Want to Tackle the Internet?? Think Like a 14-Year Old (boy)! (Part 1)

The other day, I was talking with a friend of mine. We are both over 50, which sounds older than it feels, until we start discussing or engaging in online marketing or social networking. Then, we feel like we’re from another planet—learning a new language, new habits, and generally studying an alien way of life.

We’re working on some projects together and muddling our way through “the system,” attempting to figure out the best way to use all this “fancy” technology. We talk it all out on a regular basis and change our tactics in mid-sentence. Today, we hit a breakthrough! And when the light bulbs over both of our heads beamed brightly, I said, “That’s it! Now you’re thinking like a 14-year old!” (Yes, she came up with the idea first, but then, I’ve a got a few years on her and she lives with a 14-year old…)

We both laughed heartily over my statement, but, in fact, that seems to be the secret here. Young teens have grown up with technology. Many of them went to toddler computer classes or just banged away on the computer keyboard at home, the way many of us older folks banged on the piano or just dialed our friends on the rotary phone (Remember those?) and talked for hours. By the time they could read, write and comprehend, there was My Space and then Facebook, then You Tube and a host of other things that I haven’t figured out yet. It wasn’t some strange, new technology, it was part of their world and they were instrumental in its growth.

Adults saw those online social “things” as cute, “just for kids” and probably timewasters, but at least they weren’t tying up the phone lines. Now, they all have cell phones (for emergencies and so parents can find them when they are holed up in someone’s basement playing video games), but they use the phones to text message their friends in the next row or the next classroom. Woe be unto any parent who has not gotten “unlimited text messaging” on their kid’s cell phone! Kids are messaging at a rate of hundreds of messages per week or even, in some cases, per day! Each “OMG” and “Really?” sent by themselves, count as one message. Get the picture?

Anyway, these kids think differently. Their brains work differently. We used to get yelled at for listening to music or watching TV while doing homework. I’ve seen this generation text message, play video games, and carry on a conversation with someone in the room, all at the same time! Are they giving their full attention to any of it? I can’t be sure of that, but they seem to be holding their own.

I’ve also heard stories of as many as five 12-year old boys sitting together SILENTLY in a room with their laptops!! Where I come from, you wouldn’t find one 12-year old boy sitting quietly, let alone five of them. But in their minds, they were very noisy—chatting to each other on their laptops and playing computer games. It is a different generation, indeed!

Their lives revolve around technology. There’s hardly a thing that they do that doesn’t involve a computer and, when it comes to connecting with people, their thinking is all about connecting online. This may be truer in the case of boys than girls, simply because girls tend to be more chatty and more comfortable with face-to-face contact. Technology has given the males the “out” that they have craved for generations! Perhaps, this is also why the overwhelming majority of internet marketing gurus are male.

What is also fascinating about this online connectivity is that we are now able to “chat” with and “get to know” people from all over the globe without even thinking twice about it. My 16-year old stepson has been creating computer games with other guys for several years. He is the youngest of the group and the only one in the U.S., yet he is the “boss” of the operation!

Gradually, the “senior set” is coming into the online world, too. I have a dear friend who is nearly 80 and she doesn’t let a day go by without checking her email and corresponding with associates. She is also a world traveler and founder of a non-profit that builds orphanages, schools and hospitals overseas. (www.HelpForGhana.com)

These days, if you want to be marketing savvy, you absolutely must learn how to use the internet, email, and online social networking sites. While we are so distraught about the current economy, the news doesn’t mention that there is a whole other economy that is developing and doing quite well. It is global and it is online.

When you begin to incorporate “online” into every business idea and marketing tactic, you just might be gaining that youthful glow because you are now thinking like a 14-year old!