Back in June, there was a article in the Inside Innovation — In Data section of Business Week entitled Web Strategies That Cater to Customers. The key premise was the fact that even the best technology (specifically social media) poorly applied (not aligned to customer needs), will not necessarily yield results. The article states:

Almost every demographic group you can think of is engrossed in the Web these days, and users are getting smarter about their tools. It won’t take long to find the consumers who care about what you’re doing—and tune in to what they’re doing.

Not an earth-shattering revelation, actually it appears to be pretty logical. However, what I did find very useful and interesting were the charts that accompanied the article. The first chart simply indicates the explosive growth between last and this year, again not a big surprise, but the chart is a great visual reminder of not only the growth that we have seen, but just how much potential for growth exists.

The area of most interest to me is the gap that exists between the number of consumers and the subset that are actually creators of content and information.

The next chart displays what people are doing and who (age and generation) of the participants. I particularly like the description of types of activities.

This graphic is a little more striking. Notice the precipitous drop off in participation as the generations change. No surprise that the biggest participants are those among the Young Boomers or younger. However, does this have specific implications, especially to associations, as the demographics continue to shift? I don’t think the shift foretells of a dramatic change in vision, mission or objectives but feel it may impact/influence many tactical plans especially in areas such recruitment, marketing, education and volunteering, where associations interact and engage with members and members engage with the association.

The challenge with these charts is the fact that it’s just data and open to any number of interpretations. I do think it points in a specific direction and that we are in for a shift in the way we need to engage and allow our members to engage with us. At the same time, it’s only my interpretation.

Perhaps a little more useful and telling, is a recent report put out by Grunwald Associates LLC conducted in cooperation with the National School Boards Association (NSBA) titled CREATING & CONNECTING // Research and Guidelines on Online Social — and Educational — Networking. The study was comprised of three surveys: an online survey of 1,277 nine- to 17-year-old students, an online survey of 1,039 parents and telephone interviews with 250 school district leaders who make decisions on Internet policy that examined Social Media consumption and online behavior of tweens and teens in the United States. The study itself was very interesting not only due to the great information that was surfaced about generational use of social media, but also the disconnect that appeared between students, parents, teachers and school districts regarding the use, value and safety of the online environment (a topic for a different posting). With that said, I was particularly interested in the following findings.

Nine- to 17-year-olds report spending almost as much time using social networking services and Web sites as they spend watching television. Among teens, that amounts to about 9 hours a week on social networking activities, compared to about 10 hours a week watching TV.

Students are hardly passive couch potatoes online. Beyond basic communications, many students engage in highly creative activities on social networking sites — and a sizable proportion of them are adventurous nonconformists who set the pace for their peers.

Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they have ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities, such as Facebook, MySpace and services designed specifically for younger children, such as Webkins and the chat sections of Nick.com. Eighty-one percent say they have visited a social networking Web site within the past three months and 71 percent say they use social networking tools at least weekly.

How does this relate to the charts above? Simple, it is further proof that changing demographics are leading to a distinct difference in generational usage of the internet and specifically social media tools and technology.

It’s pretty clear that the upcoming generations are not only active consumers but also producers of content, but the question remains: how do we use this shift to engage these new generations of potential members and provide them with an environment that allows them to be consumers and producers of information? I believe if we can find some good answers to that question it would represent a strong value proposition.