Gen Y Less Savvy with Web2.0

Today, I went to a local high school to speak with students about entrepreneurship and how it has affected my life. The class was filled with 22 students (all juniors and seniors), so I figured it was a great opportunity to learn about "what's hot" with kids these days. After my talk, I conducted an unscientific survey about various online tools they were using. Needless to say, I was shocked at the results. Here's a list of questions and their responses:

How many of you have a MySpace Account?

There were only about 5 people who had MySpace accounts (or admitted it). This was very interesting to me as I thought EVERY high school kid had a myspace account. I had a pre-conceived notion that 80% or more of them would be using MySpace.

How many have a Flickr account?

Nobody. They looked at me like a deer in headlights with no concept of what I was talking about. Again, I was quite shocked.

How many have a LinkedIn account?

Again, nobody... they hadn't even heard of it. This one didn't surprise me, as this service is geared towards more professional/business users.

How many have a blog or subscribe to a blog feed?

There were only about 5 kids who frequently read a blog. I asked about which ones (hoping it was ours), but learned that it was only informal blogs of their friends.

How many of you Instant Message?

Everyone's hands went up. I could tell instantly that this was a big hit by all the chatter in the room.

What IM client is used the most?

Overwhelmingly, the majority claimed AOL's Instant Messenger (AIM) was the most popular.

Do you text message on your phone?

Again, everyone's hands went up. One student even made a joke saying, "How many do it in class?" Laughter filled the room. Luckily, I didn't notice anyone "texting" during my speech. However, one student did have a hard time staying awake. Must be my dynamic speaking skills.

How many of you post videos on YouTube?

Only one had. However, his classmates all pointed and laughed at him as if they had seen it. This made me wonder if it was of him doing something silly or highly inappropriate. Nearly all classmates knew what YouTube was and had used it before.

My only conclusion from this experience is that Generation Y is more about instant messaging and text messaging than it is Web2.0. Considering that both YouTube and Flickr have never advertised locally, it was interesting that one had caught on and the other had not.