Sure, the Millennials (born 1984-2002) don’t know how to make long distance calls on a land line by dialing “1″ first. Sure, the Millennials think that email is the new snail mail. Sure, the Millennials use Facebook and MySpace as their primary means of communication. But the terms “social media” is still new to them.
The Millennial’s ability to adapt to technology and the changes in their use of communication isn’t an indicator of their understanding of what social media is and how it is used. The average age on Facebook is 35 while the average age on LinkedIn is 41. More Gen X’ers are using LinkedIn than Millennials and by “using” I mean “effectively using”.
Millennials don’t look at social media as the future of the internet, but as a lifestyle. This is important because if your target audience are the Millennials, then your marketing efforts must reflect lifestyle rather than simply style. Looking cool, sounding hip, and using (seizure enducing) visual effects are not the major ingredients to communicating your message to Millennials.