We caught up with 300, 13-19-year-old teens in an online discussion to talk to them about the technologies, platforms and brands they used over the course of the year, with their responses offering fresh insights into who they are. The following narrative represents insights gleaned from more than 4,500 individual responses:

2011: A Year Of Personal Sacrifices

No longer insulated by parents doling out discretionary funds, teens are not only reacting to the pressures felt by their cashed-strapped parents, but are helping to take on the responsibility through part time jobs and making their own sacrifices on personal spending. Billed as “The Lost Generation,” the unemployment rate of a teen is double that of an adult (20% by some measures; NPR, 2011), which leads to teens adopting many of the cost-saving measures they glean from their parents.

“My parents have been more honest with me in terms of our budget this year and I’m constantly stressed that we might not be able to afford groceries the next month. It’s not something I’ve been able to deal with because there isn’t anywhere near me hiring 16 year olds.”  - Female, 16, CA

Like Their Parents, Teens Are Savvy Mobile Users

Much of the coupon-redeeming, price-comparing and loyalty-point-aggregating activity marketers have witnessed among adults around Black Friday/Cyber Monday is actually taking place among teens, as well. Roughly 30% of teens wielded smart phones during 2011, with estimates that 2012 will bring 50% adoption levels (Consumer Reports, 2011). The top shopping apps mentioned among teens in our discussion forum included Amazon mobile for scanning, Foursquare for check-in discounts, Old Navy’s Snap Appy, Seventeen, Red Laser and ShopKick. A surprising number of teens expressed interest in using apps to learn about local deals at restaurants, as well as redeeming offers from Groupon and LivingSocial.

“I use QR code technology to scan for details while in-store, and my barcode scanner to check prices in-store.” – Male, 16, FL

We asked our teens to define a “dream” mobile app that currently does not exist. Yes, we received a lot of ridiculous answers (e.g., one that prints out million dollar bills), however, a central theme began to unfold: teens are looking for hyper-personalized utility. It is not enough to simply help them pick out a new outfit to wear–our teens mentioned needing help deciding among items in their own closets. More than just friend recommendations, they asked for apps that offered suggested products based upon the likes/interests found in their own social profiles.

Also, the opportunity for a brand to step up as an ally of all things education is huge. Across dozens of posts, we found that teens are seeking a mobile solution for keeping track of their homework assignments, grades, high school sporting events and to-do lists. In 2012, there’s a viable opportunity for marketers to uncover what the next level of customization means for this generation, and find ways to add utility to their high school experiences.

“My app would be for school. It would record everything my teachers say, save it in sections and organize everything.” – Male, 15, IL

Teens Are Native Users Of Virtual Currency

Gamification continues to grow among teens, as it provides them with a way of earning points and virtual currency in an entertaining format. 43% of teens have spent real dollars on in-game virtual items or virtual currency. With the total US market for virtual goods at just over $2 billion in 2011 (Inside Virtual Goods, 2011), it is no wonder that brands are finding ways to leverage this currency as an incentive. Teens flock to games such as Cityville (Over 55 million active users, #1 game on Facebook in December; Games, 2011), Sorority Life and numerous others to earn points that can be redeemed for real items. Many teens in our forum described earning virtual points in order to save money on holiday gift purchases this year.

“Yes, I earn points from sites like Swagbucks, Superpoints and others, and redeem them for gift cards. I typically make around $40 a month, although because I knew Christmas was coming up I managed to earn around $100 so far.” – Female, 19, AZ

Top virtual points/currencies among our panel: MyYearBook’s “Lunch Money,” Facebook “Credits,” Coca-Cola’s “MyCokeRewards,” Sorority Life’s “Brownie Points” and SwagBucks.

Watching Content Is A Social Experience

Social media turns watching content into a shared experience among teens, and with research citing improved ad recall when ads are published across multiple platforms (Up 150%, compared to just TV; Mashable, 2011), the circumstances are ripe for brands to create an integrated approach to content. When tuning-in to their favorite TV shows (Glee, by a two-to-one margin; Mr Youth, Nationwide Poll, 2011) 53% are posting comments about the show to their Facebook pages, 45% are texting their friends show-related updates, a staggering 39% will visit the show’s Facebook page, and 18% will Tweet directly at the show. By contrast, only 11% report using a show’s specific mobile app (Mr Youth, Nationwide Poll, 2011).

Among teens who feel compelled to stay focused on (only) the show, many teens will opt for texting or sending a message via Facebook chat during commercial breaks. This provides an opportunity for brands to extend show engagement through social activities during the “commercial break” that ties back to the content, and socialize the experience among a viewer’s friends.

“I watch mtv.com and I will always be on Facebook on another tab and if friends are chatting with me, which they most likely are, I chat back during commercials.” – Female, 19, MN

Teens Yearn For More Customization On Facebook

Earlier this year, we surveyed teens across the country on their reactions to the Facebook changes unveiled at F8 in September. Two and a half months later, we decided to reach back out to teens for their insights. Among 250 responses from our online discussion, teens expressed their overwhelming desire to keep things simple and unchanged. Negative sentiment (among our responses) to Facebook’s ticker remains persistently highly, as teens think it provides too much information about their social activities. On the other hand, Facebook mobile (and “places” in particular) is very well received. Teens look forward to the day when they can customize their pages further, choosing their own color schemes, much like the old MySpace. As brands find creative ways to personalize and brand their own timeline pages, they should also be thinking of ways to help teens modify and individualize their own pages.

“The only thing that I think would help make Facebook better is if they let you customize you profile background and colors. This will help express your personality at a higher level.” – Female, 19 OH

Teens Use Google+ To Meet Up Online

Teens are using Google+ to have more intimate conversations among subsets of friends, carving out circles, which fit their own definitions of social groups. Teens have fun defining these: “cool kids, weird people, fat people, hot girls (and guys) and Moustache Mafia,” are among the more interesting circles. Teens also create circles for high school classes and after-school clubs/hobbies to facilitate study sessions. Hangouts are another way in which teens can connect with their classmates online to socialize their late-night cramming. Brands should support this activity, helping to bring together teens around unique circles and interests.

“I actually love Google + and wish more people would use it. My circles are: Posse (main group of friends), Mom Friends (so I won’t annoy my friends with gross updates about parenting), College Friends, and High School Friends.” – Female, 19, CA

Teens View Twitter As Their News Source

For teens, Twitter is their news source. They follow musicians, sports teams, celebrities, authors and deals from brands. As other platforms are better at conversations among peers, Twitter is (predominantly) a broadcast medium with this generation for up-to-the-minute facts.  A few sources they follow most closely: The Onion, NPR, Local News, TMZ and MacNews.

“I do use Twitter! I follow Old Navy, Banana Republic, Airbus, US Airways, Southwest, BBC, CNN, and my local news.” – Male, 18, AZ

Spotify And TurnTable Turn Teens On To Music

This generation prefers free, on-demand music from streaming services as opposed to content ownership. With the ability for teens to follow what their friends are listening to on Facebook, teens now have Spotify and Turntable to thank for expanding their own musical tastes. In a recent poll among teens, we found that 70% of teens are “highly likely” to listen-in to music tracks that they notice their friends listening to in the activity feed on Facebook (Mr Youth Nationwide Poll, 2011). Undoubtedly, this social integration has led to the successful rise of Spotify, Turntable and other services keen on taking advantage of Facebook apps, as a way to grow awareness of their services. Top music services with teens in 2011 included Pandora, YouTube and Spotify, as well as lesser-known sources Grooveshark, iheartradio.com, Playlist.com, SoundCloud, last.fm and Tumblr.

“I use Spotify because I love showing my friends what I’m listening to.” – Male, 16, NY

Teens Want Ads That Entertain And Offer Authentic Messages

Teen’s tune-in to brands that offer distinct value exchanges. They want to be entertained, while also learning how products will benefit them. Allstate’s Mayhem accomplished this, providing a source of entertainment, while also conveying a straightforward product benefit. Other top ads with teens this year include Target’s recent two-day sale Black Friday ads, Kenny Power’s K-Swiss ads and Old Navy’s “Funnavations” campaign. A few lesser-known examples also surfaced, including Derma Blend’s “Go Beyond The Cover” ads (Derma Blend, Go Beyond The Cover; Derma Blend, 2011), which reached more than 7 million views on YouTube in just two months.

“I look for humor, results, and excitement in my commercials.” – Male, 15, MI

Ads that missed the mark? Ads that “tried too hard to be cool” or appeared to alienate or exclude others. Exclusivity, or “us vs. them” marketing that might have worked with older generations, is seen as offensive among this generation. One example of what did not connect with them was Dr. Pepper’s latest campaign, which focused solely on men. Teen girls in our panel felt left out, with a vocal minority vowing never again to drink the soda. Among teen guys, they saw the ad as playing on traditional stereotypes (Dr. Pepper TEN; Dr. Pepper, 2011).

“Dr. Pepper is my second favorite drink, too! I haven’t had Dr. Pepper since because it made me so frustrated. It was a ridiculous commercial, it was sexist.” – Robert, 19, IL

Diverse, Customized Style Is The Trend

A tough economy has not kept this generation of teens from expressing their own sense of style. Popular among teens this year were Toms shoes, Uggs, hair feathers (yes, feathers!), animal prints, moccasins, and leather jackets. Both vintage and hipster looks appear to be alive and we’ll, among. Beyond the usual e-commerce destinations (Amazon, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Haute Look, Ruelala), it was interesting to see many on the radar that we might not know about. Up-and-coming e-commerce sites included: 6pm, nomorerack, modcloth, Free People,  Go Jane, Beyond The Rack, NectarClothing.com, UrbanOg.com, Threadsense.com, & Asos.com

“I express myself by not following the trends set by others,but by creating my own trend and if no-one agrees with it or doesn’t like it, so be it. I am a representation of myself and no-one else and that can never be taken from me or any other person who feels the same.” – Female, 16, MI

Now it’s time to close the door on 2011, and enjoy the holiday season. Keep these insights in your back pocket for 2012, and consider how the events, technologies and social platforms teens are using today will impact their decision making in the New Year!

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to put our intel to work, serving up fresh-from-campus blog posts chock full of all the college trends you need to know to stay in the know. This week our featured trend is: Photo Sharing Apps.

From Facebook to Foursquare, today’s college student has come to age on the Internet and lives in a world where the persona they curate online often serves as a first impression for potential friends long before they ever meet in person. Reputation is no longer grounded in the offline world, but is extended and amplified by the links they share, the venues the check-in to, the photos they’re tagged in and the influencers they “follow”.

Every college student knows that if a photo didn’t capture it, then it probably didn’t happen. Students eager to supplement their online personas with digital snapshots have been quick to turn to mobile photo-sharing applications to capture, enhance and instantly share their experiences, giving friends and followers the opportunity to visually walk a mile in their shoes.

While mup-loading, or mobile-uploading, is nothing new for college students, new mobile applications such as Instagram and Hipstamatic allow students to further curate their personal brand by applying one-click “filters” to photos, elevating every day snapshots to visually intriguing pieces of art that are sure to impress their friends.

“… Creating a life stream of photos online is practically effortless. Sharing photos is also a more emotionally connective form of communication… I quickly began to notice my tendency to look for “Instagram-worthy” moments”–Tyler Patton, 22

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to put our intel to work, serving up fresh-from-campus blog posts chock full of all the college trends you need to know to stay in the know, starting with our fashion update: Boho Chic.

For today’s co-eds, college is about much more than having a good time. Between school, resume-building extracurricular activities, networking and maintaining their g.p.a. students are feeling incredible pressure to succeed both inside and outside of the classroom. In a high-pressure environment, students think their clothing should be anything but. The skinny jeans, stick straight hair and tight cocktail dresses of last semester have been replaced by long flowing skirts, natural waves and sturdy gladiator sandals, a look that students are calling “Boho-Chic”.“

“Boho chic is…free-spirited, flowy but put together. I consider myself boho chic wit feathers, earth tones, and brown leather taking up a majority of my wardrobe.”-Emily Tracy, University of North Carolina age 20

Freedom is the name of the game and for stressed out students, Boho-Chic affords the perfect escape from their every day lives by combining style and comfort without confining them to specific brand names, looks or silhouettes.

”Boho-Chic is casual, but in a ‘I just rolled out of bed and look good’ kind of way…There’s something very alluring about the grungy, messy look–seems like you’re not putting effort in but it’s a finely crafted mess, so to speak.”-Amelia Viner, Emerson College age 21

Over the last year there has been an exponential increase in the number of websites asking users to sign in using Facebook connect. Some tout the ease of joining a community, others want to connect your interests with the interests of your friends, and some just ask you to do it for no apparent reason. Until recently I have yet to see any website give me something in return for taking that action. As a marketer I know that their desire to connect me with other people or make sign-up easier is just so they can make money. It’s about data collection, optimization and ad targeting. I get it, and most other consumers get it, so why not give me something worth my while? Why not show me what my data is worth to you?

Well, my dreams have come true. Hulu, in an effort to beat Netflix (and get their numbers up for a quick sale), is in the midst of a big push for their Hulu Plus offering. The online video provider has seen some success with the paid version of its free service, but not to the extent that Netflix has seen success. Their answer to that problem is free trials, and their ask form consumers is simple: Give us access to your Facebook data and one status update about Hulu Plus.

So, according to Hulu, your Facebook data and one status update is worth $7.99.

We are the Mr Youth interns. In honor of Social Media Day last Thursday we are sharing our POV on the good life of YouthNation, the present and future of social media, and whatever else crosses our young, millennial minds in 140 characters or less:

- Elizabeth C: Social media icon sheets & comforters will replace dinosaurs and rocket ships.

- Kara B: #D0M!N@T!0N

- Jon I: Some people think the internet is ruining are ability to comunikate, but I think we’re just fien. The future is #social.

- Thomas S: I am not witty enough for this, I defer to the Twitterverse.

- Vinny S: Emoticon Media, The future of Social: – A typical day.

- Annie D: Social media helps to engage the brand and the customer through dynamic, interactive, and unique experiences (games, applications and videos).

- Lauren F: I have a feeling Facebook is going to lose its spark soon. The site has lost its simplicity and exclusivity, #unlike.

- Alison W: SM lets me stalk a dog named Boo on Facebook, tweet at Barack Obama and keep in touch with my grandma in Florida #EndlessPossibilities…

- Adam P: In the modern battle of David versus Goliath, social media is the slingshot.

- Alexa D: Rule #76.5: Social Media plays like a champion.

We want to hear your musings on social.  Tell us in the comments!

This Thursday is National Social Media Day! With only two days left to prepare, how will you celebrate? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

- Pick a social media personality and claim it for the day. I recommend being the Fail Whale or the crying Foursquare girl with the crown  Make sure you dress to fit your part like this guy!

- Set some resolutions for the next year of social media. Example: “I will tweet more often because I haven’t in months” or “I will tweet less often because my friends want to slap me.”

- Make a video and upload it on YouTube. Need ideas? Start simple with a demonstrative speech – like how to make a sandwich, how to make a scene at work, or how to make a grown man cry.

- Get your favorite social media infographic and make it your desktop background. Like this one.

- Throw an internet meme party. I will make my friends wear narwhal horn party hats (and bring my pet narwhal), dress as chubby bubbles girl, put Double Dream Hands on repeat, Ice all the bros in attendance, and insert photo bomb seal into all of the party pics (which I will then make into animated gifs). Friday will be boycotted, though, since it will only be Thursday…

Happy Social Media Day to you and yours! Tell us what you’re scheming for the big day.

Of all the new ads, ideas, articles, videos, and trends we sift through every day, these are the fun nuggets that stuck with us last week:

- The Oxford Dictionary is the most generous in adding Internet jargon to the official English language. Check out the list of last month’s new additions, my favorites being: baby bump, bestie, infographic, meep, newb, social graph, and ZOMG.

- Axe Sprayaway lets you remove what you think stinks on the web. Negative YouTube comment? New pic of your arch nemesis on Facebook? Opinion you don’t agree with and want to lash out against in a non-threatening way? Make yourself feel better with this fun tool.

- This conceptual work for UNICEF, done by students at the Miami Ad School, poses a new way to contribute funds to education by donating your misspelled words. A very creative and inspiring concept.

- The launch of the Tweet Button adds an easier way to embed Twitter into your sites with options to show the number of times the item has been tweeted and preload mentions.

- The Intel® Museum of Me is our favorite rendition of the myriad “social history” tools we’ve seen.  Beautiful and well done.

- Improv Everywhere did a great stunt called “Gotta Share” – it gives the flashmob a facelift and has all the social media rhyming words we could ask for

What’s floating your boat this week?

Mayor Bloomberg tweeted yesterday that the roadmap to make New York the number one digital city has been published. Called “Achieving New York City’s Digital Future” the report is over 60 pages of present situation, public feedback and data, and what’s in store for NYC.

I strongly encourage poring over the whole report, which is beautiful and intriguing. Not only is it inspiring to live in a city championing to be the number one digitally, it is amazing that we live in a place where social is understood and leveraged to the public and the city’s benefit.

As a social marketing agency we were particularly appreciative that the City recognizes the importance of good social strategy. The report reads, “The City’s most successful social media strategies are goal-based, aligning with agency objectives from the start, and employing social media channels appropriate to their audience and desired outcomes.” Bravo.

New York is doing a lot already to foster the development of digital tools and an open government. Here are some fun snippets I didn’t know before reading:

- New York has six official apps. One is dedicated to finding free condoms based on location, and another offers sobriety tests and info on safe rides home. Go NYC.
- The NYC Big Apps (HAH!) competition provided city data to developers to create independent applications – there were over 100 developed using public API
- The Urban Canvas competition wrapped up and features 4 finalists whose designs can be downloaded by building owners to make scaffolding more appealing
- You can use the hashtag #askmike to get your question answered by the Mayor on his Friday radio show

As for what’s next, here are some highlights of the roadmap:

- A new Facebook presence will be unveiled during Internet Week featuring apps that support the open government infrastructure
- A Foursquare badge will be introduced by the City to incentivize residents to explore public places
- Implementation of a DataMine API that gives developers access to 350+ data sets including:

- Citywide Events and Festivals
- Wi-Fi HotSpot Locations
- Map of Playgrounds
- Bicycle Parking Locations
- Tree Census
- Art Gallery Locations
- Subway Entrances
- A hub for all New York City mobile apps
- The launch of geo-targeted mobile notification services for emergencies so you know what’s happening around you

What do you want to see in New York’s future?

WHAT STAYED?

Value Proposition: Twitter kept one if it’s focal points focusing on the value prop to the potential user, but evolved it to be broad reaching when it comes to need-states of potential new users. They’re definitely trying harder to sell Twitter to skeptical consumers.

Search: The search feature is still there, but has been moved down on the page to bring more focus to the value proposition to new users. Searching comes after the value proposition, prompting potential new users to find out what Twitter has to offer for themselves.

Who’s Here: Highlighted accounts have been lowered, but expanded to show more breadth, though it’s no longer “who’s here” since Twitter hosts accounts for more than just people.

Sign Up: Sign up stayed, but evolved. Now Twitter can get new users without asking them to click through to another page and go through the process of creating a handle. This is an obvious indication that the process of finding an available handle has been inhibiting their growth.

WHAT’S GONE?

Trending Topics: Bye bye trending topics! Though they’re not eliminated from the platform all together, they’re no longer being used to show what’s going on to potential new users… maybe to make Twitter’s value and content less narrowly focused?

Top Tweets: This looks like another way for Twitter to make the platform seems more adaptable to user needs by eliminating any content that may skew a new users view of what the platform has to offer.

Discover Twitter: The tutorial video is gone. It’s probably safe to assume that anyone going to twitter.com is familiar with what it is, and if they’re not, Twitter wants them to find out for themselves.

WHATS NEW?

The World: Twitter obviously wants to showcase the fact that they connect you to news and updates from around the world. What better way to do that than to put a big map of the world in the background?

The Colors: Twitter has abandoned their classic robin’s egg blue color for a less vibrant shade of grey/blue with white/silver accent colors. Why the color changes? Probably to make Twitter look more sophisticated.

WHY THE NEW LOOK?

For a long time people have been skeptical about using Twitter. They don’t see the value over Facebook and don’t feel like they have enough to say on Twitter that warrants an account. Twitter has attacked that notion head-on by changing its communication to focus on keeping up with updates from friends, experts, celebrities, brands and news outlets while also eliminating any content that would give a new user a myopic view of what Twitter has to offer them.

The old Twitter home page

The new Twitter home page

We’ve found a lot that is inspiring and LOL-worthy this week (and it’s only Wednesday!) Here’s a shortlist – our spring gift to you, dear reader.

The @bronxzooscobra: Ok so it may be scary and awful that a 20-inch, pencil-thin, extremely venomous cobra is missing in the Bronx Zoo, but it is hilarious for us that our slithery, parseltongued friend is tweeting about her adventures.  Let’s hope that the zoo will find the amusement in this amidst their dismay, as 120k+ other Twitter users are.

Kraft Mac and Cheese “cnt sleep” Spots: With a speedy production turnaround reminiscent of Old Spice, these new clips (all are featured on the Kraft Facebook page) were inspired by consumer tweets about mac and cheese. One spot aired on Conan and Lopez Monday night, and it was so successful that agency CP&B repeated it again on TBS last night.

Stella Artois – Triple Filtered: From a gritty and sobbing Adrian Brody to this newest shabby and love-struck gentleman, the male cast of Stella ads play on a fun egocentrism that describes the brand itself.  In this London-created TV/Cinema campaign, our leading man finds himself chasing after a girl out of his league.  In three smooth steps he goes from scruffy to sophisticated.

Ashley Boo Facebook App – A take-down from the Hunter Shoots a Bear campaign, this Flash integration to promote Rounds (a video chat service) is intended to show the spirit and capabilities of the brand.  The fake profile of Ashley Boo gives you a taste of what you and your friends can do together using the service.

What’s on your radar this week?  Let us know in the comments!