up the pull-ups at night (can I have resolutions for him?)
Tactics:
Cold turkey, replace pull-ups with plastic mattress cover
On the web:
Increase traffic on my blog by 15% in 2009
Tactics:
Learn some more cool tricks and create some more amazingly fun reports on Google Analytics which will of course help me focus on best content, and promotion for my blog
Improve writing and use keywords in posts
Run contests
Look for guest post opportunities
Encourage my readers to get the urge to comment 10% more in 2009
Tactics:
Run a contest
Ask questions and write brilliant content (as usual!)
Keep Google Reader under 1000 unread items!
Tactics:
Once a month purge blogs, assess which blogs are must reads, and use PostRank.
Try 1 new Application or Social Network every month and write about it
Tactics:
Once a month (3rd week!) have a new post about a new application, social network, or mobile phone application
I have just been following the @IsraelConsulate on Twitter. This reflects a whole new use of Twitter. Amazing discussion! The “press conference” using the #hashtag #AskIsrael allowed Twitterers to ask questions directly to the Israeli Consulate. As could be expected of course there were more questions than Consulate could answer! They will be posting answers within in 24 hours at http://www.israelpolitik.org/.
This, along with the past discussion about the Canadian Coalition, and of course previous discussions about the US election show us that Twitter goes beyond “I am eating cereal” and “Guess what I just wrote on my blog…”. I have talked about how brands can use Twitter for marketing and customer service purposes, and now Twitter shows that it has a role as providing breaking news in a way that even the big networks can’t do. Now the public can ask questions, communicate with politicians, representatives of news-makers, and contribute by “breaking news” themselves. This is fascinating! How will this change how we watch the news? How we get our information? How we EXPECT to be able to manipulate and contribute to the news machine? It could be fascinating to watch if Twitter gets used more for breaking news and emergency notification. Already, many of the news networks are Tweeting…but how else will they be used for further engagement with their followers?
I can imagine that in the future press conferences and interviewers could use Twitter to “crowdsource” questions, news channels could use Twitter for follow-up after a story, or to continue discussions online. Opportunities for polls, testimonials, and personal stories could be pulled from Twitter for news stories. What other uses can you see?
As @shelisrael mentions the most difficult part of this kind of conference or discussion is filtering those who have honest questions versus those that simply want to make a biased point. Sadly, there were a lot of people who obviously joined Twitter just to harass and push their agenda…you can of course see some of them a mile away as most never even uploaded an avatar (image) and use the default Twitter image (two circles on brown background) - and they follow no one and have zero followers.
I hope that the situation in Gaza and Israel becomes peaceful and is resolved soon. The civilians, the good people in Gaza and in Israel should not have to live like this because of extremists, and terrorists (on both sides!) who destroy the chance for peace.
For More Info:
This blogger pulled together a list of questions from the conference.
And of course tomorrow check out IsraelPolitik for the full list of Q&A
A wonderful site of videos of people in Sderot and Gaza: Life in Spite of Everything
FYI while writing this blog, and while following Twitter Press conference I watched the news. Surprisingly no mention of #AskIsrael Twitter Conference. Why not? Especially since one of the CNN news announcer had his Twitter address on the screen!
In a nutshell a feminist is: A person who supports the equality of women with men. Or, according to Wikipedia feminism “is a discourse that involves various movements, theories and philosophies which are concerned with the issue of gender difference, that advocate equality for women, and that campaign for women’s rights and interests.”
Reasonable enough, right? Why, then does it have such stigma? Why do I visualize women with under-arm hair and placards, chanting death to men? Check out the first picture on the Wikepedia page on Feminism - women with placards. Despite some negative stereotypes the feminist movement has done a lot to positively alter law and culture, including the right to vote, reproductive rights and workplace rights including maternity leave.
But, after reading a post by Mom on the Run about how her maternity leave messed up her raise and bonus I started thinking, are we as equal as we think? It isn’t something that usually crosses my mind, since for the most part I have never felt that I couldn’t do anything simply because I am a woman.
In reality, all is not always equal. The civil right to vote federally for women in Canada has only been allowed since 1918 - only a young 90 years! So, perhaps we are just in the infancy of equal rights.
According to Statistics Canada, women, on average earn 29% less than men. This wage gap was even larger for racial minority women, aboriginal women and women with disabilities. Racial minority women, on average, earn 36% less than men. Aboriginal women, on average, earn 54% less than men. Women with disabilities earn significantly less than women and men without disabilities.
Young women graduating from university earn 16% less than male graduates in their first jobs. This wage gap widens as their careers progress. For every age group the earnings gap for women with a university degree has widened in the last decade.
I am sure some of these figures are affected by decisions we, as moms end up making for our families; for example working part-time, working shorter hours, job-sharing, becoming a stay-at-home-mom, and working in careers such as teaching that allow flexibility around our kids schedules, and of course taking time away from our careers for maternity and parental leave.
Despite general equality between genders women do tend to continue to take the bulk of the child rearing - even if they, like their husbands, work full-time. In my family, I am luckyas my husband works shift-work which makes him more available to take on increased duties with the kids. Still, it is the women who take the leave from their careers to have babies, no way around that one!
In Canada we are fortunate enough to get a full year to take care of our little ones. Which compared to our neighbours to the south is amazing. We are home long enough to see them get their first teeth, roll over and sit up for the first time, crawl and often even take the first steps. The downside of course is that we take a break from our career, and so we aren’t likely to get a promotion that year, or be able to apply for a new position at the company, or get a new office or more responsibilities. Fair enough, we aren’t there, we are enjoying our time with our children. And, when we return we can expect to get our job back (or a similar job) and we can start where we left off, right?
Look at Mom on the Run’s situation. She worked the majority of the work year, but left for maternity leave prior to raises and bonuses being delivered. When she returned to work it turns out she didn’t get the raise she had been promised, and months later she didn’t get what she had hoped for in retro pay. The year she was gone she was left off the list for her bonus and despite promises her bonus this year was less than she had hoped. Wouldn’t it make the most sense to give bonuses and raises based on the actual time worked: for example say MOTR worked 8 months out of 12, then she would get 3/4 of her bonus that year. And, obviously she should get a raise for that year worked, and perhaps not the next year - or just an adjustment for “cost of living”. The return year she would be eligible for 1/4 of her bonus.
Why didn’t it work this way for her? I suspect that this is the case for many women. While maternity and parental leave oblige the employer to provide the same job upon return, they do little to encourage employers to continue to compensate the employees for time worked prior to leaving and when they return at the same level as before. So, it seems women who take a year off, not only stall their career as can be expected, but lose out in compensation deserved for work already accomplished. Should more protection be sought for this, or do we as employees simply need to ensure we fight our own battles?
This issue is close to my heart - as I am currently enjoying my fifth month of maternity leave (second and FINAL time!) And, hoping for a bonus too!
Last week’s Monday Mini was about how marketing, social media, and business is about changing conversations, and that those conversations were changing the “game”.
Conversations about products and brands are going on everywhere, but the ones on the Web - these are ones brands can listen to, respond to, and then make them count. Here is a great quote from Chairman & CEO of Dell, a company who doesn’t just say the words they live them, with company representatives blogging, on Twitter, and an active community on their website.
These conversations are going to occur whether you like it or not…do you want to be part of that or not? My argument is you absolutely do. You can learn from that. You can improve your reaction time. And you can be a better company by listening and being involved in that conversation.–Michael Dell in Business Week Discussion with Jeff Jarvis.
Traffic and engagement are not the same thing. Likely you know that. Quality vs Quantity…
Having people visiting my site looking for Chia Pets and Chicken Recipes and Fred Flinstone is ultimately not my goal. People who visit my site using these search terms don’t tend to stick around very long, but they show up in my ‘traffic’ report nonetheless.
Quite some time ago Avinash Kaushik from Occam’s Razor gave me access to Google’s Custom Reporting and Advanced Segmenting which were at the time in beta. I had played with the new features quite a bit with my work websites, but not with my blog. I decided it was time to do so, with the goal of figuring out how to grow my community of readers, and engage those of you who are regular visitors - for example getting you to comment, visit regularly etc. Using the extra reporting functions I was able to find out some interesting stuff:
My most valuable new visitors were referrals (visiting from another website) and most were visiting from blogs I had commented on. These visitors, over visitors from Facebook, Twitter,Technorati or Blog directories; spent more time on my blog and visited a higher number of pages.
LESSON
- Commenting on other blogs drives interested and engaged traffic and hopefully subscribers
Most returning visitors (those who aren’t subscribed via RSS, visiting directly or via a bookmark) visit again from Facebook, Twitter, Google and MichelleKostya.com LESSON
- It is worth promoting blogs on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter by linking new posts.
The keywords that drove the most valuable search traffic (pages/visit and time spent) to my site over the last few months were to posts on politics.
LESSON
- Posts on current events drive traffic.
Keywords including “mego”, MEGOAgain”, “Mego Michelle”, “Michelle Kostya” etc spend the most amount of time on my site compared to site average. Duh…they were looking for me. Other keywords that engaged my visitors: Facebook advertising, Facebook ignoring friends, jetblue twitter duty, corporate tweet, Loblaws, Sony, Sheridan
LESSON
- Optimize site and posts around keywords that engage.
- Brand names are often searched and can drive traffic although not all engage readers enough for them to stick around.
- Continue to write posts on social media and Web 2.0!
Unfortunately, since most return visitors came directly to the main page it is hard to determine what content is driving them back via Google Analytics. However, if you I look at my Feedburner stats and refer back to the articles posted around that time my readers enjoyed these posts over the last 30 days (why does Feedburner only allow me to break data by 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or “all time”?) the most popular posts to my return visitors are:
- Social Media’s Next Victim
- Kid’s Say the Funniest Things #2
- My Top 15 Web 2.0 Sites
- 5 Tips to Organize Google Reader
- He Sleeps! A Miracle
Interesting - a mixed bag of social media posts AND parenting. However, one thing I do know about these posts is that they were either short or broken up by bullets or subject headings.
LESSON
- Short is good
- Break long posts into sections or use formatting to break the post up into smaller bites!
I have been racking my brain to find ways to encourage commenting, this is a good sign that readers are enjoying what they are reading on my blog. However, this is not the only way to measure this.
LESSON
- Measure depth of visit, number of pages/visit
- Time spent on site
- Return Visitors vs. New Visitors
What kind of lessons can you share about building your blog community? Where do your readers come from? How do you measure engagement?
I am a Marketing Manager for a small appliance company in the Greater Toronto Area. I spend my limited free time (away from work and kids!) attached to my computer, blackberry or iPod. Find out more about me by visiting: www.michellekostya.com
Contact:
michelle.kostya at gmail dot com
Latest Entry
Innovators
Chris Brogan suggests an interesting perspective on resolutions
I usually don’t bother with New Year’s Resolutions. Sure, I have goals in life and in my career but for the most part they exist only in my head and I congratulate myself if I manage to reach them. Usually they don’t start on January 1, and end on December 31. That said - it can’t hurt to put some positive vibes out into the world (or so says
