Generational Differences

Differing technology uptake patterns among different generations are creating a generational divide in demand, which will further shape the delivery channels we use in the future.

A vertical bar graph that shows how young adults are the least likely age group to use twitter due to the popular method of texting

Nielsen data from 2009 suggests teens and young adults in the US are least likely of all age groups to use Twitter as a communication tool. This may be because texting was well entrenched before the emergence of Twitter as a popular tool in 2007-2008.

As the Internet and Web have matured, clearer segmentations have emerged around differing behaviors as defined by age. Each generation has become comfortable with particular services and channels, shaping communication patterns within and among age cohorts. Younger users are more likely to be online, and more likely to consume media and use lightweight communication tools such as SMS, while older users aim more for utility, research, and more formal, long-form communication channels such as e-mail. Some newer applications are beginning to knit the generations together online, however—social networking is now being embraced by older users almost as much as by younger ones.

Signals:

Choice of communication channel varies widely when viewed by age group. Teens are far more likely to use SMS, or text messaging, in high volumes, and rely on it as a principal form of communication. Recent Nielsen research puts the average number of texts for a US teen at over 3,000 per month sent and received.
The social media boom began among younger Internet users, more keen to connect and share personal information and creations, media and finds with chosen online communities. Older users were later comers to social media and social networks, preferring mainstream information sources and blogs. However, this gap has closed as Boomers and seniors flooded social networks in recent years connecting to younger family and friends.
Designers have begun to take into account generational differences in areas such as dexterity and visual acuity in creation of particular types of devices and services, for example. Mobile phones have been principal among these, as they shrank in form factor and increased in functional complexity over the past decade.

Implications:

Communication gaps may emerge as generations flock to different communication and messaging platforms, segregating channels of interaction and creating communication barriers.
Differences in visual design may increasingly demarcate products, services and media targeting different age groups.
Venues for media consumption may also segregate by age over time, with younger consumers more likely to prefer media in mobile formats, small screens, and social channels for sharing, while older users lean toward larger displays, group consumption and fixed delivery, for example.

Countertrends:

In areas such as social networking, the same venues are being used by different age groups alongside one another. Though specific activities may differ, it represents a shift in choice of similar channels and platforms, potentially reconnecting age groups online and driving convergence around similar communication tools.

Extrapolations:

Completely separate communications channels could emerge among different age groups, including radicaly different communication protocols and formats—an extension of the TXT “language” that has emerged on SMS, or gaming “lingos” that have grown up around multiplayer games.