Generation Y: Try to speak to them in 140-characters or less
By Zack Whittaker | May 17, 2011, 2:33pm PDT
Could 140 characters be the key limit to getting across to the Generation Y? This post is written in tweets to try and prove a point.
I deal with a lot of myth-debunking in this job. One myth recently making the rounds is the reading word-limit of the Generation Y. [131]
With the rise of the status update and Twitter even still a viral method of communicating, the theory is that younger people read less. [135]
In honour of this idea, each paragraph in this article will be 140 characters or less. You may be surprised as to how hard this actually was. [140]
Younger readers do not read any less, as has been previously discussed. We are forced to confine our messages into smaller spaces, however. [139]
Twitter, in particular, forces us to limit our character count to only 140 characters. Over time, and with experience, it becomes easier. [137]
With something so inherently developed over time, it is not an illogical argument to suggest the Generation Y need less rather than more. [137]
Though 160-characters is the maximum one can send in any given singular text message, Twitter knocks this down by 20 characters. [128]
The Generation Y are the kings and queens of text messaging, without doubt. So is it becoming an in-built ‘requirement’ for younger writers? [140]
It could be reasoned that less is better. It gets more across in a short space, and allows content to be thought about and condensed. [133]
Many students, for example, will be acutely aware that shorter essays are often harder than the lengthy essays they are tasked with. [132]
So next time you speak to a Generation Y employee, try and condense your written text into a shorter, easier-to-read and concise fashion. [137]
While 140-characters may be limiting, try it and see. It may just get your point across in a way that younger people really understand. [136]