<p>As generation Y becomes more prominent, what the other generations hear is that Generation Y prefers to be communicated with the way that Generation Y likes to communicate, which is social networking sites and texting. It's certainly true that older generations need to adapt to using social networking and texting and it can be very useful for getting clients who are Gen Y or younger. But something I don't hear or read is whether Gen Y or Gen Z, the current generation going into college, have actually thought of communicating with older generations in the mediums we prefer.</p> <p>Email and the phone are the mediums I'm thinking of. Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang told a story of how his sister, in college, told him that e-mail was for old people, until she actually got a job in a corporation and found out that actually email was for anyone who wanted to be employed, because the majority of people who work in corporations use email and like using it. A more personal example comes to mind, of meeting a young twenty something entrepreneur who had on his business card his email address and twitter account. He didn't have his phone number on his business card because he preferred being contact by twitter or by email. However, in trying to schedule a meeting with him, we ended up exchanging at least ten emails, and spending far too much time doing so, when a phone call of a few minutes could easily have allowed us to schedule the appointment and move on with our day. After I met with him and found out that the majority of his clientele were older small business owners, I pointed out that while his preference was to be contacted by email or twitter, his older clients likely preferred the phone, because it was more personal for them. He realized then that having a phone number on his business card, might lead to more business.</p> <p>As technology evolves, the temptation to leave older technology behind arises. People that grow up with social networking may find the idea of writing an email or making a phone call antiquated, for us "old people," but they too will face the exact same attitude from younger generations that use the next set of technology to communicate with each other. The real problem here, however, is that how communication occurs is a two-way street. Gen Y may want older generations to communicate with them the way they prefer, but are they willing to give us the same consideration?</p> <p>Social network, phones, e-mails, and hand-written letters are different forms of technology that all do the same thing, help humans communicate with each other. But the technology also has its own context. A hand-written letter is going to be more personal than an e-mail, while a social networking message will allow you to stay visible to all of your network at the same time, without having to call them. Conversely, calling someone on the phone puts you in much closer contact than a text or email will, because you are talking to the person in real time. It's true that you can text in real time, but you can't hear the tone of voice in a text.</p> <p>I'd be one of the last people to deny the power of social networking or why businesses need to use it, but I also don't believe in discarding older technology. Each piece of technology has value for what it can offer, and how it can connect us to each other. Using a phone to make a call can save lots of time and texting. Using email for business communications will likely always be necessary, because a business won't want to put everything out in the public sphere. And what Generation Y and Z will also need to realize is that older generations, while they are around, will also want to be communicated with the way they prefer to be contacted. And communication, after all, is a two way street. We all have to accommodate each other.</p> <p>What the Baby Boomers and Generation X must realize is that it falls on us to teach Gen Y and Gen Z the value of using older technology such as the phone or email. Unless we can establish that value, they will not use the older technology, much as older generations won't use social media unless the value for doing so is established. So we must explain why phones and email are valuable and needed, even as we also must learn to use social media to communicate with them. And in the end we must all realize that communication goes both ways, and to effectively communicate means using all the technology at your disposal, as opposed to what you tend to favor.</p> 2009-10-25T02:02:35Z 2009-10-31T16:47:50Z -0.666816 348 7111 true 17 14192 why-generations-y-and-z-need-to-learn-to-use-phones-for-more-than-texting 9 2009-10-31T09:47:24Z 2009-10-31T16:47:50Z

Younger generations don't always use phone and email, but need to learn to use them, even as we learn to use social networking

1 2009-10-31T16:48:13Z