Millennials and Information

I read a report put out by Edelman group that stated that "according to a recent Kaiser Foundation study, teens today grow up spending 7.5 hours per day creating and consuming media and, according to Mintel, that average jumps to more than 13 hours per day for 25-30 year olds." The report goes on to say that "75% of global Millennials in our study said that they are never disconnected for more than an hour a day and one in seven Indian Millennials said that at no point are they disconnected during the course of their day."

What does this mean for PR?

• Because of the Millennial attachment to various forms of media, news of a crisis spreads quickly, and PR professionals must be able to respond to a crisis as quickly as possible to combat the effects of the crisis on on the situation.
• The report also states that Millennials "use four or more sources of information to make their final purchase decision on everything from clothes, to electronics, to grooming products." This means that public relations [and advertising] is more important than ever to build relationships with people. 
• Social media is becoming increasing more popular for Millennials to use as a form of customer service, with one in five Millenials turning to social networks for support. This means that companies should monitor their social networks and interact with their followers to maintain good customer service. 

A copy of the report can be found here.

I have thought a lot about Millennial media consumption lately, due to the release of the Baylor Lariat's special tab on Generation Y. (which can be found here). We have been pegged with words such as lazy, privileged and unprepared, but our commitment to social media shows we want to be constantly up to date with the latest information (and technology.)

Though I don't use myself as an example because I am likely consume more media than the average Millennial due to my editor position on the Baylor Lariat, I am still glad to see my friends occasionally post news articles and discuss events that are important to them on Facebook and Twitter. Since some claim that print is dead, I am glad that our generation is still consuming media on a daily basis.