In my LinkedIn Today feed this morning (one of my favorite places to get news & updates, by the way), I stumbled across another interesting article that takes a look at the differences in digital behavior between generations. Some good reading to help understand how higher ed professionals (made of up of mostly older generations) and our students (in my case, thinking of “traditional age” students – millennials) communicate. Not surprisingly, the data in the article provided some interesting reflection points for me.
Here are my 3 big takeaways:
- Over 50% of Twitter users are millennials. Although it started out with an older population, there’s been rapid adoption among the younger generation. See also: my previous post on Twitter vs. Facebook & College Students
- 1 in 5 digital video viewers is a baby boomer. So, yes, the boomers are watching all of those funny cat videos on YouTube. YouTube also recently announced it has 1 billion active users every month.
- Not shockingly, mobile and smartphone usage is on the rise among all generations studied. More and more reason to continue going mobile-friendly in everything we do.
Some stats on digital behavior by generation from the article
For the full article, check out How Digital Behavior Differs Among Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers.
So, how are you using Twitter to engage millennials? How are you using video to engage all of your constituents (alumni, parents, adult students)? And, are you going mobile? Would love to hear some examples from the higher ed community around the world.
By: Kevin