Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

But I enjoy getting mail that isn’t a bill or advertising, so I thought it might be a fun way to communicate with friends and family.

I have really enjoyed the project.  Not to say that I have actually sent a letter each week!  But I have sent two or three some weeks so hopefully that makes up for the skipped weeks.

When I sit down to write a letter, I start by glancing at my address book (again, old school!) and seeing whose name pops out at me.  Then I start with the perfunctory:
“Hi, how are you doing”  and then from there I ask them about their family and work and before I know it I’m adding tidbits about my recent activities, my family, books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen, etc.

I really feel like I’m having  a cup of coffee and visiting with the person I am writing too.

Now when I see funny cards or pretty note paper, instead of just thinking, oh so and so would like that, I actually buy the card and send it to them with a personal note!

Taking the time to write to a friend is a totally different experience than dashing off a quick e-mail or clicking “like” on their Facebook post.  I think the act of  thinking about what I am are going to say, and writing it down changes the experience, proving once again that the medium is the message.

According to the Pew State of Media Study, as reported by NPR Research, 23% of Millennials aged 18-24 reported having read a physical newspaper yesterday.  However, these Millennials are not frequent or regular newspaper readers.

As the following chart shows, while 27% of Millennials have read a newspaper 1-3 times in the past month, but only 8% are regular readers, having read a newspaper 25 times or more per month.  Looking at all adults, 40% can be defined as heavy readers, having read a paper at least every other day (16 or more times a month), while only 22% of those aged 18-24 are heavy newspaper readers.

NPR Audience Insight & Research

Additionally, these heavy newspaper readers are 75% more likely than light or non readers to hold a graduate degree, and to be Influential in their communities.  And so, these newspaper reading young adults are a desirable audience for marketers

I read a great description of Pinterest on The Daily Retort:

It’s kind of like a living mashed up visual montage of Better Homes & Gardens, Food & Wine, Parenting, Style and People magazines blended with the Oscars red carpet plus a dash of baby shower with a healthy dose of Silpada jewelry all drizzled in chocolate.

This description is fairly accurate, although her forgot  to include “bridal show”.

I enjoy Pinterest.  It is fun to see all the interesting things my friends have gathered from the web.  I re-pin many of their findings.  Personally I use Pinterest as a scrap book or bulletin board where I pin things I want to be able to find later.  Things like recipes, vacation ideas, interesting sayings, and yes, wedding ideas for my future daughter-in-law.

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about how businesses can use Pinterest to market their goods and services, and I’m sure marketing and advertising will begin to seep into Pinterest as it has into every other aspect of our lives.  But for me, I enjoy it as a tool to catalog my likes and interests.  I have no goals of getting hundreds of followers, as a matter of fact to me it is more of a personal collection for me and my real-life friends to share.

How do you use Pinterest?  Do you want it to become yet another means of advertising?

According to an Euro RSCG Worldwide study of more than 7,000 consumers in 19 countries, people in all age groups believe that we share too personal information online.  Not surprisingly, 71% of those aged 55 and older believe that we need to return to more privacy, 62% of those aged 35-54 and 57% of those aged 18-34 agree.

But wait a minute, if we feel that we need more privacy, we should simply stop posting personal stuff!  No one is making us post our personal information.

The key is to think before you share.  Remember your college friends, coworkers, neighbors, relatives and anyone else you accepted into your social circle, as well as their friends, can potentially see your posts and photos.

So before you make an off color comment, post a compromising photo or share your exploits or political biases, think about all these people and how they might interpret what you have to say.  If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t post it online!

As for someone else posting something about you, “Hey Billy, you were a riot at the bar last night.  Let’s do shots again sometime soon”, in the “old days” before social media, you can bet that Billy’s friends and coworkers verbally shared stories about his antics the next morning!  Now they share it online, either way Billy got drunk and acted like a fool, and word got around.  It just gets around faster and to more people with social media.

We have the power to control our privacy, use it!

Optimists

• Prefer to see romantic comedies, and are planning to see The Amazing Spider Man 2 and G.I. Joe 2 this summer
• Regularly watch A&E, Biography, Food Network, History
• Favorite TV shows are CSI, Family Guy, Game of Thrones, Design Star (on HGTV), Law & Order
• Purchase goods and services that are environmentally friendly

Extroverts

• Plan to see the movie, Rock of Ages this summer
• Favorite TV channels include ABC, ABC Family, E!, ESPN and ESPNU
• TV shows they watch regularly are American Idol, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 5 Ingredient Fix
• Are interested in using salon-quality hair products, and teeth whitening kits

High Creatives

• Plan to see Snow White and the Huntsman this summer
• Regularly watch A&E, ANC, Animal Planet, BBC America, Biography
• Favorite programs are 60 Minutes, Color Splash, Curb Appeal, The Block and Fashion Police
• Upgrade their cell phone whenever a better product is introduced

Risk Seekers

• Plan to see The Dark Knight Rises and The Expendables 2
• Watch ESPN, FX and the History Channel
• Favorite TV shows are American Chopper, American Dad, American Treasures, Auction Kings

Spot Light Seekers

• Plan to watch Total Recall (the remake)
• Own sports cars as their primary vehicle
• Watch CNBC and ESPN
• Favorite programs include Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Bizarre Foods, ESPN Sports Center, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Well I’m somewhere between an optimist and an extrovert!  But I can think of some Highly Creatives, Risk Seekers and Spot Light Seekers who fit these profiles well.

Radio reaches more Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers each day than the four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) combined.

Is this a testament to radio’s strength or the weakening of the major networks as cable makes more and more inroads into their audience?

Radio’s reach among adults who use alternative audio media is almost equal to its reach among the general population.  Radio’s reach to those who stream music is 2% higher than the general population, 1% higher than those who listen to MP3s, and “only slightly less” than those who listen to satellite radio.

I guess music lovers are music lovers!

Adults aged 18-34 listen to 2 hours and 21 minutes of radio per day vs. 2 hours and 31 minutes a day for all adults 18-64.

This is a great statistic for demonstrating the strength of radio among the younger 18-34 demo.

Adults spend the bulk of their media time each day with television – 55%, but radio is second.  Adults aged 18-64 spend 23% of their daily media time with radio,  19% with the internet, 2% with newspapers, 1% with magazines.

Great, but how will these percentages change over time?  And, how quickly will they change?  I’m sure the internet number will continue to increase, especially as smart phone and tablet usage continue to grow, at the expense of television and radio.

What about your media habits?  How much time do you spend a day with radio?  Are you listening to MP3s, satellite radio, streaming?  Have your radio listening habits changed over time?  Let me know your thoughts.

I think this cartoon pretty much sums up the whole yellow pages situation.

The Collapse of Print Advertising in 1 Graph – The Atlantic.

In the media world, the internet has all but made the daily newspaper obsolete.  (Personally I still get the daily  paper, but mainly because I like to do the crossword puzzle and Sudoku and I’ve yet to find a satisfying on-line version.) Reading the newspaper on the internet not only provides the most up to date news, but also allows us to interact with others by reading their comments and adding our own to the dialogue.

Back in the day, we used to have our favorite radio station.  We had a relationship with the DJ who talked to us in real time and educated us about the music he or she was playing.  As radio became more corporate, stations began playing automated formats, disc jockeys became announcers and often their program was (and is) prerecorded.  As we lost our sense of community with the station, the DJ and the other listeners, our local radio station became irrelevant, opening the door for satellite radio and internet radio.

Now we wonder if Sirius XM,  Pandora and Spotify kill conventional radio.  Personally, I love my satellite radio, as a matter of fact many of the DJs from my youth are on satellite radio!   I haven’t gotten involved with the other options… yet.  There is a great article that outlined all the many radio and music service options, it is worth a read.

And what about the king of all media–television?  Back when there were only 3 network stations and we relied on them for our news, we had a relationship with the news anchors.   We sat down to watch either Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather.  Well those days are gone.  Cable television has already taken a large chunk of the broadcast television audience. and with DVR’s, On-Demand, Apple TV, Hulu, etc. how long will commercial TV as we know it exist?  I know that I DVR my favorite shows so that I can watch them at a time that is more convenient for me and yes, I must admit, I usually fast forward through the commercials.  (Although I do believe the viewer gets a valuable impression as they are watching the commercial in fast forward).

And film — gone.  Digital cameras have almost completely replaced film cameras.  As a matter of fact, Kodak has stopped making Kodachrome film and has filed Chapter 11.   Polaroid, on the other hand, has managed to stay abreast of the industry and stay true to their market through instant printers and by introducing Polaroid for Android.  Again, allowing their customers to create community.

Let’s not forget book stores.  The advent of the Kindle and other electronic readers is destroying the printed book business.  Borders closed their remaining stores and went out of business in 2011.  Barnes and Noble manages to  hang on due to the success of their Nook, but they are having a tough time competing with Amazon’s lower priced Kindle.  (I imagine that their cafe is a large draw for consumers.)

Speaking of Amazon, will they eventually replace the retail store as we know it?  As the retail shopping experience has become more and more impersonal, there is no affinity toward the retailer so what does it matter if we buy from a big box store or on the internet?  Some communities are combating this trend by encouraging consumers to shop local allowing them to develop a relationship with the shopkeeper and the community at large.

The movie theater is still relevant, even with Netflix, on-demand movies and streaming onto our mobile devises.  I believe that has to do with the social aspect of going to the movies and the community aspect of the theater.

Look at what is happening to college education.  On-line classes and on-line university enrollment has surpassed traditional learning.  These on-line options have found a way to bring together a group of students in a virtual classroom, and rather than have them feel isolated as they are studying alone in their pajamas, the schools have found a way to unite their students in a community in cyber space.

Another phenomenon is the coffee shop.  You would think that with all the specialty coffees available for home consumption and the  ease of making good coffee at home thanks to Keurig and others that the coffee houses would begin to disappear.  But instead they are flourishing.  In the small city where I live, there are six coffee shops within 2 blocks, and they are all thriving!  Why?  because again, coffee shops have embraced the electronic age; they offer free wi-fi to encourage people to sit and linger and meet in their establishment — and they do.

Coffee houses, on-line universities, movie theaters, and even digital newspapers offer a sense of community.  It seems that for a business or industry to survive, they need to tap in and nurture community.

Unfortunately I also have old friends and relatives who are not on Facebook, and I don’t feel as close to them. I would love to add them to my on-line community, but they offer up excuses that fall into two categories — privacy concerns and a fear of wasting time.

As for privacy, the answer is fairly simple. Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want other people to see. If you are having a serious issue, pick up the phone. If you want to share pictures of your daughter’s prom dress, Facebook offers you the opportunity to share with your friends and family. Also, there is a nice blocking tool. If there is a person you absolutely don’t want to see anything you have to say on Facebook, you can block them. You won’t see any of their posts, comments or photos and they won’t see yours.

The wasting time concern is a funny one. These people seem to be saying that they know that if they get on Facebook, they will enjoy it so much that they will be on Facebook so often that other important things in their life won’t get accomplished. Wow, that’s giving a awful lot of credit to Facebook! YOU control how much time you are on Facebook. You can choose to go on once a day or check in every few hours. As a matter of fact with your smart phone, you can check in on Facebook just when you are hanging around waiting for something else–at the doctor’s office or hair salon, while in line at the grocery store or post office, waiting for a friend to show up for lunch, etc. Looking at it this way, Facebook fills in your otherwise wasted time!

And, since when is communicating with friends and family a waste of time? It certainly takes very little time to update your status, read and comment on friend’s status’ and post a photo that all of your friends and family will see. If you were to sit down and call these people, or send them all an individual letter, it would take hours, even days. More importantly you wouldn’t be able to contact as many people; some more distant friends and/or relatives wouldn’t get a call or a letter. These relationships would simply wither and fade away.