The Kids Are Mostly Alright

When I was a kid, my big media event consisted of flipping on the TV every Saturday morning and watching as many Laurel & Hardy movies as possible. If you’re a Baby Boomer you may be able to relate. If you’re a teenager you may be muttering “lame” as you flip through your iPod. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

As much as I wish Laurel & Hardy could be part of the lives of today’s kids, I admire young peoples’ ease with social media sites and various electronic devices. That ease is reflected in the results of The Kaiser Family Foundation’s recently released study, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. The study concluded that on a typical day, today’s 8-18 year-olds spend an average of 10 hours and 45 minutes consuming media content.

The study authors note that cell phones and other mobile devices help make it possible for these kids to be plugged in for what amounts to more than a full work day.

Many jobs of the future are likely to involve heavy use of a new crop of mobile devices and Web tools. That means young peoples’ devotion to this type of technology could help them land good entry-level jobs. But before they start job hunting, the young electronic media mavens should consider another finding from The Kaiser Family Foundation study: The kids with the heaviest media use reported getting fair or poor grades in school.

If students, parents and teachers can get together and fix that flaw, the kids will be more than alright.

How are the kids in your life using media? How has it affected their lives and yours? Let us know by clicking on Comments, below.

Creative Uses of Twitter: Tracking a Taco Truck

If you think business has been tough for you the past couple of years, imagine having to relocate every 30 minutes if you were in a residential area or every 60 minutes if you were in a commercial area?

These are the laws mobile food vendors face in and around Los Angeles. The penalties can include hefty fees, impounding of trucks, or even being shut down.

When Kogi BBQ was told to keep moving, they came up with a solution that was as creative as their Korean-Mexican dishes: they use Twitter to keep their loyal fans up-to-date about their ever-changing locations. And to keep them enticed, they have a regularly updated blog with savory pictures of their menu items.

Their social media strategy has worked so well, they currently have over 52,000 followers and expanded their business south into Orange County.

Which only begs the question: What can your business do to solve a business problem and spice up some sales with Twitter and social media? Think about it. Or better yet, ask us to think about it. An outside perspective may be just what you need to gather some fresh ideas. We’d love to help you create your own success story.

Er…”How do I find followers on Twitter?”

Logging onto Twitter is a bit like walking into a major airport terminal and wondering who to strike up a conversation with – Who do you turn to? What do you say?

Whether you’re using Twitter to market your brand, expand your professional network, or make new personal connections, you want to find followers who are a good fit for your goals. How do you find them? Tweepsearch is a great place to start. It’s a powerful search engine that culls the keywords people use in their Twitter bio profiles.

So if you’re looking for a SEO consultant, type in those words and 1,117 contacts will pop up. Professionals from all over the world, who impart their own specialized expertise and more 140 characters at a time. Want to find someone more local? Narrow down your search by city or state. Click on a profile to view more about this person – their bio, tweets, and number of followers. You’ll see if he or she is an active Twitterer or hasn’t logged in for a couple of months. If the profile looks good, you’ll need to sign into Twitter at this point in order to follow them.

Before you know it, you won’t be asking, “Where do I start?” Instead you’ll be thinking, ‘Wow, the possibilities are endless.’