Outlaw Consulting surveyed 100 of its most forward trendsetter panelists living in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami, asking them for a list of the websites they visit most often. We also asked them why they liked these sites, and how it would impact their lives if they couldn’t use them.
The sample consisted mostly of the first wave of Gen Y, ages 21-29 - and it's important to note that these are trendsetters in image categories (fashion, music, nightlife), not necessarily in technology. Our aim was to discover which websites have become essential to the aspirational segment of this generation, in order to understand what underlying themes are driving their online behavior, and what implications they might hold for marketers.
In all the chatter about social networking, there have been very few mentions of how completely uncool it really is. Trendsetters have participated from the beginning, but they try to appear detached (even if they’re using it constantly). While mainstream people fill their profiles with tons of pictures and elaborate descriptions in the “About Me” section, trendsetters keep sparse profiles with just a few photographs and an “About Me” consisting of one vague sentence.
Nowhere was this phenomenon more evident than in our survey, than when we asked about the differences between their most often visited sites (the list you see here) and their favorite sites (not shown). Facebook and MySpace dropped significantly on the favorites list – Facebook down to #12, and MySpace to the last slot of #15. When asked to explain, trendsetters expressed some sheepishness. “I go to Myspace constantly but I don’t really like it… Actually, that’s not true, I do like it. I just don’t like to admit it.” Why is social networking so uncool among trendsetters? It implies that you have nothing better to do with your time, for starters; it also projects an image of vanity.
However, we heard fewer of these comments about Facebook than we did about MySpace. Now that Facebook has assumed the throne of the king of social networking (stolen from Myspace), it seems to be changing the landscape, creating more of a legitimate relationship with social networking. First of all, it’s cleaner and more mature than its predecessors, with a much broader appeal—everyone from your professor to your second cousin is on it. Also, it takes less time to use. It was the first of the sites to “push” profile updates to your friends (on the old MySpace, they had to be hunted down); therefore, it’s less associated with wasting time just to be ‘in the know.’ As a result, Facebook has become more of a fact of life, a way to communicate and schedule events—consider it this generation’s version of Microsoft Outlook, but with an emotional side. “There is an entire army of friends who I don’t see regularly but still care about. It means a lot to automatically be able to see their photos from time to time, and keep abreast of who’s where. Facebook provides a warm blanket for me. It makes me feel more connected, less alienated.”
Several websites made our Top 15 list because our panelists rely on them as a “back-up brain.” Sites like Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon help do your thinking for you, telling you what you’ll like based on your previous choices—and doing a surprisingly good job. Trendsetters are especially enamored by Netflix’s ability to predict their tastes in movies. To ensure they remain the leader, Netflix is sponsoring a contest (with a million-dollar prize!) for the person who develops an algorithm that is more successful at predicting tastes.
Pandora, an internet radio site that streams personalized music based on your song ratings, has also earned trendsetters’ devotion. Pandora not only introduces you to new songs, it tells you why you’ll like them (using musical terminology like “major key tonality,” “mild rhythmic syncopation.”)
These sites have become more than just resources for new movies and music—they’re also a way for panelists to stay aware of desires they generally forget. Because Netflix allows you to keep your wishlist of rentals in an ongoing “queue,” the days of racking your brain in the video store are over. “I love movies, and I always find myself saying, ‘Ooh I gotta rent that movie, can’t forget!’ Well, pre-Netflix, 9 times out of 10, I would forget—now I don’t.”
Privacy-invasion fears are far smaller than they used to be; most consumers assume their data is being collected, and expect it to be put to good use. Don’t be afraid to mine your consumers’ data, and use it to help them consume more productively. For internet retailers, this is becoming price of entry, and innovative platforms and strategic thinking could also make this idea grow in brick-and-mortar stores.
Sites that rely on a community of contributors, like Wikipedia, have stirred up controversy surrounding their potential inaccuracies. But most of our panelists couldn’t care less about this issue.
In fact, the idea of turning to the public for information makes so much sense to them, they can’t believe it’s a controversy. “People who hate Wikipedia baffle me. I mean, maybe if I’m writing a paper for grad school or something, I’ll open up a real encyclopedia—but for everything else, it’s almost always right.” A few trendsetters told us they like Wikipedia because, while it may not offer the most technically accurate truth, it presents the common wisdom—which is sometimes just as valuable.
Other sites on the list were also praised for increasing trendsetters’ access to “the crowd” (as it is described in Surowiecki’s book The Wisdom of Crowds). eBay, for example, is not without its pitfalls, but trendsetters love how it allows you to look beyond the sticker price to glimpse a truer kind of market value. “Whenever I have an item in mind, I check eBay. It standardizes the pricing. If you want to know what the public thinks an item is worth, eBay will tell you.” Craigslist offers this at a local level, empowering the “crowd” to speak up on issues and price products, without any kind of accountability. Yelp applies this to businesses, providing a way to find out what the public really thinks of the new coffee shop that claims to have the best coffee in the city. “There are tons of different opinions on there, but you can sift through and get a feel for the truth. I don’t know what I did before Yelp.”
Gen Y trendsetters will gladly sacrifice 100% accuracy for direct access to the public’s version of reality, whatever it may be. They believe they know when to trust sites, and when to seek another source. In the meantime, they credit these sites with doing no less than changing their lives. The model of the open platform giving voice to a crowd will be close to their hearts as this generation comes to power.
When Gen Y trendsetters talk about their favorite websites, the concept of sharing comes up constantly. The internet is, among many other things, the most sharable media we have, and the fact that this generation has grown up with it has made it a fundamental part of how they relate to each other.
YouTube is the best example. This site ranked high on our list not because trendsetters go directly to the URL and begin browsing, which actually happens infrequently. Rather, a YouTube link is sent via Instant Message or email. “YouTube is probably the most emailed type of link. There is a social connection. When I think YouTube, I think of friends sending me something they think is interesting or funny.” YouTube is many things—a more open platform than television; a more easily accessible way to view video content—but to our panelists, it is the sharability that defines the site.
Many other sites are beloved by trendsetters for similar reasons. Flickr, a key favorite, makes photographs more sharable. NYTimes.com and Wikipedia give information a more sharable format: “I remember how my grandma used to cut things out of the newspaper and send them to my mom, LOL… the news would be a week old by the time it arrived!” Social networking sites like Facebook make every single aspect of their lives sharable content—their photos, their relationship status, the events they plan to attend, even what they’re doing at any given moment.
It’s important to recognize the significance of sharing among this generation. They’re team-oriented and like to make decisions together. “My friends and I send a lot of links. Just dresses we’re thinking of buying, what would be right for a certain party, stuff like that.” One trendsetter admits to sending her friends about 30-40 links per week to products she’s thinking of buying. Retail stores without an easily linked online inventory, such as H&M, risk harming the sharability of their product. Marketing and promotional ideas should also factor in this issue, finding ways to ensure sharability. The networks of friend circles in Gen Y, who are constantly sending each other information and receiving it nanoseconds later, could be your best form of advertising.