Okay, we know it’s worth taking this kind of research with a grain of salt, but we do have to wonder what some people are thinking when they go online these days.
According to recent research carried out by Telstra (no real surprises there), key markers that indicate the level of perceived ‘coolness’ by Generation Y continues to surge to a whole new low. Take for example, that apparently 45% of survey respondents (who identified themselves as Facebook users) – fessed up to checking into new places just to make themselves ‘look cool’. Besides sounding a little desperate, that’s not all.
When you consider that more than half of all Gen Y Facebook users admit to faking their sign in location – it’s easy to realise that you can’t always believe what you read on a friend’s status update anymore. So when one of your mates drops a hint that they are down at ‘so and so’ pub – you now know that he or she is likely angling for attention.
And this new found social value isn’t just limited to Facebook either. More than half of respondents in the survey cited ‘reTwittering’ of other people’s cool comments a valuable source of social bling and more desperately, 27% said they would download useless apps for their iPhone just to impress others in the hope they would like them or find them funny.
Apparantly it seems, the joke is on people my age and younger. Good work, Gen Y!