Slides from a session debunking articles written about Millennials and how educational institutions should really determine how and where to communicate to their audiences on social media. Presented at the 2015 CASE Social Media and Community Conference in Miami.

1. Horoscopes, Palm Reading, and Generational Puff Pieces
Jen Doak-Mathewson
#CASESMC

3. Hey, I’m Jen.
• I manage social, web, and email strategy for alumni and development efforts at UConn. (Go
Huskies!)
• Used to do social/web for CASE (you may have seen me around the #casesmc Twitter chats)
• Researched young voting trends as part of my M.A. at Georgetown University
• Bona-fide Millennial (on the older end)

4. 1980 2000
Me Younger Brother & Sister Youngest Sister

5. Why do we care?

7. 1. Common stereotypes
2. What we actually know about Millennials
3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people
use social media
4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people
use social media.

8. 1. Common stereotypes
2. What we actually know about Millennials
3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people
use social media
4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people
use social media.

9. Assumption: Millennials are easy to categorize.

10. “You have waited in line for cupcakes.”
“You have taken a selfie while waiting in line
for cupcakes.”
“You don’t know what gluten is, but it’s
definitely bad.”
…I got 20%, which
translated to #EpicFail.

11. Monty Python for Millennials (McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

12. 1. Common stereotypes
2. What we actually know about Millennials
3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people
use social media
4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people
use social media.

13. What We Actually Know (U.S.-centric)
• It’s a big group of people.
• Americans born between 1980 and 2000ish are fairly
diverse. (57% white vs. 66% for Gen X and 77% white for
Boomers)
• More likely (50%) to be politically independent, religiously
unaffiliated (30%, still a minority), and college educated
(27% have a bachelor’s degree) than other generations.
• As far as we can tell, they’re humans.
(Data from Pew Research, 2014)

14. Millennials are big and diverse,
so they can’t be monolithic.
(You could say that about other
generations, too.)

15. –Tom DiPrete, Columbia University
"I think the boundaries end up getting drawn to
some extent by the media and the extent to
which people accept them or not varies by the
generation."

16. 1.You love generic blast marketing. Being treated like a
number is your jam.
2.You hate authentic communication.
Especially from the place from which you graduated.
3. Unlike Millennials, you don’t consider yourself a smart
or savvy shopper.

17. 1. Common stereotypes
2. What we actually know about Millennials
3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how
people use social media
4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR people
use social media.

18. • Facebook is “dead to us” (but necessary)
• “A lot of us simply don’t understand the point of
Twitter.”
• Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat = Use Frequently
Medium, January 2015

20. “What he’s sharing is not indicative of all teens.”
“His story is incomplete and the incompleteness is
important.”
Medium post by Danah Boyd, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and the founder of Data & Society
Research Institute.

21. “His coverage of Twitter should raise a big red flag to
anyone who has spent an iota of time paying attention to
the news.”
#BlackLivesMatter
#MuslimLivesMatter
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown
“Teens’ use of social media is shaped by race and class
geography and culture.”

22. Socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic factors,
in addition to age, play a part in how
different generations use social media.

23. Changes in technology affect how we market and communicate
to all people (not just Millennials).

26. The death of many social networks is greatly exaggerated.
As networks evolve, people figure out the best way to play to
their strengths.

27. Momentous changes in society affect everyone
(even if some disproportionately affect Millennials).

28. Example: “Alumni used to give back because it
was the right thing to do.”

29. Is that true? Are older generations more moral?
Or is it because of…

30. Generational stereotypes are a crutch to lean on
when organizations talk about why their
communications tactics need to change.

31. Marketing & communications grow more
sophisticated with better data and tools.
“Kids these days” is a trope used to create a sense
of urgencyand FOMO.

32. 1. Common stereotypes
2. What we actually know about Millennials
3. Why age isn’t the best way to determine how people
use social media
4. How to actually determine the ways YOUR
people use social media.

33. So how do Millennials your people communicate?

34. Got a smartphone in high school Got a dumb phone in college
Doesn’t remember life before
computers or Internet
Didn’t use a computer at school until
5th grade
(What up, Oregon Trail!)
Has never gone to an airport without
security lines
Flew security-line free until college
Weird cultural touchstones &
celebrities
Awesome cultural touchstones &
celebrities
Vocabulary: “Turnt,” “On Fleek,”
“Mupload,” “Bae”
[frantically searches Urban Dictionary]
18-year-old sister Me

35. But we both…
• Felt nervous about leaving home after high
school.
• Consulted our friends to determine where we’d
apply.
• Weren’t completely sure what we wanted to do
after college.
• Wanted to go to a place where we felt like we
belonged to part of a community.

37. Classic literature
endures for a reason.
Tools change, people
don’t.

38. Want to know where your people are hanging out online?
Ask them.

39. Create an “Is This Stupid?” Committee

40. Pay attention to adoption of new networks by your community–
but first determine if you as an institution would be a friend…
or a school-dance chaperone.

41. Resist the generational clickbait puff pieces!
Remember: If Time magazine is writing about a generational
trend, it’s probably no longer a thing.

42. And really, don’t you already have enough
industry publications to sift through every day?

43. Questions?
Comments?