They Are Teens, Hear Them Roar...About Social Networking

Teenagers are difficult enough to start with just because they're teenagers, but now someone has done a study that shows "Teenagers Prove Fickle When Choosing Social Networks." Anyone surprised? I'm not. In an article from the NY Times, Bianca Bosker talks about a semi-report on the habits of American teens, suggesting that more teens today are starting to use Twitter more than Facebook. According to the article, of 8,650 teens surveyed "with an average age of 16 and found that only 23 percent now see Facebook as an important Web site, down from 33 percent six months ago, and 42 percent last year." This entrepreneur article from August 2013 states that 81% of teens are using social media over 72% of adults. This information shows, though, that Facebook is still reigning champion with the teenage crowd with a 94% of teen use and only a 26% usage total for Twitter. Of course these numbers could be taken from different areas of the country or maybe in only 2 months, the minds of the children have changed--again, there wouldn't be much surprise there--but not matter, it's said that Twitter is becoming more and more popular; but why?Research claims that the reason younger people are changing sides in the social media world is because with Twitter, they can more freely express them selves and it's harder to do on Facebook. This possibly because of the horrific amounts of cyber bullying that goes on with Facebook. That, and anyone and everyone is on Facebook, so no matter what you say or post, there is always someone watching. When questioned about their social media usage, one teenager put simply, “Yeah, that’s why we go on Twitter and Instagram [instead of Facebook]. My mom doesn’t have that.” 
It is true that Twitter is on the rise in popularity and will continue to do so, but Facebook isn't worried. They have something that has hooked kids more than Twitter: Instagram. The Facebook owned app is popular among the kids and adults alike and as long as it's around, Facebook has no way of completely losing out to Twitter. 
It's interesting, though. Kids are trying to get away from mom and their older family by starting to use Twitter, but no one ever thought Facebook would be as popular with the adults as it is, so what's to say that Twitter won't catch on and grab the attention of mommy dearest so that she can keep track of her children? If teens start using Twitter and then realize the elders are closing in on that too, whatever will they do? Revert back to MySpace...that thing they barely even know exists. No matter what they do, though, one thing will remain the same: teens will remain fickle, plugged in and unable to make up their minds. At least they're consistent. 

Twitter--the Remote

It's not enough anymore to just use a normal remote to change the channel--and forget actually getting up to manually change it--but now we're to the point that all we need is our smart phones. There are already apps that allow you to record a show from anywhere, no matter what you're doing; but now Comcast is taking that one step farther.
In a recent article from the NY Times, it tells that Comcast is teaming up with Twitter and a feature called See It to make television more interactive with your social media. Comcast is the nation’s largest cable television provider and in November, will be working with Twitter--one of the world's most popular social media sites to bring live TV to your Twitter feed. Whenever an NBC show tweets about their show, an option button will show at the end of the post, giving Comcast users the option to watch live or record their favorite shows for a later time. It's an easy process, too. In order to watch or record, a Comcast user needs to just sign in with their cable user name and password like they normally would when watching something on-demand. 

The Voice, popular and often trending on Twitter, will be one show to look out for. If someone doesn't have a Comcast account, though, they will be directed to NBC's website or app to watch instead. NBC, the NBC Sports Network, USA, and E! are all networks that will be participating in the See It feature starting in November. All networks participate in the Amplify advertising program from Twitter, which add short ad clips to videos on social network sites. ESPN, Fox and CBS are part of the Amplify program, as well. 

Comcast chief executive, Brian L. Roberts calls the See It feature, “simple yet powerful feature that creates an instant online remote control.” Maybe that way a person wouldn't have a problem with losing their remotes or having to fight for control. 

Chief business development officer Samuel Schwartz says, “Our expectation is that we’re going to have other multichannel distributors and other programmers as part of this platform pretty quickly.” One has to think, though, if Twitter is part of this agreement, what will come from Facebook? “Ultimately," stated, "it could be on every part of the Web and every app.” It's not sure if or when other social media sites will be included, but for right now, Twitter gets to put it's name out to the world as being a friend to the networks and getting it's users more conversation-ready.