How Much Media?

I am part of the generation who grew up online. Whereas my parents’ generation in China passed significant milestones before the Internet invaded all aspects of their daily life, I cannot remember a time when it didn’t exist.

Mobile Gets Extra Attention

This assignment gave me an opportunity to look at what I am consuming every day. I am not tuning into the nightly news or turning on the radio. When I look at what I do first thing in the morning and what I do last thing at the end of the day, it’s rolling over and checking my phones.

I also like to consume news through my laptop. My MacBook has become my exclusive domain for productivity functions, while my iPad, although not contributing to consumption, has become the primary outlet through which I watch movies and play games.

But What Kind of Media?

I never hide my feelings. I’m not interested in newspaper. To be honest, I haven’t read a printed newspaper at all in the last year.

I go online and my main source of news is a daily e-mail newsletter TheSkimm. It is one of very few email newsletters I open up every single day. First, I think email is the least sexy of media; but I have to admit that it is effective and is still an essential part of my routine. I have had the experience of being in a meeting when I haven’t had time to catch up the news that day and a topic comes up I know nothing about, but TheSkimm is a simple news brief, written in the voice of a friend, distilling the top global news of the day with a brief synopsis of the news and external links to The New York Times, Bloomberg and CNN.

I never thought that an email newsletter could give me what I need to get through many social or professional settings. Not even social media like Facebook and Twitter have filled that gap.

Consuming Media Socially

I found that my social media use was huge, especially WeChat. It seems that I cannot resist checking WeChat immediately after meals.

If you haven’t heard of WeChat, think of it as a better WhatsApp, crossed with the social features of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, mixed with Skype and a walkie-talkie. Everything is shaped by that initial authentic and private one-on-one interaction. I’m guessing I open it more than 50 times a day. I relied a lot on WeChat for keeping up to date with current affairs and news — not surprising for a Millennial like me that always likes to be connected. And it really is quite private. I can have a greater sense of reliability, intimacy, and authenticity when I consume the news shared by friends. You get the point.

Unsurprisingly, WeChat is also attracting a lot of marketing interest: companies like Starbucks and Nike are now using WeChat as a social media strategy to reach their target audience, and they have already run campaigns on WeChat. Every time I read the latest news and participate exclusive contest and games of these brands, I am engaged with brands’ campaigns and meanwhile stay connected with WeChat on the go.

As we all know, social media is quickly becoming one of the main destinations for news online. And here is where I think it really gets interesting. WeChat is actually Facebook and a lot of Twitter rolled into one.

Everyone is obsessed with Millennials

My generation probably comprises the largest demographic in the US. We are increasingly diverse and digitally native. We also thrive on social media, using it as a source of current affairs apart from networking, which means our media-consumption habits have to be understood by marketers and brands. Like Professor Chinn stated, the metrics depend on the impact: how do you maximize your resources, what audiences we are serving and what do you want.

But as a Millennial, I do not want to just do one thing when I consume media. I prefer to split my enormous media time among many activities — social networking, viewing video, exchanging Instant Messages, looking up things, even catching up on the news — simultaneously.

I believe that in the future, anything with a touch screen is desirable — and smartphones especially. Just like my folks, the biggest thing of everyday life and it affects everything else — so much so, it hardly bears repeating — is the strong dependence on smartphones.

The mobile alone brings cord cutting much closer to reality. It’s an app world. The media just lives in it.